Koh Pangan Moon Party Madness

Oh my is Koh Pangan absurd! So when we first arrived we stayed at a very small, quiet resort on Haad Son and relaxed for a few days. The beach was beautiful, although it rained off and on the entire week or so we were on Koh Pangan. For those of you who don't know, Koh Pangan is famous for its moon parties: full, half, black, shiva, etc. Generally, as most parties made for people on holiday, it consisted of a bunch of foreigners and some Thais getting blasted with buckets of alcohol, soda and red bull. There were fire dancers and glow-in-the-dark paint along with black lights and house music.

We paid 300 Baht for the Half and Black Moon Parties. The Christmas Party, however, was free. Usually the Full Moon Parties are on Haad Rin, one of the biggest cities on the island. Absolute chaos, to say the least.

At just a random night on Haad Rin, Thais were dancing with fire poi and staffs. We were talking to and dancing with these two Aussie girls on holiday when all of a sudden we feel the heat of a nearby fire on our backs. Two Thais were dousing a long rope in butane and setting it on fire. They through it across the crowd and the partiers scattered like cockroaches. We ran to one side and watched them swing the rope round and round. Three words: fire jump rope! I had to try it. It was a lot of fun, although I did get a small burn on my leg from the rope. I suppose that I've lost some weight since the skirt I was wearing that used to be tight was then starting to slip. So in attempt to keep it on, I got burnt - the lesser of two evils, in my opinion. Regardless, I got some great pictures out of the whole thing.

On the Christmas Party there was fire Limbo, which I didn't try. Anyway, many of the parties we went to we went with several people we had met at our bungalow in Baan Thai, just south of Thongsala. There was a Canadian from Toronto, two Chileans that live in Australia, two British boys (one who lives in Qatar) and a German.

We wanted to leave the island to go to Koh Tao the 26, but overslept and missed the ferry. Luckily, we hadn't bought tickets yet. So we spent our last night in Koh Pangan watching movies with our new friends. We must have watched at least four because we didn't get to bed until 2am.

Anyway, we are on Koh Tao right now and have been just been doing some relaxing and some partying as well. We met up with one of our friends, Brian, whom we met in Vang Vieng. He was the one that split his head open on the rocks and then got gauze stitched to his head so that he couldn't change it! We started calling him Bo Peep after awhile. We were on the same ferry and have been hanging out with him a lot, luckily he's healed so no more Bo Peep. We also met an Aussie in Bangkok on our way down and we've been spending time with him and his friend who lives on Koh Tao for the moment since he is an underwater wielder (one of the top five most dangerous jobs!). Well, that's all for now. We've booked PADI course at Baan for Jan 2 and will be officially diving certified.

Happy New Year everyone!

Last Days in Laos and Moving Down to Koh Pangan

So it's been awhile, I know. Our last days in Laos were amazing. We went down to Champasak and Si Pha Don (aka 4000 Islands). Since we overslept, we spent about a day getting to Champasak and stayed the night in a guest house by the river. At 5 am we woke up and went to Wat Phu Champasak just after sunrise. It was breath taking. On the drive up we saw the locals give food offerings to the monks as the sun peaked it's glowing eye over the palm trees. We arrived to the castle/wat which looked a lot like a cross between the Secret Garden and Hogwarts. It was great. We climbed up the old, steep and uneven steps about 1km away from the entrance to get a view of the whole land. After about 100 pictures later, we went back to the hotel, grabbed our packs and hopped in a minibus down to Don Det island. On the ferry there we met up with Matt, one of the boys we met tubing in Vang Vieng. He was with a German guy named Til. We stayed together in the same guest house. I think it was called Thonden, but not sure.

We met some other Germans at the guest house and took a canoe boat over to a small piece of island in the middle of the Mekong. We hung out on the beach there and played some cards. Basically the whole time we were there we just chilled and enjoyed the sunsets. Not to mention watching one German get wasted and start singing Bob Marley's "Jamming" but replacing "jamming" with "German." A rendition that when something like: "We're German and I hope you like Germans too... We're German in the name of the Lord."

