Dean Croshere is flying home. Hell of a trip.
April 15, 2009 via Facebook for iPhone

Dean Croshere says “Fuck the Grove”
April 16, 2009 via Facebook for iPhone

Dean Croshere had contact from the Peace Corps! They want more information. Sigh…
April 16, 2009

Dean Croshere had a long chat with the boss, is pretty much guaranteed to get the fuck out of the Grove in the next couple months. May have a huge opportunity. Like, huge.
April 16, 2009

Dean Croshere will be contacted by the Peace Corps for a “final assessment” in the next three weeks. Oh my, major decisions are going to be coming up fast.
April 17, 2009

Dean Croshere is impatient. Upcoming possibilities make current stagnation unbearable.
April 18, 2009

Dean Croshere is having lunch with the President of the company today. A pipe dream might become a reality.
April 20, 2009

Dean Croshere is elated. I’m gonna go get my passport this afternoon.
April 21, 2009

Dean Croshere is going to Thailand. It’s actually going to happen. I’m going to work in Thailand.
April 22, 2009

Dean Croshere is going to Thailand May 2nd.
April 22, 2009

Dean Croshere is in sunny Seattle. No really. It’s sunny.
April 25, 2009 via Facebook for iPhone

Dean Croshere has a passport.
April 25, 2009 via Facebook for iPhone

Dean Croshere is going to be in Thailand in 1 week. Feels like he should be preparing.
April 27, 2009

Dean Croshere just found out that all the Thailand stuff got pushed back 2 weeks. May and June are likely to be the craziest months of my life.
April 28, 2009

Dean Croshere wants to get out of Forest Grove so bad. Just waiting, waiting…
May 1, 2009

Dean Croshere has the last week with nothing on the calender for months. Only 5 more days of “blank.”
May 4, 2009

Dean Croshere urgent email from boss titled “Thailand.” Go to open it and lotus notes crashes. FUCK YOU LOTUS.
May 5, 2009

Dean Croshere should be able to remove the question mark from his Thailand plans tomorrow. Cross your fingers, pray, whatever it is you do.
May 7, 2009

Dean Croshere may not go to Thailand on the 19th. Whole thing may be delayed a few more weeks. BLLLLALALALLAALLAAARRRRGGGG.
May 8, 2009

Dean Croshere is going to Thailand. The DEAL IS ON CAN I GET A HELL YEAH?
May 8, 2009

Dean Croshere is just about to begin his last contiguous week of living in the Fo Gro.
May 10, 2009 via Facebook for iPhone

Dean Croshere is giving away his cat today. Not happy about it.
May 11, 2009

Dean Croshere says, “Major life changes are stressful.”
May 11, 2009

Dean Croshere says today is fucking nuts.
May 12, 2009

Dean Croshere had dreams of loosing his camera in far away places. My Thailand fears are getting more realistic.
May 15, 2009

Dean Croshere is starting to get really nervous.
May 17, 2009 via Facebook for iPhone

Dean Croshere leaves in 26 hours.
May 19, 2009

Dean Croshere says “Holy shit.”
May 19, 2009

It had everything that was missing from my past couple of trips out. There was a lot of wind, more than I think I have ever seen before in Jomtien. As such, I could get moving quite fast. I was using a harness, so if I made any mistake without immediately correcting, my 6.6 meter sail would pick me up and toss me into the water (or on top of the sail.

I very quickly tired out. Sailing wasn’t so difficult, but crashing and up hauling that huge sail was exhausting. It didn’t help that I was using a much faster but skinnier board, which meant that I had to work harder to keep the board level while I uphauled. To make it more exciting, the wind and changing tide had some 4(ish) foot swells that kept me rocking.

The wind was blowing far too hard for me to properly tack or jibe with my experience, so I just went out until I fell with the sail on the other side of the board, then turned around and came back.

I had no trouble as long as I was on the board, in fact, I felt great.

But the harness around my stomach was making me feel sick and the stress of uphauling was exhausting me. I hit the point where I knew I was done. I just had to up haul one more time, sail the couple hundred meters or so back to the beach, and call it a day. I got the sail up, but immediately got hit by a swell unprepared and barely and enough time to push the sail in the right direction so I wouldn’t have to tack again before falling into the water myself.

I crawled up on the board to relax for a moment, but the rocking motion was exacerbating my stomach issues. I stood up with a little effort, hauled the sail into an upright position, and sailed back towards the beach, careful to keep the sail in an outward position that was both slower and less likely to toss me off. By this time I had figured out the exact maneuver to try in order to stay on the board when the wind pulls me forward. I just needed to feel it in time to sheet out, and push the mast forward. That instantly lets all the wind out of the sail and allows me to get control back over the sail before falling off.

