Tuk tuk tuk tuk, or Thailand, cats and more.
Dear LiveJournal, I do not want my friends page to be called a Feed, I do not want infinite scrolling, I don’t want a uniform layout on all pages - basically, I do not want you to turn into Facebook or Tumblr. I use LJ for a very different purpose than I use FB. II never got into using Tumblr, as seemed a little pointless to me in the beginning and at this point I just can’t be bothered to get into it, because it still seems a little useless for anything but looking at other people’s pretty pictures.
I do not want the social media standards to be forced on me everywhere; call me old-fashioned, but I like that LiveJournal is a traditional blogging platform, I like it the way it is. I do not want a new friends page that bans the individual styles and layouts.
In other news...
I have a cat.
A black cat whose name is Skywalker (the Lord of Darkness); Sky is the name we use to yell at him. He came home with us over a week ago and at first I wasn’t even convinced that he’s the right cat for me, but by now I’ve kind of been pussy-whipped. He’s 3 months old, has already grown enough to be able to jump onto the bed in one straight leap instead of scrambling up while using his claws. He has also turned Maru, our other cat, into his bitch, and has expanded exponentially throughout the apartment, trying to hog the cat tree (both the cat trees, actually).
It was terrifying in the beginning and I couldn’t sleep a little and ended up crying a few times, because I felt like I couldn’t cope with the responsibility. (It is a responsibility - cats live some 15 to 20 years, after all.) By now I’m used to the idea.
I still feel guilty, because Maru is so very indignated and angry at us - he ceased growling at the little cat, we have seen them sharing a bed and licking each other... but he won’t come cuddle, he’s stressed out and generally doesn’t act his usual self. I miss Maru. He used to come lie down on my chest whenever I laid down to read. I feel bad for neglecting one or the other. I found it very emotionally taxing in the beginning, having the two of them constantly going at each other...
But it’s also very hilarious (kitten fails all over the place), the cat followed me around like a puppy the first two days (he was so scared), he would start to purr whenever I’d enter the room, he still purrs like a tractor when you just look at him/touch him and he’s all soft and pretty.
In other news still... I haven’t even written anything about our vacation in Thailand. Some photos are up on my Facebook and I’m afraid I won’t be posting many here. A part of me feels like I should write down the details of the trip at least somewhere lest I forget them (and what better place to do that than LJ), but I’m also rather lazy.
• Bangkok was sweltering hot, noisy, dirty, full of scents and traffic and drivers leaning out of their motorized trikes yelling “tuk-tuk, tuk-tuk, you need a tuk-tuk, where you going, i take you!” Riding a tuk-tuk in Bangkok is an adventure in itself.
• Koh Tao and scuba diving was gorgeous, we had perfect weather and are now certified PADI Open Water Divers. I’m sure I’ve seen almost a 100 types of fish in those few dives (and even just snorkeling in our bay). I didn’t even panic - I guess breathing underwater really is something you need to get used to.
• Sleeper trains in Thailand are fairly comfortable, always late and generally an experience worth having. Much better than night trains in Russia. Still, the distances are vast (damn you, Thailand) and traveling up and down by trains can get wearisome - which is why, after a night train up from Chumphon back to Bangkok, we flew up to Chiang Mai and only took a train back.
• Chiang Mai, the second largest city in Thailand, is much nicer than Bangkok. (Bangkok has 23 million people, Chiang Mai only has 2 million.) It’s cooler, you actually feel like you can breathe, it’s greener around...
• We rode every possible form of transport with the exception of the famous Skytrain in Bangkok. We rode a (night) bus, a public bus in bangkok (the bus with fan only at 8baht a ride and the no-fan-no-AC version, which was for free), a sleeper train (twice), a highspeed catamaran, the back of a 4WD truck, a boat/ferry, a truck resembling cattle-transport, a plane (domestically), an elephant, a zipline, a rented motorbike/scooter, a taxi and a tuk-tuk.
• I thought we were going to die when, on the winding steep way down from Doi Inthanon (Thailand’s highest peak at almost 2600 meters), one of the breaks on the rented motorbike gave out. We had also had a flat tire on that motorbike and a very sore ass after riding it for almost 7 hours and 220 kilometers in one day.
• Did you know that elephants are pregnant for 2 years before giving birth? We rode a pregnant elephant lady bareback - she was halfway through.
• Fashion in Asia is not my thing - they’re into all things uber-cute and they seem to be stuck in the 90s in terms of general fashion that you see in malls.
• I ate more steak and junk food in Thailand than I ever do at home. Thai food really isn’t my thing, it turns out - it’s yummy and all, but most of what we had was too greasy (in a different way than at home)... We simply couldn’t eat it.