Unfortunately for us, we had no money and the nearest ATM was a 2 hour drive away. We cashed one of Alison's travelers checks. Then went up to Pakse, got sick from some bad noodle soup and spent a grueling day getting to the border then to the train and all night to Bangkok.

We stayed at the D&D, met up with Taz. Checked out the Grand Palace and disappeared on the bus the next night to Koh Pangan. We arrived at Chumpon at 5am and had to wait 2 hours for the bumpiest ferry ever. Half the boat was puking. We met a Mick Jagger type character named Ian. He was taking swigs from a bottle of Cointreau and shouting to me, "It's like a mad dance floor, but you don't have to move to feel the party." He was friggin ridiculous. Funny guy though, some sort of DJ. He played me some of his music from his ipod and took mine. He was so stoked on all my music. "Angelic Upstarts, mate, that's from when I was a kid oi!" I guess he's some sort of DJ. Kind of reminded me of a movie I saw with Wes called Everything's Gone Pete Tong or something like that. Anyway, it'd be pretty hilarious to run into him again. Strange old dude from South London who looked like Mick and started drinking at 7am on the rockin' ferry... pun totally intended.Do

A Life Made of Buses

We were on another bus this morning from Vientiane to Pakse. This was a long one, about 14 hours. It was night and the giant VIP bus was softly humming along the roads, at least this time they were paved. The roads in Lao are like the board of a game, like Chutes and Ladders. They are windy with random patches of gravel. On the way down from Luang Prabang to Vang Vieng, I had thought at some point we were going to land on the spot that will push us back three spaces. It’s possible, especially since the bus wouldn’t start when we first got on.

Luckily, I was at a window seat so when the day passed into night, I was able to see the stars. Not just a few, but billions like I was on the outside of a giant lantern. It reminded me of a Native American legend my second grade teacher told me, the one of the bird that flies up to peck the sky in order to help the dear get home. Well, I’m not sure how it goes, but from what I remember the bird keeps flying up and down to peck the darkness out of the sky. The first peck is the North Star and so on.

Being from Los Angeles, you really don’t get to see stars like this even if you hike up the canyons. The only constellation I can really point out through the smog and lights of LA is Orion, or rather his belt. He was there on the road, big and beautiful. It was dark enough that I could see his bow and sword. The funny thing is that he was on the other side of the sky than when I was home. I took comfort in knowing that that was the direction home, at least to me.

My eyes continued to scan the sky for other constellations. Instead they fell upon the moon. It was shaped like a smile. The bird had sense of humor. There were two bright stars above it, so the combination made it look exactly like a face. I thought God is in the stars. Then I thought of Nietzsche, who wrote not only “God is Dead,” but also “I want to pray to a god who laughs.” This god of moon and two stars had definitely been laughing.

This new bus we were on was much more comfortable and the roads were paved. I had picked up a new book before we left Vientiane, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I read about 50 pages and loved it. I suppose it sparked this memory of buses. We’ve been on so many and have many more to come. I feel like I was supposed to read this book a long time ago. The truth is I was.

I remember one day when I was in high school I was at my best friend Keren’s house. This was the time when she was living in Canoga Park, right next to the Mission Burrito. We were sitting in her room pulling up old photos. She was leaving to Canada, for real this time. I pulled out the book, “I’ve heard this was great.”

I’ve come across the book many times before, but never picked it up to read. But really, this isn’t about a book or a memory. It’s about embracing moments and feelings, despite the fact you can’t put your arms around them. Thank you Johnny Thunders.

One thing I’ve learned on this trip so far is to take in life, whatever that means to you or me or anyone else. We spend so much time suppressing everything in order to stay comfortable or happy in a unified society, but it’s not unified and it’s not happy.

