insanity in vancity

wowee. diab was back from the uae and wanted to see more of canada than the GTA so we booked flights to vancouver and headed out as the weather was turning ugly in ontario. i hadn't been there since i was 12 or something so we were all pretty stunned as to how beautiful everything was there. we hooked up with tai's girl christina and our buddy govind who was there for work, and took off for vancouver island and the sleepy city of victoria. it rained on us a little bit but we managed to cause a ruckus. overall though, we felt victoria was for old people. so we headed back to vancouver. govind let us stay in his hotel for a bunch of nights and so we just went out at night with friends we all had who had ended up in vancity. during the day we went to capilanno bridge and saw the giant redwoods. man those are some big-ass trees. we decided to walk into the forest at stanley park and got kinda lost. one of the most eventful nights in vancouver was the night that kris threw a bbq and invited all her friends to meet us. they are all mostly asians from richmond who stuck to themselves but there were a few wild ones that partied it up with the toronto crew. mid-week we headed north to a small town called pemberton that was just past whistler. the mountains were gorgeous and the weather was hot. when we got out at one tourist spot, some waterfall or something, we had our car broken into and mine and tai's mp3 players stolen as well as ayham's itrip. bitches. we didn't let it get us down though and we got to pemberton. we let some locals sell us a fake fishing map and some poles and we walked along some train tracks like the littlest hobos (not homos) but never saw a bear or a fish or even a bird. the next day we headed toward a mountain trail and saw where all the fisherman were. damn bastard locals. anyway, we had a powow with mary jane and walked into the woods. the snow was up to our waists and kind of crusty on top so you never knew when you were going to fall through. at first it kind of sucked because it was cold and wet and the tape we wrapped around our ankles because we didn't have hiking boots started to cut into our skin. then we got lost and it started getting fun. there was a glacial lake, we had a bonfire and cooked us some pb and jam sandwiches, saw fairies, peed in snow in the middle of may, and found our way home. the rest of the night we just played frisbee in the full moonlight as it reflected off the snowcaps of the looming mountains. back in vancity, we partied some more, had a great night at one club in particular and managed to catch our plane. it was great to get together with everyone again and i hope it becomes a regular thing with this group. there are some good shots here so check out the pics. cheers.


the boys (after their male bonding moment) strike a pose for mysterious fifth man.

case file 4549: richmond, BC - assailant fled on foot. witnesses remember hearing the victim scream something about seeing a pudy cat. 

this was taken right after our mp3 players were stolen from another roadside tourist attractions. jerks took our holiday soundracks. good thing we managed to convince ayham to hum us tunes every time we got in the car. 

hittin' the road to pemberton for some county lovin', big game fishin' and a little bit of glacier mountain hikin' in central british columbia. yeeeehaaaw!

diab and i - larger than life in the forests of BC (nice crotch shot too) 

cheers to our senses

tai told me that senses, the bar that our friend epa owns, is being sold. it was a great lounge on the island and was frequented by many of hong kong's hot and famous. to all the people i met in hk, i miss you dearly and am trying to get back there. hopefully by then there will be a new bar. epa, you still owe me a wakeboard ride. (tai's stupid cracked skull ruined it for me). cheers to senses. where is sam going to live?


bye bye senses. i miss hk like crazy.

senses, epa's bar in hk, is being sold. was a great place to smoke sheesha and drink screwdrivers and live the life. cheers. 

x-mas, snowboarding and new year's oh my

this was a fun holiday. ayham accompanied me to ottawa for a great christmas at my dad's. my mom, grammi, brother, sister, dog, cat, and a lot of rain were there too. ottawa was great. saw all my pallies including neal and gloria who came up from pheonix. partied hard. ate lots. slept little. tai met up with us and we took off to sainte sauveur for a few days of snowboarding. the weather was great. fresh powder and sunshine. from there we booked a hotel in montreal and met up with tai's girl jen. shopped, ate and i got sick. new years was spent at jet nightclub for just under $100. don't know if it was worth it but if i can't can't remember so well then i guess it was. the next morning i realized that i broke the lcd on my camera when i fell on my ass crossing the street on the way back to the hotel. so these might be the last pictures you will ever see from my trusted cannon sd300 digital elph. it and my mp3 made it 6 months through asia but i spend one weekend in montreal and they both get destroyed. all my music is gone. i don't know what happened but my machine just died. if anyone anywhere who knows my tastes can get me some digital stuff, i will buy a replacement soon. i need music!!! anyway, so that was my holiday. hope everyone had a safe and fun one with their loved ones. now it is back to work. i look forward to it actually...i need the vacation. see the pics here.


tai, don't, c'mon man, you can't have it all

in the hotel before new years 

oh no! turkey killed ayham! 

family at christmas...awwwwwwww!!!