Luckily I had no trouble and I was able to make it back to the beach (stopping spot on in front of the shop, proudly enough). I only had to pull the board and sail far enough onto the beach so it wouldn’t float away and the attendants would take care of the rest.

That’s when windsurfing is fun. I want to leave the beach dead tired and recovering from a minor scare from the thought that I’m out in the beach. I never go very far out and I’m never truly in danger. I’m certain I could swim that distance back at the absolute worst, and I’ve got a floating board on top of that. It’s just a little bit of excitement that keeps the sport fun.

Because when everything goes right, just cruising on a windsurfing board is pretty boring.

So when I booked my hotel, I also booked a tour that took me to the safari, fed me dinner, then drove me back. It was about 6:15 PM and I had been given a ride about half a mile to the World’s Largest Giant Observation (we don’t want to pay Ferris) Wheel, you can see it from my room.

The meeting place was in the parking lot and minivans were showing up from all over the city loaded with passengers. I was given a little sticker and told to wait. I wandered about a bit, trying to fall into conversation with a few different folks. I eventually found a nice australian couple who were stopping in Singapore on their way back from England to visit their daughter and their new Grandchild.

We chatted over the usual basics on the 30 minute or so ride to the zoo. At this point, I was somewhat regretting my choice to get dinner on the tour. It was going to be an International buffet and I didn’t want to waste a trip to one of the greatest food cities in the world by eating bland fried rice and an uninspired curry or two.

Turns out that the dinner was excellent. It was mostly Indian with a little bit of Chinese, Malay, and Thai. Everything I tried was quite delicious, I even had some baby octopus in a spicy Thai sauce. Dessert was also wonderful, I don’t know how long it had been since I had been able to put fresh strawberries on some ice cream.

The event was set up so that after dinner we could go jump on the tram or go to a show whenever we liked. I finished eating before the couple and I was impatient to start touring, so I excused myself and went on my way. The creatures of the night show was letting out right as I went to get on a tram, so the lines were long and the ushers recommended I go to the show myself.

It was a hell of a show. It helps that Singapore has English as one of it’s official languages so the MC spoke in a language I could easily understand, with a slight Australian accent. She was cheerful and energetic, interested and well informed. There was some tasteful music and they did a good job of showing off the animals together with a generic “conservation” message.

They did a good job of involving the audience. This kid was invited up to hold onto some grapes which the, um, I can’t remember what it is, was able to sniff out and identify inside a random closed hand. I don’t have many photos from this show, since it is next to impossible to take photos in the amount of light they had. I had my camera up to it’s most sensitive setting (ISO 6400) and my aperture as wide open as possible. I got dark, grainy, blurry photos. In some of them you can identify what is going on, so I uploaded them.

My favorite part, though, were the otters they had trained to recycle cans and bottles. In this video you can see one otter finish recycling a paper cup while his friend has trouble getting the last can into the bin.

After he finished, they brought out a new otter to recycle the plastic bottles. He had no trouble getting it done.

After the show, I got on the tram to tour the exhibit itself. There were a few animals that were more active, but the lions and tigers were, perhaps unsurprisingly, asleep. Apparently lions can sleep up to 22 hours a day. The tram had a tour guide who did a good job of explaining what was going on, and I had no one sitting next to me, so I was able to slide back and forth, attempting to take pictures. I’m not exactly sure why, of course, since I was on a moving vehicle at night. I did get an almost passable photo of an elephant at night.

After the tram ride, I had about 20 minutes left before the bus would leave. I had the option of staying and hiring a taxi to take me home. I debated this for a while. I really did want to see more and there were trails that went all around the park. It was 10:00 and the park didn’t close until 12:00.

Still, it had been a long day and I was tired. I didn’t want to deal with hiring a taxi and paying that cost. Instead I would use the time and money to go get a couple beers in town.

Couple beers. Heh. I had heard that alcohol in Singapore is expensive, but I bought a pint (well, 500mL) of a german beer brewed locally. It cost me S$18. I only had one. I was unable to get anyone’s attention to chat with and hanging out by yourself in a bar is about as depressing as it gets. I headed back to my hotel room and signed on to the ‘net to see if there was anyone in the States to talk to before I fell asleep.