I’ve been told many times that this trip is an excuse, a fear, a reason to run away from what’s really bothering me. The truth is that’s a load of crap. But, then again, it’s not. If I think about the two men who told me this and if I look at each individual relationship I have with both, I can see that it’s not me that’s running. It’s them. I’m doing what they want to do, what they can’t do, or rather won’t let themselves do. They are afraid of being uncomfortable, I’m afraid of being comfortable.

I don’t know what the future holds, or if this trip is a good or bad idea, or what the hell I’m going to do when it’s time to go back to this “real world” I keep hearing about. I feel like I’m already here in the world, taking in what it has to give me. Whether what it gives is good, bad or indifferent, it is still a gift and a part of me. I’m not trying to be new or unique in anyway, I’m just living and exploring in whatever way I see fit for now, because all I have is my mind and my now.

As a monk told me in Chiang Mai, “Tomorrow never comes. It’s always today, always now.” Life is suffering according to the Buddhist ideology. Want is one of the main causes of human suffering. I suppose it’s a good thing that I don’t know what I want...

Tubing in Vang Vieng

Tubing is amazing! We had so much fun. It's bar hopping down the Nam Song river. You float down on an tractor tire inner tube. Some bars have swings where you can jump into the water and most give you free Lao Whiskey with every drink. So you can imagine how ridiculous it gets. One place had a mud pit where people were playing (we skipped that one) and the last place we went to had a fire pit and everyone dancing. We did not make it to the last bar, because it was just too much and we didn't want to float down the river drunker than skunks. An Irish guy hit his head on a rock and had to get stitches... not so much a good idea. He's in good spirits and doing just fine. Unfortunately, we have no pictures to document this event because we didn't get a waterproof camera. Maybe next time.

Since then, we've just been chillin. Said goodbye to Charlene and recovered from tubing. Yesterday we rented a motorcycle to go to the caves. We made a wrong turn and went up a hill. My foot slipped off the break and we fell. Just a few scrapes, but the exhaust hit Alison and she got a burn. She'll be fine, but I don't think we'll be riding on motorcycles for a while. (even though it was so much fun.)

Tat Kuang Si

We went with some friends from the boat to the Tat Kuang Si waterfall about 32km outside of Luang Prabang. It was incredible. Charlene and I jumped off some of the smaller ones into the aqua blue swimming pond. We hiked up to the big waterfall and walked across the top, got lost and found our way back again. Ate and bought some stuff at the night market and went to bed. Sorry guys, I'm a little distracted so this is short and boring. I'll write more later. Today I think we are going to Vieng Vien.

On the river to Laos

These last few weeks have been interesting, to say the least. I'm getting more comfortable here and we are meeting lots of people. The cities are small and we keep running into everyone we meet. On Monday, we went to Doi Inthanon just outside of Chiang Mai... I posted pics on facebook a few days ago. It's the national park. It was mellow and a lot of driving around, at least in comparison to the trekking tour. The forest and waterfalls were beautiful and we took all too many pictures. Also Markus, whom we met trekking joined us.

Later we met for dinner and got 30 min foot massages for $1.50. We ran into a Finnish guy who was on the park tour too. Then we all went to a bar yay! Some Welsh girl got all together too drunk and fell down a flight of stairs landing straight on her head. So we all spent some time helping her out and convincing her friends to take her to a hospital. Hopefully she's ok. After the drama, we went to 7 11 and got some Chiang beers and hung out by the river.

