Saturday, January 31, 2009

yourland, myland, thailand!

i really cant thank this guy enough. he's my friend from way back who i've haven't seen in a decade. dude showed me around some amazing places, ate some amazing food and stayed in some amazing hotels. so thanks for everything tom!!!!!!!
cambodia is great for experiencing culture and thailand is great for vacation. when you step into thailand you notice right away that it's more developed than cambodia. sometimes you forget that your in thailand because of all the europeans there. i honestly felt like i was back in europe in some places.
i thought an elephant painting was crazy, but honestly i wouldn't be surprised if the elephant started doing the headspin.  you see that hook they are carrying, that would make me doing anything too. 















bangkok.  now i understand why yoko tanaka moved here.  too bad she was switzerland when i was there. 






my hotel in koh chang.  i was told koh chang is the least touristy island in thailand.  i wanted to go to a island where i could just relax and paint.  


here are a few shots from loas.

thailand got no beggars at all, but once you step out of it then they come running toward you.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

holiday in cambodia

cambodia was amazing! it was truly a life changing experience. a majority of the time i stayed in small villages with no electricity, refrigerators or toilet. i hate to admit it, but the first couple of days i was a diva and bath with avian water. but after a few days i said eff it and experienced the culture to the fulliest. I got violently ill for a couple of days, but it was worth it. cambodia has so many children beggars. everyone told me not to give any children money, but once you see there face it's kind of hard to resist. the first day i gave a kid 2 bucks and he started crying. i looked up and there was a herd of children running after me. the city is filled with people and beggars. the villages have no beggars, just a bunch of kids who wants there picture taken. the only thing i hate about cambodia is the mosquitos. my uncle died from malaria so when i got bitten i was scared shitless. i slept with a thick mosquito net, a hoodie, beanie, thick paints tucked in my thick socks. I even used 40 percent deet, but somehow i still got bitten over 20 times.














me putting in work.










kids in cambodia are so grown up. village children usually start working at 5 years old. here's a kid pouring water in her tub with no parents in sight.








i started to paint at prey sar and a few minutes in a bunch of kids started to crowd up. i let them paint with me, and the hardest thing was to tell them i had to go. the look on there faces when i took my paint and brushes back was painful.







this is my dad's village prey taten. I stayed here about a week. a very peaceful place. when i walked threw the village people would come up to me and say do you remember me? a few thought i was my dad.

i tuck in my pants in my sock because of the mosquitos and red ants. not a fashion statement.














her name is chaquon. i told her not to tell anyone i gave her money. a few minutes later her whole family was asking me.


eating at restaurants like this is probably the reason why i puked all over the river.





here's a preview for my next post in thailand. me battling the famous youtube painting elephant.