Maestro in Asia

[Maestro]

measels i will have to ask my mom if ive been vaccinated cause i think so but was probably a baby or to young to remember

and burmese workers i see all the time, i got burmese guards now at my condo the bangladeshians got fired, none of these guys are sick though lol, gonna have to look up the symptoms of measels

and as for thailand you know that sucks for me but probably sucks more for you guys im here i can go if i want, right now im looking at tours to angkor wat and surrounding area but yea that sucks ill miss the lil guy and the big guy and vanessa lol. im sure ill find my way back to thaialnd sooner or later, i miss the food to much and although we got thais here making thai food its not the same not all of it actually i just cant get any really good green curry its ok in most places just not great, best place outside of thailand was langkawi but havent been there in a month or so...

also really missing that pizza, the pizza here sucks, i tried some so called italian place the other day and it sucked, but oh well

[doc]

Angkor is phenomenal. Try not to miss it while you're on that side of the world.

We are definitely NOT coming back this year. Immigration issues. We can't risk leaving the country while she has a conditional green card (and a pregnancy; what the little critter is, we find out tomorrow, I'm hoping for a boy, she wants a girl. Well, let me rephrase that; we both officially want a girl, because, if it's a boy, I won't be able to sleep at night all next year, as I try to make a girl for her...) We do plan on returning next November however.

Have not heard back from Decheng yet; he used to spend the winters with me in Vegas, that all stopped when I moved to Thailand. But now we're back, he's been invited, I think he wanted to come, have not heard back in a while. Would be funny if he came and spent the winter here with us again; I haven't been yelled at because I haven't been practicing "everyday" for a long time...

OH, if you go to Angkor, try to continue on up and see Hanoi. And then, down to the DMZ in Vietnam. Don't go in the Cu Chi tunnels though; I got stuck in there years ago, interesting to see, but, damn, I went far too deep... Oh, another story.

Almost fifty thousand views on this thread man. You do have quite the following.

[Maestro]

yes i wanna go to angkor around january/feb not sure gotta look into that more, dunno what "dmz" is in vietnam id like to go there aswell, right now im lookin at angkor wat around early next year, and borneo around the same time i think aswell as cameron highlands and maybe some other places, singapore in december. one of my roommates wants to go back to kashmir and asked if i wanted to go i dunno how much it would cost etc or if its worth going he says so but i think when he went it was the first time he saw snow so i dunno, gona have to research that

anyway havent been online for awhile which is it boy or girl? its sad your not coming back this spring but oh well, ill just channel the 1500 usd i planned to spend there into other trips around here

and as for de cheng keep this thread updated about him and what hes doing im curious to know and there would be more views on the thread if i was more interesting right now life is pretty regular, tight budget atm till next year when my budget changes, if i start teaching kung fu or something i could make some money but dunno yet will see, otherwise gotta wait till jan to spend more although im still doing quite well

would also like to get up to beijing for a few days aswell just to see the forbidden city and great wall mostly, but thats not at the top of the list

[doc]

Kashmir? Are you out of your mind? It's a predominantly Muslim area, not exactly the place where a big white boy with "USA" written all over him, should be seen. The area is the northwestern part of the old Indian empire, split off in 1947 when Pakistan (the Muslims) and India (the Hindu's) separated. Kashmir has been disputed ever since, with two wars over it's ownership, and god knows how many terrorist cells. It's jointly controlled by China, India, and Pakistan. It's the Pakistani part that you have to worry about. I'd be very wary of going there. I'd hate to see you on a Youtube video with a bunch of masked men standing behind you, with a rather large and rather sharp knife obvious in the picture. Though, it would look good on russbo.com, and no doubt, would increase our readership quite a bit. From 50,000 views, to millions.... Hmmmm.

Not sure if it is a boy or a girl, though the way she's been acting (she's a loon this time), no doubt it's a girl. We'll know in a few weeks.

The DMZ in Vietnam is the demilitarized zone, the site of many battles back during the Vietnam war, as it was the demarcation zone between north and south Vietnam. If you're not into history, don't bother. But, Vietnamese women are hot, sometimes, so, I'm sure you'll find a way to entertain yourself if you go. Remember, Hanoi is far more interesting than Ho Chi Min city (the old Saigon, the name I seem to remember it by).

China would be my choice. Beijing is phenomenal to visit, horrible to live. Lots of things to see. Definitely worth it. Angkor, as I told you before, is also a great place to visit. All you'll need is two days for that though.

[doc]

Still trying to figure out a way to get out there for Jan Feb....

[Maestro]

mmm, if you come out here let me know, you guys you say definately not but your plans change constantly atleast from my experience

kashmir yes i know all about it, theres alot of foreigners there they know the risk, its very beautiful apparently ive seen alot of pics and whatnot very nice, dunno if its worth the money though not really afriad of any terrorists but i should be at this point

angkor i will definately go to, havent decided how im gonna go about that, i really only wanna see the temples and stuff and leave not much to do, and beijing i know looks great id probably do 3 or 4 days there thatd be nice, i could fit it in my budget but i gotta plan it right, its winter time righyt now i believe or getting there.

and as for the DMZ i dont care, i love history but not into the vietnam war, really not our finest hour, anyway keep me posted, i miss swensons and pizza man good god, i gotta start making some money here so i can have more options

have fun with the loon

[Maestro]

deleting a duplicate message

[Maestro]

http://news.yahoo.com/20-years-jail-thai-anti-royal-texts-lawyer-061414013.html

i almost thought it was the great bald one untill i read it was about messages sent to the former pm

[doc]

A man who sent text messages deemed insulting to Thailand's monarchy has been jailed for 20 years.