The next few days we slept in and took advantage of the free wireless at the hotel. We saw more wats on Thursday, our last day in Chiang Mai and booked a border crossing to Laos. I t was a little dodgey, but since we had great times on the other tours we figured it would be alright. Unfortunately, the guy had lied to us and we got ripped off. We were supposed to get to Laos in 2 days by bus and slow boat with night accommodation included. We left Thursday night in a taxi, not a minibus as promised, for 6 hours to the border crossing in Chiang Khong. We selpt in a spider infested, dirt encrusted, smelly room by the border. When we woke up the guy told us 2 more days to Luang Prabang accommodation not included and a stop in Pak Beng. Oh well, nothing we could do. All in all we lost about $20, but since we are thinking in baht it seems like a heck of a lot. So we got breakfast, hassled with the exchange guy who wanted to over charge us for US dollars (they only take $ for Laos visas).

We were told we could pay by credit card so we had no baht to exchange. Alison and I hopped on the back of his son's motorbike 2.5 km without helmets to an ATM. Then we changed money, got visas and onto a rickety boat for 6 hrs to Pak Beng. We met some cool people on the boat and hopefully will have some more friends to travel with in Laos. Also on our boat was the New Zealand girl that I met on the bus from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. Southeast Asia is a small world.

Chiang Mai and All That Jazz

Ok so we took the bus to Chiang Mai from Bangkok last Tuesday night. It wasn’t so bad actually. I was able to sleep and I met a really cool New Zealand girl who’d been traveling for ages. I may not ever see her again, which kinda sucks cuz she was really interesting, but such is the case with single-serving friends.

We arrived in Chiang Mai at 7 am and went to the Lanna Thai guesthouse. The room wasn’t ready yet so we ate breakfast, stored our backpacks and headed off to get bank accounts and Thai massages – definitely interesting. They massage everywhere and try to crack your back with their knees at the end. So we wobbled back to the guesthouse afterward, showered and passed out. Next we woke up, stumbled half asleep to the neighboring restaurant, Sweet Rain, ate lunch (it was nearly 5pm at this point) and wandered around the night market before heading back to the hotel for sleepy time.

The next day we walked around, got lost trying to find the center of the city. We took a cab to Chiang Mun Wat, which is the oldest wat in Chiang Mai. We ate lunch at Ray’s right next door. He’s a nutty Englishman who decided to pack up and move to Thailand 6 months ago after coming to the country every year for six years. Next stop was the Wat something or other and Wat Chedi Luang which is beautiful. (more pictures on facebook). Then we took a cab back to the hotel for some old fashioned relaxing and watching the degradation of the American economy on CNN World News.

Friday you go trekking!

Early Friday morning we started a trekking tour through the northern mountains of Chiang Mai in the Mae Tang area. It was incredible, to say the least. First we stopped at a butterfly and orchid farm, which was nice – just another random tourist attraction but interesting. Then we were off to trek. Lunch was fried rice with soy sauce aka the spiciest sauce I’ve ever had. So with mouths on fire and bellies full, we started our trek.

Although the trek was difficult and a fairly good length, the sights were beautiful and it was worth it. They told us it would be 3 hours and it definitely took us all day, maybe 4-5 hours or so. We stopped at a hilltribe, I think the Lisu, and had some tea-coffee. It was kinda like a mate. Then we continued until we reached camp at about five or six. We just chilled, while some of the guys played Thai football, which is like a cross between hacky sack and volleyball.

We ate dinner and spent half the night by the fire singing and drinking Chang beer. (yes there was a 7 11 even in the mountains! Of course it was a hut with a drawn-on sign, but still.) Here we played a thai drinking game and ended up with black grease from the bottom of the cooking pots and pans all over our faces! Afterward we made a beer tower of about 15/16 cans. It was 16 cans tall for about 3 seconds before finally falling over. One of the locals did it, praying or chanting as he placed each can on top (the tower was taller than he was!).

Saturday Adventure

We woke up early. A wheezing cat had slept next to me all night, cats just love me. No new mosquito bites, which was awesome. We trekked another hour or so to the elephant camp where we rode elephants through the river and jungle. Afterward we went to the Padong (Long Neck Karen) hilltribe, more like an exploitation of human suffering. Maybe they were real Padong, maybe not. Either way those rings are heavy. Supposedly the women wear them to prevent tiger bites from when they lived in Burma/Myanmar. Now it’s just tradition or a tourist attraction (meaning they do it so they can make a living off of tourists).