First thing after walking out of the hotel, I walked down to the Fountain of Wealth, the world’s largest fountain, which was across the street from the hotel. I took a couple of fun pictures, but like all of the pictures from the first day, I accidentally deleted them, so you’ll have to deal with a Wikipedia link. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fountain_of_Wealth

The fountain itself is based inside a shopping mall, which I was soon to discover is pretty much the way the entire city is laid out. Shopping mall after shopping mall linked to shopping mall which is under a hotel which has a skybridge to a shopping mall which goes into the basement which is attached to the subway which, get this, links endless numbers of shopping malls.

I walked around the inner fountain of the Fountain of Wealth three times in a clockwise fashion with my right hand in the fountain whilst wishing for wealth. According to the placards, doing that should bring me wealth. We’ll see.

I wandered about the endlessly linked shopping malls and a down a few outdoor sidewalks. Everything was neat clean and orderly. If it weren’t for the large number of asians, I would easily believe I was in a miscellaneous American metropolis. Portland or Philadelphia or Cincinnati or something.

I eventually stumbled on a large park which was apparently the site of the island city-state’s british stronghold during World War II. This was the beginning of my introduction to Singapore’s only truly significant historical event. I was exploring around the top of the bunker and intended to go up to a little observation tower they had on the top of it, but a fence blocked my way. The sign on the fence indicated that there should be no trespassing and accentuated the point with a decal of a man pointing a rifle at another who had his hands in the air.

Singapore: Do what we say or we will shoot you. (This point would have been a lot more poignant if I hadn’t deleted the photo).

At this point I had been sweating in the hot tropical sun for a couple hours. I don’t know exactly how hot it was, probably in the low triple digits. Singapore is a mere 1 degree above the equator. Further, the Vernal Equinox, when the sun is directly overhead, was only 20 days later.

I was craving water. In Thailand, you can find a 7-Eleven or the Japanese version, Family Mart, on just about every block. Water is 7 or 8 baht for 600 ml. About $0.25. You can basically keep cool by stopping into 7-eleven, buying a bottle of water, drinking it before it gets warm, then stop at the next 7-eleven for more.

I had yet to see a convenience store of any sort in Singapore, though there was no shortage of coffee shops, smoothie bars, regular bars, and other places that sell expensive beverages loaded with sugar, salt, and caffeine. I checked a map of the park I was in and had a little knife-and-fork decal to indicate a place I could go for food. Everything was closed (it seemed like they were setting up for a wedding), but there was a vending machine.

The vending machine only took coins and I hadn’t been in the country for long enough to amass the large pocketfuls of heavy change which would eventually rip a hole in my wallet and lead me to use any excuse I could to ditch them. The only place nearby that could make change was a tour office for the tour of the “Battle Box.” I bought a ticket, got my change, and bought a 100 plus. The 100 plus was a Singaporean gatorade knockoff, the closest thing to water I could find.

The Battle Box tour promised to be amazing. It was a S$3 million (that’s Singaporean dollars, about 1.5:1 US) restoration project inside the actual Bunker the brits holed up in during World War II. It started off wonderfully with some nicely timed sound effects and lighting. I dutifully followed the “no photography” signs until I saw no one else on the tour was being reprimanded. I took some awesome pictures, but alas, I deleted them.

In any case, the tour, which had started so excellently, went quickly downhill. The tour guide was bored and impatient. He acted more like a shepherd, more interested in moving us than showing us what was going on. Also, it didn’t help that the many of the other people on the tour came from non-deodorant cultures. You learn which cultures those are pretty quickly when you live in the tropics. It gets much worse in confined spaces like the Battle Box.

The tour led us through the last days of the Japanese invasion of the Island, leading up to the British surrender. It was clear that large amounts of money had been spent on this project at one point, but now most everything either didn’t work, or worked poorly. Several scenes were recreated using creepy animatronic representation of the commanders, but many were held together with duct tape or simply didn’t work.

All I really learned during the tour was that they british had to surrender mostly because the Japanese destroyed the pipes that brought water in from the reservoirs. Also, that the commander was unhappy about surrendering. That last bit was the major shocker.

After the tour, I wandered back from the park towards my hotel, discovering that 500ml bottles of water cost at least S$2. Just walking and sweating is an expensive hobby in Singapore, especially since I hadn’t brought a reusable water bottle. I did a spectacular job of getting lost and only barely made it back to the hotel through the maze of shopping malls, overpasses, and underpasses in time to throw on some shorts (wearing jeans had been miserable) before heading off to the Night Safari at the Singapore Zoo.

On Thursday evening, I set about scheduling my taxi ride to the airport for 6 am on Friday. There is a well established rate of 800 baht, about $24, for a taxi ride to the airport. Last time I went to the airport using my usual driver, he charged me 2700 baht, about $80. I take some responsibility for that, since I forgot the absolute Thai rule of “establish the price first.”