party in ottawa

i went to ottawa for a party. my friend jonah bought a house and my other friends dave, mac, jordy, and another guy are all living there. the house warming was awesome. they rented a hottub and dave spun some tunes. just good to see my good friends. here are a few pics.


hey boys

ronnie, smoking is bad  

what a scarrrry halloween

this was a great halloween!! the second annual halloween bash at the 28 cecil mansion was a big success with well over a hundred people attending (mostly in costume), great decorations and a lot of fun ramblings. thanks to eveyone who came out. look forward to next year's party. i personally enjoyed myself. of what i remember there was a beer bong, some asian guy feeding me imad's vodka, dancin', playing drums for an impromptu band practice with kyle on harmonica, a gorgeous girl in red, landlords disguised as friends, drinking dice games while speaking mandarin, an uncomfortable couch, etc. just check out the pics. if you have more, send them to me.


me and tai, dressed as a pir(l)ate, hammin' it up

yo man, ayham you be jammin' 

halloween - those dolls are creepy!! 

toronto skyline from ward's island on the toronto islands 

sudbury for thanksgiving

well i haven't updated this thing in a while and the only reason really is because i have become lazy. that and the fact that i am not travelling really right now and i figured that you all who are still checking this blog probably don't care about what is happening with me these days. i would like to recap on my experiences though. since arriving back in canada i have been overwhelmed by many things but mostly by the strange fact that my six month trip feels only slightly more than a daydream and that, were it not for the pictures and scars (and new tattoo) i probably wouldn't be able to remember anything concrete. for this reason i am really content that i blogged the whole ordeal. really, i think that this whole travelling itch people get once they have begun exploring parts unknown stems more from a serious form of withdrawl, much like a night of heavy drinking where you find yourself in a daze, most likely draped over a couch cushion in some random house you don't remember ever being at and realizing that, despite serious blocks of missing time and memory, there is a great sense that you had the time of your life and would do anything to try and reconstruct a similar party with similar friends and have similar experiences. for half a year i have been living a party that has, i will concede, abruptly ended with a 22 hour flight, some sobering facts about my homelife, a city that i don't recognize, a new appartment and an endless job search. who wouldn't want to just jump back on a plane or boat or whatever to start the party up all over again. why does 'real life' have to be built with the uniform grey lego blocks of a 'real job', 'real home', 'real love' and 'real priorities'? anyway, sorry for the rant. it was a wonderful trip and adventure and anyone who wants to ask more specific questions can email me at iamjamieread@gmail.com. so...since i have been back i moved into a new place with my pal james, have been interviewing for a new job and just trying to reaquaint myself with friends and toronto and such. this pic is of me and my sis and cousins in sudbury. i have more pics here if you like from our thanksgiving there. it is really good to be back though. except that i want to be back in asia...i am torn...


l to r - my sis kaitlyn, my cousin shannon, me and my cousin sarah in sudbury for thanksgiving

pnom pehn

we arrived by boat at cambodia's capital, pnom pehn and made our way to a hostel. it turned out to be a really fun place. we managed to go to the killing fields and the tuol sleng genocide museum (aka S-21), a light day to be sure. the killing fields were eerily peaceful. there nice green lawns, and pools of water where the mass graves are, the decomposed flesh causing the earth to cave and collecting water to create nice ponds. the only problem is that bones and clothing are still surfacing and there are baskets placed around so that if you see a bone you can help collect them. as much as i tried to understand the whole khmer rouge genocide thing i still couldn't figure out a lot. what i got was basically, a minority group named by the french as the khmer rouge decided that they would turn cambodia into an almost anarchich state where there would be no education, no real wealth and a society that basically reverts back to peasants and farmers and stuff. i don't really understand it myself. but they did massacre basically everyone in the country that was opposed to them. sholars, diplomats, women, children, the sick and anyone else they saw fit, was tortured and killed. the total number eludes me but it is rediculous how many people were killed. and this was only in the 70's. not so long ago. S-21 was a highschool converted into a prison and then converted into a museum. many of the torture instruments, cells and prisoner profiles were left behind to create a very authentic and haunting experience. just walking around the cells and seing the pictures of people's scared faces, it was really creepy. anyway, after all this, chris and i went back to the hostel where the family that runs it decided to get everyone blasted on local whiskey. all the residents and the family had a great time dancing, playing pool and singing. we decided to put off vietnam one more day because of our hangover and my legs were hurting pretty bad. here are the pics


young children playing in cambodia's killing fields

a dead cambodian at the torture prison. a school was made into one of the worst genocidal camps by the khmer rouge. 