After lunch, there was an elephant show which I missed, but I’m pretty sure you can see the same at any zoo. Then we took a bamboo raft down the river. After we hiked to a waterfall and did some swimming or at least washed off some dust from our arms and legs. We thought our long day was done, but wait… there’s more. White water rafting. The drops were small, so no big deal. I did fall out of the raft though with another person. Pretty ridiculous, if you ask me. No harm done though. The Thai guys were quick to get me back up, despite my maniacal laughter. They kept telling us to pedal faster as we were approaching large rocks. Of course we listened, and every time smashed into the rock. It was like bumper cars, really. The rest of the way down consisted of water fights with the other raft and collecting our things to go back to Chiang Mai. Finally the day was done.

Aftermath

Alison and I got our stuff and switched guesthouses and were grateful for our well deserved showers. We then met up with some of the people from the trip at the Red Lion. Had some drinks and dinner and went to Bubble, a Thai discothèque. There we saw some strange things. Several guys and gals we doing some funky dancing and acted as if they were on drugs. It was very bizarre. And they were around 40 or 50 years old. Random swing flips and smashed bodies. All and all quite a show. After, the club started getting more and more crowded. Exhausted from our trip, we didn’t stay too long and went to bed fairly early.

Leaving Bangkok

So these last few days have actually been a rocky start. We've been stuck in touristville, jet lagged and confused. The princess (king's sister) had died of cancer several months ago and this weekend was her funeral. All of Bangkok tourist things were closed so we couldn't do any sightseeing. Every Thai person was dressed in black and swarmed the Grand Palace.

Sunday we just meandered around and didn't really do anything. Still tired and with everything closed, we were kind of stuck. One saving grace was our new friend Dave. Alison's friend John meet him a few years ago and so we linked up with him. He's been really awesome and helpful. Last night we went out and partied, partaking in the ever-so-indulgent buckets of booze. I'll post some pictures later here and on facebook. Yesterday we took a tuk tuk cab to a few random places and booked a bus ticket to Chiang Mai, which is in northern Thailand, for tonight. That's pretty much it for now.

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Looks like we made it

So we made it to BKK after all. I have about 4 minutes to write this before my time goes out. We had a 3 hour layover in tokyo where we got a beer, edamame and miso soup... mmm good. Flew out to BKK for a 6 hour flight, cleared customs and got a cab to Khaosan Rd. aka backpacker central and checked into the D&D Inn. The room is small and the shower is next to the toilet... no curtain. Kinda weird using the entire bathroom as your shower. Once we got settled we went outside and got some falafal from a street vendor... not to bad. At this point it was probably 2 or 3 am, I'm not sure. We then went back to the room, showered and passed out.

This morning, we woke up late and got some breakfast at the hotel. Apparently, this weekend is the 3rd anniversary of the Princess's death so no parties. Earlier we heard fireworks... so we might check that out or go to a temple.

You can check out Alison's blog for a different perspective.

Two days later...

We are now in Narita Tokyo's airport awaiting our connecting flight. After all was said and done. Alison managed to get her passport by 4pm Wednesday while I spent the day hanging out with Dave. We flew out earlier this morning. It's 4:30pm right now in Japan and we have about 7 more hours of flight time to get to Bangkok. Basically we miss a day in travel, arriving at 11:45pm Friday. I have no clue what time that is in CA, but it's 15 hours ahead or nine behind plus a day.

For those of you interested, download skype. It's free. My username is aspeyer77, so if you have one add away. Next post will be from BKK.

Woot!

