the beach

what better to do on a cold rainy night in shanghai than watch a movie about a much warmer place, the beach. was the first time i saw it since it was released about 5 years ago and i liked it much better this time around.

the movie was directed by danny boyle of trainspotting fame- and one can definitely see it in the music, monologues about the quirks of human nature, the cut into surrealism, and so on. i read on imdb that ewan mcgregor was originally cast for the role of richard but the studio overruled boyle. mcgregor may have been a better fit for the part, but it's likely the movie wouldn't have done very well in america (or worse than it did) without any american actors.

the plot is about a secret beach (filmed at maya beach, on koh phi phi le) 'discovered' by backpackers who build a community there and hide the secret from other backpackers. one of the residents goes mad and gives richard a map to the beach in bangkok shortly before committing suicide. the story follows richard's journey to the beach and what happens to him thereafter.

the problem with the movie is the community- it seems far too contrived to be realistic and the only person in the movie who seems to be fairly stable is étienne, so there's not much one can relate to with the characters. there's a 'losing the plot' theme to the movie, with more than a couple of direct references to apocolypse now but no war to provide the backdrop to madness, only sal's defending of the community above all costs.

still, an enjoyable movie to watch provided one isn't looking for any deep meaning. also has some beautiful scenery that made me miss thailand very much. i found that i could now understand much of what the thai actors were saying in the movie, such as 'i kai, chip hai le meung!!!' from the farmer 'boss' to the other farmer when the first of the four intruders is shot.

there's a story to be made out there about what attracts people to se asia- the beach portrayed a small piece of that (the beauty) and hopefully someone will dive deeper into the subject in the future and capture what makes the region so addictive. of course that will result in, as daffy in the movie put it, more 'viruses' and 'cancer' spreading to asia but that's always the price of spreading the news.

* * * * * (edited 2/21) * * * * *

was thinking back to the movie and remembered that the map to the beach that richard received from daffy showed the location being islands to the west of koh phangan, not phi phi where the movie was filmed.

a little googling for maps showed that the islands are part of the ang thong national park group. i wondered if some full-mooners would have tried to follow the map in the movie to an island there on which, like the movie, camping is forbidden. to my amazement i found that a while ago there actually *was* a community of travelers staying on ang thong- they were the inspiration for alex garland's book.

on ang thong's koh mae there is even a hidden saltwater lake, only reachable after a 45 minute hike and squeezing through a small opening. the original community has long-since moved to koh phangan (hmmm wonder if their visas are still in order!) but still interesting that there is a real-life counterpart to the beach in the movie.

extreme unpacking

forget pilatis, forget rock climbing, forget marathon-running... i've figured out the ultimate exercise- extreme unpacking.

on thursday my stuff finally arrived from thailand, a total of 37 cartons which sounded like a lot until i asked a colleague how many cartons he had received- 106!

the workers finished assembling my few pieces of furniture and shifting things into roughly their correct position and left. after that i spent the next 8 hours or so unpacking, moving, lifting, shifting, plugging, unplugging, and last (but not least) swearing.

after around 9pm i spent the next couple of hours messing around with electronics, fine tuning the speaker balances and whatnot. my clothes were still strewn about in piles but hey, i have my priorities!

when i finally turned in about midnight i felt a bit odd- achy, like the type of deep muscle aches i get just before the onset of a fever. i took a tylenol and went to bed right away, hoping sleep would stave off any illness.

the next morning i woke up in a near-paralytic state- it felt like i had gone to the gym after years of sitting on the couch and done every machine to exhaustion. my thighs, calves, my lower back, my shoulders, my arms were all killing me. i hobbled around like an electrified zombie and only felt a bit better after a hot shower.

it's now sunday and only today am i mostly back to normal. now although i haven't been to the gym since i've been in china i'm not a complete sloth- i walk to work almost every day (a 45min round-trip) and used to lift weights regularly.

so if you want to try a new form of exercise, one that provides cardio, strength, and flexibility benefits, try extreme unpacking. if you don't have anywhere to exercise, feel free to drop me an email as half my boxes are still not finished yet!

drug dealing with a heart

from the nation multimedia
published on february 05, 2005

ya ba’ profits go to tsunami fund

charity in the wake of the tsunami disaster may come from rather unexpected quarters, it seems. a drug dealer apparently hoped to boost his business by assuring customers he would donate 30 per cent of the profits from his sales to thai tsunami victims.

nopporn thongthammachart, 31, was arrested at 2am yesterday in bangkok’s taling chan district in a sting operation during which police seized 300 tablets methamphetamine, known locally as “ya ba”, metropolitan police division 8 superintendent colonel jirasak khamkong said.

jirasak said nopporn had admitted to working for a credit company while peddling drugs on the side and quitting his day job over a month ago as his drug sales had gone very well. nopporn insisted to police that he had donated some of his ill-gotten gains to tsunami victims through the bank account of the the army’s tsunami relief fund.

“for every bt10,000 he sold, he said he donated bt3,000 to the victims,” jirasak said, adding that nopporn said he had retailed his bt140-a-tablet pills for bt240 a tablet, each day selling some 150 pills – apparently at a profit of some bt15,000.

“i felt business would pick up if i decided to donate some of the money and so i kept donation receipts to show my customers and tell them that anyone who bought drugs from me would also help tsunami victims by their purchase,” nopporn, who insisted he had donated a total of bt13,000, was quoted as saying.

jirasak confirmed that nopporn had shown officers receipts for donations made through the army’s charity fund.

nopporn has been charged with possession and sale of drugs, a crime that carries the death penalty.

the army is willing to return the bt13,000 donated by nopporn should police wish to impound the drug money as evidence, said assistant army commander-in-chief general lertrat rattanawanit.

“the money was made by dirty means and so the donor might have wanted to redeem his sinful acquisition through a charitable cause,” he said.

“yet if the beneficiaries [the tsunami victims] learned of the donations’ origins, they might not be too happy to accept it.”

this and that

moon over my apartment.


the atrium of the grand hyatt hotel.


an enormous inflatable chicken guards raffles shopping center.


the coffee bean from hell!


the jw marriott hotel, not far from where i live.


the shanghai museum, well lit on a cold rainy night.


can you spot the foreigner?


every yin needs a yang (this one courtesy of engrish).