view of the sunset from our hostel in pnom pehn 

ankhor wat

after probably the longest, bumpiest and most uncomfortable bus ride of my life (13 hours at 20 km/h in a beat up old bus driving in a rainstorm on a dirt road with the world's worst potholes) chris and i arrived at siem reap, the norther capital in the ankhor region of cambodia. it is here that the khmer people built one of the world's most spectacular series of temples, carving rocks that were carried by elephants from far away lands into haunting, visaged towers that glare down at you from every direction. of these temples, ankhor wat is the most famous and the best preserved. climbing the steep stone stairs to gaze out at the jungle and the beautiful landscape, i was immediately lifted into a state of awe and almost a form of spirituality. pretty cool. anyway, we only spent one day here because we had to move on to pnom pehn. we went out that night and met up with some friends we met then woke up early the next morning. we had to catch a river boat to take the mekong delta to the capital. it left at 6am so we were rushing pretty hard to get there in the morning. at about 5:30am, with the rain falling pretty hard and our tuk tuk (motorcycle with carriage) doing about 50km/h, a dog ran in front of our vehicle and the motorcyle hit it while our carriage's back right wheel ran over the dogs now dead body. the cart flipped on it's left side, which i happened to be on and i was caught inside the cart being dragged along the asphalt. chris, who was sleeping, had no idea what was going on. i on the other hand, witnessed the whole thing: the sight of the dog running into the street, the sick feeling of impending disaster, the cart popping up onto its side, the driver, who's mortorcycle was being turned on it's side by the attached cart, being dragged beneath the bike and then beneath an overturned steel carriage, skidding for 10 meteters and then dark. i stood up and saw that my legs and ankles were bleeding but didn't feel any broken bones. chris it seemed was fine. all i could say to him though is 'is he alive', referring to the driver. he was but hardly. he was pulling himself to the side of the road his back twisted and broken, an arm disjointed, the skin on his face peeled off, his shirt ripped to reveal a rib protruding. he was coughing blood as well. immediately, villagers came out of their shacks to help us. one man began to pour dirty brake fluid on my wounds (for what purpose i will never know other than maybe to cause me more excruciating pain). our concern was for the driver though and we put him on the back of a motorcycle to go to the hospital but....i only gave him about a 20% chance. if he survived the internal bleeding, i doubt he will have full use of his legs. it was probably the most terrifying thing that ever happened to me. i promised chris i wouldn't let his mom know so don't tell her ok. anyway, i decided not to go to a hospital and instead jumped on another tuk tuk and made the boat just in time. i cleaned up and disinfected my wounds when we got to pnom pehn and they are finally healing. maybe i will have a scar. here are pics from ankhor


another temple in the area of ankhor. this is the setting for the tomb raider movie.

this is ankhor wat outside siem reap in cambodia. absolutely awesome 

my leg after a little cleaning on the boat after the accident 

'come tomorrow i'll be on my way back home'

so this is it. i'm sorry i haven't been able to update this, or more importantly email anyone the last week or so. i went to cambodia and vietnam and had a great time. i luckily survided a pretty messy tuk tuk accident and am still kind of healing from that. the last couple days back in bangkok i have been just trying to relax. but i'm at the end. i am coming home tomorrow and will begin a new life, find a new job and move into new house. i will have a new number so i will pass it along. everything else i hope will be the same but we'll have to see i guess. anyway, sorry no pics and no real story. i will update this last entry when i get home along with a recap of everything. i miss you all and am looking forward to familiar faces and languages. oh and coffee. so that's that. i guess i will see many of you all soon. for those of you i am leaving behind...i'm confident this is not the last time we meet. it has been fun travelling with you but gulliver goes home to tell his story. j

koh panghan

i figured if it was going to be forty degrees then i would rather deal with it by a crystal blue ocean and sandy beaches than on the sweltering streets of bangkok. so i got up and left for koh samui. on the overnight bus though, i was fated to meet a group of guys and girls that advised me to go to a smaller, less touristy island, koh panghan. we stayed up that night on the bus, drinking beers and sharing stories about our travels. we got a flat tire and ended up making a 8 hour bus ride into a 12 hour one but eventually the two pakistanis (ateeq and ammar), an irishman (kieran) and myself made it to the ferry before i passed out in the sun. on the island, we expierienced a few gorgeous sunrises, a great party, the craziest rainstorm ever, probably the best group massage i will ever enjoy, snorkelling, the worst excuse for a waterfall a brochure can have, fire throwing, buckets of vodka and redbull (echhhh), great food, a twisted ankle (not mine but ateeq's because of the crappy waterfall), the biggest snake i have ever seen, a really cool bar that now hangs our picture, two fun and wacky german girls, miriam and maren and a wolf that was only a dog. so as you can probably imagine, the last few days were actually very busy and void of sleep and that is why i never met up with my friends on samui and am now in bangkok feeling like crap. it was a good time though. check out these pics.


thai guy juggling a fire stick