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STOP PRESS!!!
Sawatdee khrap. I often wake up in the morning and pinch myself when it dawns on me that, hey that's right, I'm living in Chiang Mai now. What a wonderful neck of the woods ... a charming city loaded with interesting folks all marching to their own little distinctive beat of the life drum.
Best of all, it's a staging point for so much in northern Thailand and the Greater Mekong Subregion. I just did a 2200km motorcycle ride around north-western Thailand and believe me, this is Buddha's own country. Fabulous mountain scenery, wonderful Thai-style hospitality (read:sharing Mekong whisky at any hour of the day), and the roads -- put many a 'developed' country to shame. The drivers? Not so much.
I have surprisingly quickly transferred my allegiance from my 1200cc BMW left behind in Australia to my new BMW f650 GS motorcycle. It's perfect for chugging around town here, but give it a sniff of a mountain road and it gets really excited. And it loves nothing better than blamming away at 160km/h along the arrow-straight northern highways. That yellow blur? That's me!
Been busy as hell in the past 6 months: two media trips to Sarawak Borneo, one to Vietnam, and writing tons of articles, such as a series on colonial outposts in Asia for Asian Geographic magazine, a piece on the mystery of Jim Thompson for Fah Thai magazine (Bangkok Airways inflight), a piece on Asian Safaris for Connect, a piece on the Pandaw Cruise up the Rajang River for Expat Lifestyle Malaysia, etc, etc.
Completed a few fascinating interviews for Tales from the Tiger's Den, and am itching to write them up and get the book published now.
I've threatened to get a new volume of Hardship Posting out in mid-2010 (yes, I know I promised that in 09, 09, 07 ...). Can't believe it's been 6 years since Volume 3 came out.
The Missing Years has been reviewed embarassing well from many quarters, and has sold well especially in Australia and Singapore. Unfortunately my PoW tours slated for earlier this year fell by the wayside due to Thailand's tourism falling in a hole.
Read some great books lately, which I'm happy to recommend unreservedly: Bomb, Book, and Compass by Simon Winchester is a cracking expose of why China invented so much stuff way ahead of the West then put the hand-brake on. Currently enjoying (is that the right word? Appreciating perhaps) Plague Upon Humanity about the Japanese Unit 731 that unleashed germ warfare on China and other places. Enjoyed JG Ballard's sequel to Empire of the Sun, The Kindness of Women ... loved the Shanghai war stuff, but then only the weird sex kept me ploughing through to the end of the action in Canada and the UK.
Music-wise, I've been LOVING the jazz clubs (and blues and reggae) that Chiang Mai offers any night of the week. Especially love pounding the percussion at North Gate Jazz Co-Op. Thus inspired, I've dusted off a few of my original songs and will start playing some solo shows around town -- just me and my trusty Telecaster. In terms of new music, The Black Eyed Peas' The End gets my vote for album of the year so far.
Cheers, and do drop me a line sometime. Stu.
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