Airport Drama

So Alison and I were all packed up and ready to go. We arrived at SFO airport at 9am for our 11:08 am flight. After checking our bags, getting boarding passes and making sure we could get into Thailand, we proceeded to security check point. We took off our sweaters and shoes and put our bags through the machine. Lo and behold a miracle happened. Once we passed through security we were cleared instantly. It was 10:10 am and we still had just under an hour to get on the plane.

Alison was ahead of me and she went to get her purse and shoes, but in the 10 seconds of walking through the metal detector and picking up her things, her passport and boarding pass disappeared. I was putting my laptop back in my backpack when she said, "Uh my passport just disappeared." So of course it had to be somewhere around, maybe misplaced or on the floor or something. No panic. We informed security who searched through the bins for the missing documents, but searched to no avail.

As timed inched near our departure, the security guards told us to wait while they looked through video surveilance tapes. I went to the gate to see if they would let Alison board without a passport. She had a photocopy of her passport, birth certificate, social security and she had her driver's license. None of that mattered. She needed a passport.

One security guard said that the airport would refund her money or reschedule her flight free of charge. I asked about me and they said no. I had no excuse, they deamed as valid for missing my flight. Pricks. Alison tried to contact Customs to see if she could get a temporary passport. No luck there. Not to mention that today is Veteran's Day, which basically means all government offices are closed. While she was asking around for passport info, our bags were pulled from the plane and it left without us. We were not going to Asia today... or tomorrow.

I had gone back through to the United desk to see if we could change our flight. Luckily, they said that they would change it free of charge for both of us! Next step was to get our backpacks from baggage claim. In the meantime, Alison was checking up on how much it would cost to get an expedited passport. A whopping $450 otherwise known as a three weeks of living expenses in Thailand. Bust. She'd get the passport by 4pm tomorrow and our new flight was for 1pm. So it was back to the desk to change it for 11am on Thursday arriving in Bangkok Friday at 11:45pm.

Jeff (Alison's Dad) picked us up at around 1:30 and we've been researching visas and passport stuff for the last two hours. Let's just hope this is the only ridiculous mess we get into. So keep your fingers crossed and maybe we'll get to Thailand after all.

On the Eve of Departure

So I leave tomorrow morning to Bangkok, Thailand. These last few days in San Francisco were fun and fast. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see many people due to last minute errands and randomness. Yay for Dave who drove out to see me! (you're the best). Next stop 20+ hour flight and the trip of a lifetime. See you all in 5 months!

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Boo for Prop 8 Passing

I'm so happy that Obama won. He truly is the best choice to bring back America to prosperity and stability. My great disappointment in this election was the passing of Proposition 8 in California. I couldn't believe it. I for sure thought that it wasn't going to pass. But lo and behold, it passed. Thank you Utah for being such an ass and pouring money into the Yes on 8 campaign. I hope your happy.

Honestly California. Have we really turned into the conservative schmucks we so greatly abhor? Can we really use the government to regulate how people live their lives? NO!

Two people in love who wish to marry should not and does not affect anyone other than the people immediately surrounding them. What we need more in this country is happy couples, so why would we deny two people their RIGHT to pursue happiness based on what they do in the bedroom. Come on people. Are we so willing to allow our government to stick their grubby hands and long noses into our personal lives? Or wait, maybe the Pledge of Allegiance says "liberty for JUST US and Not all."

Tired, Stressed and Thinking about My Trip

So this month has been pretty crazy:

• Pontiac Drive at the Bondurant in Chandler, Arizona.
• Traffic Court to contest a ridiculous ticket for an "unsafe" left turn.
• Hassling my old roommate for my deposit, half month's rent and money for my bed
• Spending a weekend in NYC to visit my brother and some friends
• Getting Tetanus and Typhoid vaccines
  
• Getting through 12 hours of traffic school in two weeks
• Training my temp.
  
• Dad's Birthday
• Halloween

All that on top of managing my own business and trying to say goodbye to family, friends and boyfriend before flying to Thailand. Can you imagine? I'm glad October is over, but I still have one more week of packing hell and I'll be off to San Francisco for two days before leaving the country, yet again. All in all, I'm a pretty busy chica.

