Brad's Japan/Thailand Trip 2007 - Photos Up!

ReconFive · Post by **ReconFive** » 12 Feb 2007, 04:58

Yes i'm living and working here at the moment, as a matter of fact

Not sure for how long, things are going well so far though.

I can see moving up to HK or Japan at some point if i can manage to find a job, but things are stable right now and i'm enjoying myself here in the kingdom.

I work full-time (teaching english, unfortunetly) and also have private jobs on the side, so that's why i have not had a huge amount of time to post on BnB...but i'm still here and i still watch as many films and play as many video games as i did in the States

Anyway we should certainly meet while your here, let me know the exact dates. Drinks are on me

Godzooki · Post by **Godzooki** » 12 Feb 2007, 11:45

Im also planning on doing Japan this year too(in style), wont be until later in the year as im stuck here in Delhi until May!

Have a fun trip Brad and post pics!

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 12 Feb 2007, 23:13

ReconFive wrote:teaching English, unfortunately

I thought so, it's all farang do

I thought about working in BKK but it would need to be something like IT and as I don't speak Thai it would be hard.

You must be busy with all those jobs. What's your apartment like? I presume you live in an apartment?

ReconFive wrote:Drinks are on me

Sounds good

Tigercage wrote:Im also planning on doing Japan this year too(in style), wont be until later in the year as im stuck here in Delhi until May!

How is it going?

Tigercage wrote:Have a fun trip Brad and post pics!

Thanks. Oh photos online are a definite, flipping hundreds probably.

Now I have a digital camera nothing will stop me.

Yi-Long · Post by **Yi-Long** » 12 Feb 2007, 23:45

How do you become an english teacher? Is it enough to just be very good at english, cause I used to be a grade-A english student back in college and highschool...!?

Or is there a test you should take or what?

ReconFive · Post by **ReconFive** » 13 Feb 2007, 01:51

Thailand is very laid back about the employment of English teachers compared to other Asian countries.

I have no BA, but a TEFL certificate which took only one month of training (on a tropical island) to obtain.
Being a native speaker is more important then anything to the Thai schools (stupid, i know)

Anyone with even moderate English skill can do this. The main challange is keeping the kids under control (which there is a Thai teacher to assist with) and making them 'care' about the lesson enough to pay attention.

Everything else about it is easy, and the workload (at my school at least) is very light. Today for example, i am spending my morning posting on forums and watching Battlestar Galactica. Then i teach one 50 minute class, eat lunch, teach one more class, and that's it for the day.
Some days are harder then others, but mostly 15-17 teaching hours per week.

Although i certainly would not want to do it forever, its not too bad and its a great way to spend some time living in Asia

Yi-Long · Post by **Yi-Long** » 13 Feb 2007, 07:39

Wow... sounds interesting...
So how do you apply for the TEFL certificate and the training on the tropical island, and how much does that cost?

It indeed sounds like a great way to be able to spend some time in another country while also making a living...

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 13 Feb 2007, 14:22

Markgway wrote:
gasteropod wrote:Had experiences of it, or something? I once went to Chinatown in London, but other than that I haven't really been around Chinese people, especially to have experienced racism or anything
Sometimes they treat you like a shoplifter.

Very chatty with the Chinese but as soon as you approach it's like you're gonna rob them.

Very dismissive I felt.

And if you ask a question it's like you're wasting their time and being a nuisance.

Not in the slightest bit warm and friendly.

I've been to a Chinatown but never experienced racism.

The Chinese people I've met like it if you can speak their language and are impressed

(But I guess thats true with any person). I've been in shops served by Chinese people - this is where my one Mandarin phrase - xie xie (thank you) is handy

They like that, and say xie xie back to you, friendly

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 14 Feb 2007, 23:40

ReconFive wrote:Being a native speaker is more important then anything to the Thai schools (stupid, i know)

I've heard you just need to be fluent/semi-fluent. Native isn't necessary. I've not applied though, so could be wrong.

ReconFive wrote:(which there is a Thai teacher to assist with) and making them 'care' about the lesson enough to pay attention

Is that hard work? I gather Thais are one of these worst Asian nationalities for grasping English. Worse than Chinese or Japanese.

ReconFive wrote:Some days are harder then others, but mostly 15-17 teaching hours per week.

The pays crap though right? How much do you make a month?

What year do you teach? What is the average level of English if it's possible to say? Does the curriculum make sense or is it some weird colonial history text book? How many hours a week do the kids learn English?

It would help if the norm at cinemas wasn't to dub, something they're better at (but not ideal) in BKK. Still I do find the subtitled versions usually fairly packed, I wonder how much is understood vs. read.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 23 Feb 2007, 23:04

Ow I'm off on Saturday.

2 weeks of Japanese fun followed by 1 week of Thai fun, followed by en eternity of British fun.

Oh wait I'll be back home, drat!

Yi-Long · Post by **Yi-Long** » 24 Feb 2007, 01:55

Have fun Brad. Dont make the rest of us white guys with an asian fetish look bad!

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 24 Feb 2007, 08:12

Have fun

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 24 Feb 2007, 11:25

Is he gone yet ?
(Is it safe for me to rename BnB to "The Twins' Ultimate Fan Forum" yet ?)

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 24 Feb 2007, 12:43

No

Thanks guys.

p.s - 2 Hours

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 01 Mar 2007, 08:01

Hey guys. How are you all doing?

I've ended up seeing more of Nagoya again today after sleeping in to late to visit Mount. Fuji. I must see it tomorrow!