Ampon Tangnoppakul, 61, was convicted of sending four messages last year to an official working for then Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.

He was charged under the Computer Crimes Act and lese majeste law, which is designed to protect the monarchy.

Critics say both laws have been increasingly politicised and are curbing free speech in Thailand.

Ampon was not in court to hear the sentence delivered because recent floods, which have caused widespread disruption in Thailand, stopped him from travelling from his remand prison.

Instead he watched his conviction by video link.

Ampon was convicted of sending the text messages during anti-government street protests that convulsed the capital last year.

He was jailed for five years for each message.
Foreigners convicted

Thailand's criminal code defines lese majeste as defaming, insulting or threatening the king, queen, heir-apparent or regent.

Offenders can receive 15 years in jail for each offence.

In recent years the law has been used far more frequently and far more widely than in the past.

There have been widespread allegations that the law is being misused to settles scores and silence debate rather than protect the monarchy.

Several foreigners have been convicted of the offence in recent years, but they are often quickly pardoned and deported from the country.

Some Thai academics and writers have fled the country for fear of being denounced.

In an ongoing high-profile case, the webmaster of a liberal news website is currently on trial accused of failing to remove allegedly offensive comments posted by readers quickly enough. BBC

You know, it's a serious thing in Thailand. You just can't talk about the monarchy in any sort of negative way. I remember years ago, there was some book written by some guy, which was an unauthorized biography of the king. From what I understand, some not so nice things were said about him in the book. The book obviously was not for sale in Thailand; I did see it in Singapore, but really wasn't interested in reading it. It was definitely not a book to be caught with at Thai customs....

The last part of this article is interesting; they currently have on trial some web master who has a forum in which someone made nasty comments. Now that's a stretch.... But, it's Thailand.

[Maestro]

in the article it says that the king is worshipped as a demigod by many thais, you know that part made me laugh because from what little i saw its pretty true, i mean...the first time i went to the movies with you and they started playing that () king movie or whatever i started laughing like wtf and then looked over and you and everyone else was standing so i got up lol good thing i guess...

also i remember john and are little treks into the hills before muay thai, he would talk about muslims sometimes and he was always really casual about religion and islam, not particularly serious but when id bring up the king he'd get this look in his eye...so serious and just nothing artificial about his apparent devotion to the guy... really interesting

anyway whatever it was nice to see some sort of life from those people even if it was stark devotion to an old king no one ever saw, better then watching them be lazy bastards all day long or grinning like shit eating morons for seemingly no reason other thats the way they are born apparently

mmm some of my malay hate is pouring over into thai, they are to similar just as i note i loved phuket everyone reading this, its great and i wish i was there right now on a beach or something

[doc]

OK, I won't get into Islam and stuff, but just don't let John fool you.

Here's something more important. It's Thanksgiving, and you don't know that because you're surrounded by Malays and all sorts of other characters who know nothing about Thanksgiving in the US. Here's two quotes from two of our famous presidents. Amazing how the quality has changed over the years...

“I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility and Union.” Abraham Lincoln

"From my family to yours, I’d like to wish you a happy Thanksgiving. Like millions of Americans, Michelle, Malia, Sasha and I will spend the day eating great food, watching a little football, and reflecting on how truly lucky we truly are." Barack Obama

Of course, Obama is talking about himself and his family....

[Maestro]

i bet thanks giving at your house kicked ass...i know it always does at my moms house man, 3-4 pies and last year we had turkey and a roast beef i think plus all the other stuff..dont like thinking about it, i dont even have an oven here, if i did id have gone out and bought a mockery of ingredients to make a semblance of a tg but sadly

[doc]

Actually a more so than above average chance of us being there for january and february; checking out flights this weekend. We have a place to stay.

If you're coming up, keep in mind that this is high season, and finding rooms can be a nightmare (and expensive). As I'm not there at the moment, I'm going to be of little help in finding a place for you. (and we certainly don't want to leave it up to your favorite muslim). start thinking about what you want to do. we've been up and down about this, we're very up at the moment. In a few days, we should have our flights done....

[Maestro]

lol i figured u would be coming, problem is thats a bad time for me my brother is coming down to visit me from korea and ive got angkor wat set up for jan feb ish aswell as a few other things in the works, but once u have something set up let me know id like to come out for a few days or a week, my budgets changed a little but lets see the biggest problem will be transportation and a place to stay other then that i dont have to go through all the bullshit of where to go and how to do it everything is still fresh in my mind

so yea depending on the cost of a motorbike and a hotel for a week or so i could look forward to it again which would be great, we could actually talk on the phone now that i got a real phone instead of a rock with an antenna

[doc]

We are going to be there. After the first week of January, for two months. We think we have housing accommodations, but, regardless, tickets have been purchased.

The problem with this time of year, is "the place to stay". We had a hell of a time trying to find something; the hotel that I used to stay in many years ago for 60 or 70 USD per night, is now well over 350 USD per night. Phuket is getting out of hand price wise, especially during high season, which Jan Feb is. If you can make it, that would be great, but we really can't be of any help finding a place to stay, as we're not there (yet). And you remember what I went through "depending upon your favorite mo" last time....

You should bring your girlfriend. Wow, that would be interesting....