Thursday had been a very long day at the end of a very long 4 day week and I just wanted to go home and go to sleep. I would have to be up even earlier than usual to get ready for the flight, and I still had to pack. I tried a couple local options to get a taxi, and after struggling with language issues for a little bit, I was offered a price of 1200 baht. I turned it down and went up to my condo to eat dinner and work up the energy to go into town and schedule the taxi there. I tried one more local option and bargained them down to 1300 baht before given in and wanting the whole thing to be over with. I pretty much failed that adventure.

I arrived in Singapore and briefly panicked. I was really unprepared for the trip. I hadn’t researched Taxi rates or customs including the distance and expected cost to my location. I didn’t know what side of the road they drove on, and I didn’t know if I could drink their water. Worst, I had neglected to bring my US ATM card and I didn’t know if my Thai ATM card worked internationally. I only had about 2500 Thai Baht in my wallet. Worse still, I still had a couple pieces of gum in my bag and Singapore is supposed to be strictly against people bringing gum into the country.

It all came to naught, of course. They didn’t give a crap about the gum, I converted the baht into 100 singaporean dollars and my atm card works flawlessly. I can drink the water and they drive on the left. Singapore taxi drivers are strictly regulated and don’t even attempt to negotiate. You get in and tell them where to go, and they take you there, then charge you the amount on the meter which goes up at a rate clearly explained on the window of the car. They also don’t expect tips at all, even though I didn’t figure this out until tipping 2 very confused drivers.

The first driver drove me from the airport to the wrong hotel. Instead of taking me to the Conrad Centennial, he took me to The International. The staff at the International were simply the nicest, most courteous, and most helpful staffers I have ever met. I timidly told them I thought I was in the wrong place and they went ahead and called the Conrad, confirmed that I had a reservation there, then waited outside for me while a taxi came to take me to the write place. I will make every attempt to stay at the International if I ever return.

I don’t doubt that it helped that I was supposed to be at one of the nicest hotels in Singapore when they were deciding to be helpful and courteous.

The next driver got me where I was going and checking in was harmless. The gorgeous room was so nicely set that the remote control for the 30 some odd inch Sony Bravia came in a leather case. The cleaning staff had left the stereo to a classical station to complete the ambiance. I dropped my stuff and went about the first thing I always do when I get to a new place: try to get lost.

Part of the problem stems from my new camera. It takes photos a lot faster, which means I end up with far more, larger photos. This is a problem because it means it takes me longer to sort through and edit them, figuring out exactly what is the cream of the crop and what isn’t.

That’s not really a very bad problem, of course, but it has interfered with me keeping this page updated. In an attempt to change that, I’m going to change the focus of this page. I may still accompany some posts with photos, but this will mostly be musings and interesting stories.

I will put my photography on one of my other sites, LastNightsSunset. I originally had nifty ideas for that site, but they never really came to fruition. The name is now a psuedointellectual artisty sounding name for my participation in the rather common “one picture a day” project.

I will aspire to post one new picture with a somewhat significant explanation every day. I will set the server to upload the pictures at midnight my time, so 9:00 am PST, 12:00 noon EST.

I will continue to strive to update this page weekly.

Also, I did this.

I started on the opposite end of the Zoo this time, heading directly to the Journey to the Jungle show. There was quite a bit more light this time, and I got a couple of different shots. Here is some sort of big cat doing a backflip to grab some meat off a tree branch.

And a White Tiger strolling about.

The early afternoon light allowed me to get a nice shot of these really dark furry creatures. I’m not sure what they are, but they go right over everyone’s head.

At this point, I’ve got a pretty good idea of the Zoo’s layout and can go directly where I want without too much trouble. First off, I wanted to see if the Walk Through Aviary was finally finished. It was, and it’s a beautiful enclosure, although it was somewhat lacking in birds.

I imagine they have put a few birds and a lot of food in the enclosure with the intention of having a lot of birds in a few years. In any case, there was this bird that was quite beautiful and not at all shy.

Next I headed over to see the Otters and Sun bears. A couple of out of the way enclosures full of animals that are generally entertaining. The bears weren’t doing much, but the otters were playing and having lunch.

I think they may just drop dead fish into the little pond area, the fish sure don’t do much in the way of fighting back.

It was time to head over to the elephants and mountain goats, an area that is usually loaded with monkeys. On the way I walked through the Hippo area. I was entertained by this box. It would have been fun to get a shot of a hippo inside it. No hippo, you’re not a Rhino.