I'm really overwhelmed for the next five months, especially since Alison and I are not exactly sure what we'll be doing in South East Asia. Hopefully, I'll be able to update my blog once a week with some exciting tale or updates on my work (professional and creative).

Huzzah!

My Free Trip to the Bondurant School of High Performance Driving

On October 2 and 3, I was regaled by Pontiac at the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving in Chandler, Arizona as a representative for AskPatty.com. The experience was incredible. Not only did I learn about the Pontiac cars on grounds, but also valuable driving techniques – not to mention an opportunity to really see what these babies can do!

It was a very intimate experience, being that there were only five media people including myself. The first day, the five of us met at the school for what would be a great experience. We were all outfitted with our own brand spanking new pairs of high class Piloti driving shoes. Then proceeded to our classroom for a ground course on under- and oversteer. There we had a crash course in physics as it pertained to vehicles in motion, transferring of weight and how to avoid spin outs. By the end of the class, we were ready for the road.

Exercise one was an autocross. Here we were supposed to use the techniques taught in ground school. One of the most important tools you have when driving is your eyes. Where you look is essentially where you will go. So the idea is don’t look at the streetlight when your vehicle is out of your control. Instead look for open spaces. Your body and thus your car will naturally follow your eyes. Since this is a driving school, there weren’t many dangerous objects to avoid. However, there were those orange cones. Instead of standing on the gas and plowing through the cones, we had to use our skills including our eyes to steer the car quickly and safely around the course.

Another interesting technique is to use your pedals to steer the vehicle. Believe it or not, your pedals play an important role in determining where the car goes. They do more than just stop and go. Taking your foot off the gas helps to slow the car and makes it easier to turn before you even step on the brake. While maneuvering tight turns at higher speeds, you don’t have time to say, “Oh shit.” If you do, it’s already too late. Slamming your brakes for anything other than a hard stop will not help you get through the turn.

That which is in motion stays in motion. Therefore, slamming the brakes in a turn will put pressure on the front wheels and will leave the back wheels spinning out, in which case you’ll need to turn the wheel in the direction of the skid to keep your back end from spinning the rest of the car. A lighter use of the break will help you get around the turn faster and more in control. Why is this important? When driving in icy or wet conditions, this can make a huge difference. Whether you’re speeding through an autocross or gliding on a wet road, it’s good to know that you can use both pedals, your eyes and your steering wheel to control your car.

All in all the school was incredible. The teachers were very helpful and the Pontiac cars were a lot of fun, especially the G6 GXP Solstice Convertible. It’s safe to say we all had a great time. Look for more of my articles on the AskPatty blog on November 6 and 13.

Trouble in Thailand and Car Expos

So I keep hearing about all this drama in Thailand! My friend and I are supposed to be spending five months there come this November. Hopefully the government stays somewhat in tact for while I'm there.

In other news, I'll be heading to the Santa Monica AltCar Expo at the end of September. It's a conference on alternative and environmentally safe fuel and vehicles. Should be pretty interesting. So look for an article by me this week on Ask Patty.

I'm Back

Ok, so I'm re-instating Alyse in Wonderland. Why? Because I'm always in a wonderland of some sort. Upon my return from Barcelona, Spain, I became a web content writer. Then graduation, then just plum wandering. My next adventure is Thailand with Alison. We leave November 11 and will be spending five months traveling, teaching and whatever other trouble we get into.

In the meantime, you all should check out some articles I've written for a great blog called AskPatty. It's about automotive advice for women and touches on all sorts of topics including environment, racing, engines, biodiesel, cars, etc. It'll be fun, plus my name is actually on these ones. And yes, I do know a little about cars and what I don't know, I'm learning.

Also if anyone knows of any good travel magazines that pay per article. Please let me know, as I will be traveling and writing in just a few short months.