I have changed my flight details back to Bangkok though and now fly back on Sunday the 11th so 2 days more in Japan　（Yipeey!)

gasteropod · Post by **gasteropod** » 01 Mar 2007, 09:07

My mate and I want to go to Japan in a few months' time. How long are you staying for? We want to go for at least a fortnight really, but obviously it depends how much that's going to be. When I checked on expedia, there only seemed to be 7 nights there.

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 02 Mar 2007, 00:59

I would have read your post Brad but I didn't feel like giving up a month of my life. 8)

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 18 Mar 2007, 14:33

He he true I did waffle a bit, oops

Photos will be up this week sometime. I have some cracking photos to show you guys.

gasteropod wrote:How long are you staying for? We want to go for at least a fortnight really, but obviously it depends how much that's going to be. When I checked on expedia, there only seemed to be 7 nights there.

I stayed in and around Nagoya for 7 days and 6 days in Tokyo. Nagoya is not worth visiting but I was visiting friends so it was worth it for me.

It's well worth visiting Kyoto though (30 mins from Nagoya, about 2 hours from Tokyo), that place is very nice. Tokyo is LOTS of fun. I flipping loved it.

grim_tales wrote:How're things Brad?

Good thanks. I had a wicked time in Japan/Thailand, Japan exceeded all my expections. It's a fantastic country, everyone should visit. Those damn sexy knee high sock wearing Japanese girlies OMG!

Just ordered Warrior King for £5.99

Speaking of TYG I was lucky enough to stand a few metres from the female lead of TYG.

I literally walked past the Thai "Star Awards 2006" in BKK. The whole area was cordended off and loads of Thai celebritires were all over the place. TV, Music and Film. Obviously I didn't recognise any of them but the Thais were going nutts.

It was obvious it was big. I managed to pull some decentish (not easy when the crowds were as big as they were) photos off.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 19 Mar 2007, 22:20

Jet-lag is a right bitch I feel exhausted (my body thinks it's 5 in the morning). I feel all my energy has been drained out of me. I can barely keep my eyes open.

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 20 Mar 2007, 14:25

bradavon wrote:Jet-lag is a right bitch I feel exhausted (my body thinks it's 5 in the morning). I feel all my energy has been drained out of me. I can barely keep my eyes open.

I had almost zero jet-lag on my trip. I left Finland around 5 pm, went to sleep (in the plane) around midnight, slept for one hour, didn't feel tired when I woke up, arrived japan next morning local time, still didn't feel tired, went to the hotel and slept about an hour and that was it. I didn't have problems getting sleep or feeling tired daytime once.

Same when I returned. I nearly died on the train in Finland (31 hour day thanks to time zones) but when I finally got home and saw Toie's Sister Street Fighter dvd on my bed I didn't feel tired anymore. I went to sleep around midnight, woke up early next morning and went to work. Everything was back to nornal again. Zero jet-lag.

Is something wrong with me?

A friend of mine went to China and when he returned he kept falling asleep while watching The Simpsons (airs around 7 pm I think) for two weeks

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 20 Mar 2007, 14:54

As usual with your travel diaries (aka sequels to War & Peace) Brad - too long; didn't read. Maybe next time.

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 20 Mar 2007, 15:15

At least someone's being honest.

j/k

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 20 Mar 2007, 21:03

HungFist wrote:I had almost zero jet-lag on my trip. I left Finland around 5 pm, went to sleep (in the plane) around midnight, slept for one hour, didn't feel tired when I woke up, arrived japan next morning local time, still didn't feel tired, went to the hotel and slept about an hour and that was it. I didn't have problems getting sleep or feeling tired daytime once.

You must be weird, that's 2 hours sleep

. I find jet lag effects me way more going back in time so going forward to say Japan is generally fine.

I also find jet leg for me isn't just feeling tired but absolutely exhausted. I'm fine tonight though, it just takes me 1-2 days to recover (when going back in time). Whenever I fly to the USA the first couple of days I'm a zombie.

When I first came back from Thailand 6 years ago now. I was exhausted for 2-3 days. I got home from work and went to bed at 7pm I slept straight through to 8am the next morning, no dinner or anything. I was due to go to a mate's party on the Saturday (it was Friday, the day I had to work) I didn't go as I slept through the whole day

. He wasn't best pleased and at the time didn't understand how jet lag can get.

EvaUnit02 wrote:As usual with your travel diaries (aka sequels to War & Peace) Brad - too long; didn't read. Maybe next time.

Ah well your loss

Others have said they're too long but tbh if you think that's the case don't read them or skim read. Personally I don't think they're too long, most people's are far to short.

I want to know all the small details too. The best parts are all the small details IMO.

I will say this time however that I waffled to much, not to long though. Seriously they'll probably continue to be long as it's just how I write them.

ReconFive · Post by **ReconFive** » 21 Mar 2007, 13:59

aw shit brad, your back already?? Damnit, sorry i have not logged in for a while, my private internet connection is gone and i'm often too lazy to visit an internet cafe. That sucks.. you were just here and we didn't meet up

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 22 Mar 2007, 19:50

I am

, never mind. That would've been fun though, oh well next time.

You've been there a while it seems, any plans to move back any time soon?

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 06 Apr 2007, 19:02

My photos from my Japan/Thailand 2007 trip are up. Trust me they've been worth the wait:

Click on "Photo Diary"
Click on "2007"
Click on "Japan/Thailand"

http://www.alexmccaffrey.com/

* See if you can spot the female lead from Tom Yum Goong

* Make sure you check out the "Yoyogi Park" ones, but they're all great/have come out fantastic.
* As per usual I've tried to capture the good, bad and ugly, as much as my eyes see as possible.

I started to touch of few of them up (i.e - the few which were too dark) and got a bit carried away, touching most of them up. To clarify I've only touched them up, for the most part they are as my camera took them (which did a bloody good job).

Anyway better late then never, enjoy!