I enjoy this shot. A Monkey eating a banana in front of a mountain goat looking nonplussed. Kind of normal for both, I suppose.

Just past the mountain goats, I stopped to see the elephants. I happened upon a one-elephant show and used the movie mode on my camera to capture an elephant playing a harmonica.

There is a little path that runs next to the mountain goat enclosure, up to a waterfall. It ends rather abruptly in front of a little stream that you have to hop over. Nice and quaint, something you definitely wouldn’t see in the States.

Regardless, I enjoy it because there is normally a monkey or two sitting up on a railing. There is some great light and the monkeys generally allow you to get quite close and take some nice photos.

I guess one of the lights on a wing broke and it took that long to get the part in from Denver. That happens, after 2 hours, we had all missed our connections anyway. NWA was kind and gave me a $500 travel credit voucher for the trouble.

“That’s great,” I thought, “I’ll be taking a $500 Delta flight in June!” I’ll just go onto the website and punch in this document number. It’ll credit my account with the money and -

Nope. It says I have to call an Agent. Why do the agents have a different system than the website? No clue. It’s alright though, I have Skype. I’ll call an agent. They’ll use their system and they’ll schedule the fli-

Nope. They say they can’t find the number because they’re merging the Northwest and Delta systems. That’s fine. Mergers between massive conglomerates using different systems are bound to have problems and they say it should be resolved in a week. I’ll call back next week to reserve.

A week later, I’ll call up and there is no longer any merger problems. Great! The agent should able to find this document number without any proble-

Nope. It’s not in the computer. After half an hour of trying to figure out exactly what the documents I have even are (seriously, I read every damn code on the paper to her), she tells me my only option is to go to a Delta ticket counter. Why do the ticket counters have a different system than the phone agents and website? I don’t know.

Lets see, the nearest Delta ticket counter is in Bangkok. The Bangkok airport is 2 hours away. That’s alright, I’m flying next month, I’ll just redeem it when I’m there-

Nope. The Bangkok counter is open from 3 am to 5 am. (That tells me that the people working there are probably employees of some other airline that just check people in. The odds that they will recognize this apparently obscure voucher and know what to do especially including the language barrier? Pretty close to nil.)

Well Ms. Agent, Can you reserve the flight and just let me pay for it when I get to the US in June?

Yes, but the ticket will probably cost twice as much, completely negating the use of the voucher.

Essentially, I have learned that this $500 credit voucher is useless. I do have to say though, I was quite impressed with how incredibly helpful the agent was.

The rest of saturday was quite efficient with a haircut, windsurfing, and a trip to the dentist. My health insurance doesn’t cover dental, but I was able to get 2 fillings replaced and a cleaning performed in under an hour for $50.

It is clear that a harness is absolutely essential to windsurfing with any speed or efficiency. As you transfer your weight to the sail, the board is able to pull out of the water and cruise along on a plane much easier. It is also clear that windsurfing with a harness is much less fun. Sure you can go faster, but it’s also much less visceral and not nearly as tiring. I feel like I’ve plateaued solidly into “intermediate” windsurfing. I need to stick with it for a while to get some more excitement, or maybe I need to learn how to kiteboard.

But this post isn’t really about that. It’s more about volunteering. After the hour drive north to Ang Sila and the hour or so of attempting to navigate in a country where I can only barely read the road signs, I arrived at the orphanage. I met a couple other volunteers who were there as part of a sixth month mission. We gathered together and chatted for a bit before heading over to nearby Bang Seen to attend a “sports day” and engagement.

The engagement came first, with Thai people coming for quite some distance because they wanted to see what a western style engagement ceremony was like. Never mind, of course, that people in the west don’t have an official engagement ceremony. The best I could tell was that the ceremony comes from Thai Christians as some amalgamation of cultures. It involved a few songs, a few short speeches, a few prayers, and a ring.

Following the ceremony was a prayer session, a speech about the church and all the wonderful things about Christianity, and a bunch of games. The games were surprisingly fun, especially with all the little kids. One game, where we had to stand with 10 or so people on a small piece of paper involved a lot of putting kids on your shoulders and standing on one foot. Others involved quickly eating food and other such silliness.

It really felt great to be doing something that mattered. The kids were incredibly welcoming and warm, instantly willing to be friends. I hope I’m able to continue to help the organization, volunteering is a great thing. Also, it can really help with learning Thai. Kids are relentless in making sure you know what they are trying to say and simple phrases like “I don’t want that, or ไมเอา (mai ao)” become quite apparent.