• We spent our last night in a 5-star hotel. Staying in a room on the 41st floor with impressive views was quite fun.
I think I would return to Thailand - especially the islands, to spend more time on the beach and to do some more scuba diving.
I do not want the social media standards to be forced on me everywhere; call me old-fashioned, but I like that LiveJournal is a traditional blogging platform, I like it the way it is. I do not want a new friends page that bans the individual styles and layouts.
In other news...
I have a cat.
A black cat whose name is Skywalker (the Lord of Darkness); Sky is the name we use to yell at him. He came home with us over a week ago and at first I wasn’t even convinced that he’s the right cat for me, but by now I’ve kind of been pussy-whipped. He’s 3 months old, has already grown enough to be able to jump onto the bed in one straight leap instead of scrambling up while using his claws. He has also turned Maru, our other cat, into his bitch, and has expanded exponentially throughout the apartment, trying to hog the cat tree (both the cat trees, actually).
It was terrifying in the beginning and I couldn’t sleep a little and ended up crying a few times, because I felt like I couldn’t cope with the responsibility. (It is a responsibility - cats live some 15 to 20 years, after all.) By now I’m used to the idea.
I still feel guilty, because Maru is so very indignated and angry at us - he ceased growling at the little cat, we have seen them sharing a bed and licking each other... but he won’t come cuddle, he’s stressed out and generally doesn’t act his usual self. I miss Maru. He used to come lie down on my chest whenever I laid down to read. I feel bad for neglecting one or the other. I found it very emotionally taxing in the beginning, having the two of them constantly going at each other...
But it’s also very hilarious (kitten fails all over the place), the cat followed me around like a puppy the first two days (he was so scared), he would start to purr whenever I’d enter the room, he still purrs like a tractor when you just look at him/touch him and he’s all soft and pretty.
In other news still... I haven’t even written anything about our vacation in Thailand. Some photos are up on my Facebook and I’m afraid I won’t be posting many here. A part of me feels like I should write down the details of the trip at least somewhere lest I forget them (and what better place to do that than LJ), but I’m also rather lazy.
• Bangkok was sweltering hot, noisy, dirty, full of scents and traffic and drivers leaning out of their motorized trikes yelling “tuk-tuk, tuk-tuk, you need a tuk-tuk, where you going, i take you!” Riding a tuk-tuk in Bangkok is an adventure in itself.
• Koh Tao and scuba diving was gorgeous, we had perfect weather and are now certified PADI Open Water Divers. I’m sure I’ve seen almost a 100 types of fish in those few dives (and even just snorkeling in our bay). I didn’t even panic - I guess breathing underwater really is something you need to get used to.
• Sleeper trains in Thailand are fairly comfortable, always late and generally an experience worth having. Much better than night trains in Russia. Still, the distances are vast (damn you, Thailand) and traveling up and down by trains can get wearisome - which is why, after a night train up from Chumphon back to Bangkok, we flew up to Chiang Mai and only took a train back.
• Chiang Mai, the second largest city in Thailand, is much nicer than Bangkok. (Bangkok has 23 million people, Chiang Mai only has 2 million.) It’s cooler, you actually feel like you can breathe, it’s greener around...
• We rode every possible form of transport with the exception of the famous Skytrain in Bangkok. We rode a (night) bus, a public bus in bangkok (the bus with fan only at 8baht a ride and the no-fan-no-AC version, which was for free), a sleeper train (twice), a highspeed catamaran, the back of a 4WD truck, a boat/ferry, a truck resembling cattle-transport, a plane (domestically), an elephant, a zipline, a rented motorbike/scooter, a taxi and a tuk-tuk.
• I thought we were going to die when, on the winding steep way down from Doi Inthanon (Thailand’s highest peak at almost 2600 meters), one of the breaks on the rented motorbike gave out. We had also had a flat tire on that motorbike and a very sore ass after riding it for almost 7 hours and 220 kilometers in one day.
• Did you know that elephants are pregnant for 2 years before giving birth? We rode a pregnant elephant lady bareback - she was halfway through.
• Fashion in Asia is not my thing - they’re into all things uber-cute and they seem to be stuck in the 90s in terms of general fashion that you see in malls.
• I ate more steak and junk food in Thailand than I ever do at home. Thai food really isn’t my thing, it turns out - it’s yummy and all, but most of what we had was too greasy (in a different way than at home)... We simply couldn’t eat it.
• We spent our last night in a 5-star hotel. Staying in a room on the 41st floor with impressive views was quite fun.
I think I would return to Thailand - especially the islands, to spend more time on the beach and to do some more scuba diving.