Please read this till the end because I have a few important things to say that are close to my heart. First let’s get on to more humorous things and my last few months in Thailand. I got a massage a few weeks ago and I was given a ridiculously tiny tong to wear by the Thai masseuse. It was extremely revealing and not an experience I would like to repeat. He/she also appeared to be a ladyboy which didnt help my anxiety throughout the whole rubbing process. Me and my friend Sean visited the temples in Bangkok and we ended up getting a tuk tuk (a taxi that looks like the ones in the Flintstones) to bring us around for the day. Our driver offered to take us a considerable distance for a very cheap price so we took him up on the offer. We should have known better. Along the way he stopped at a number of suit shops and told us that we only needed to “look” in them and show interest in the suits and he would then get free gas for his tuk tuk vehicle. We did as he said and as a result we were threatened by the Arabian manager of the store who was dressed in an awful shiny blue suit for not wanting to buy any of his overpriced garments. After the Arabian workers went to great efforts to roll out all the silk materials they had on offer we managed to escape their clutches unscathed and thankfully without any suits in hand. We both thought we had made a decent attempt at showing interest in wanting to buy something in the store like our driver had requested but after our disgruntled tuk tuk friend saw that we hadnt purchased anything even though he only told us to “look” he took off his sunglasses to reveal that he only had one eye. He said that the Mafia had carried out this brutal attack on him and that they were going to come after us because we didnt buy anything off the dodgy Arabian tailors. It was a tense ride home as we were constantly maintaining our guard in case the Mafia were following our tuck tuck attempting to take down our one eyed driver along with me and my friend. I do my laundry every week in a pretty dodgy neighbourhood here and every time I walk there I am confronted by the same 4 rabies infested dogs who proceed to stare and growl at me and won’t let me past them. They obviously don’t realise that I mean them no harm and I am bringing some much needed business to their neighbourhood. Each week I end up having to get a motorbike taxi to take me 50 yards past them just so I can get to the laundry store. Clean clothes are never worth being savaged by a pack of monstrous disease ridden mongrels. On a more positive note Christmas was very enjoyable here. A few days before the big holiday my friend and I found badly torn Santa costumes in a garbage bin in one of the big Bangkok stores. We were quite drunk at this stage so we took them from the rubbish and confidently strutted around Bangkok looking like homeless and drunk Santa Clause imposters. We gave the Thai kids an image that night that they most likely will never forget. On Christmas Eve morning we had to do a performance of the classic festive tunes “Jingle Bell Rock” and “Last Christmas” in front of 6,000 screaming girls on stage at our school. I have no rhythm or voice whatsoever so I murdered the performance but the rest of the crew adequately managed to make up for my short comings. I think at one point our music teacher was brutally struck on the eye by a flying hard candy sweet which doesnt really scream “one more tune” but he successfully managed to fight his way through the famous ‘Wham’ classic. I got back from a trip to Cambodia with my friend last night. We were nearly stranded there as our bank cards refused to work in any of the ATM machines. Luckily beer was only .50 cent which made the whole experience a lot more bearable for us. Cambodia was fascinating and the Angkor Wat and Ta Phrom temples (where they filmed Tomb Raider) were a sight to behold. The immigration process in Cambodia was surprisingly not so pleasant. We lined up for hours like cows being sent to a slaughter house and when I got to the top of the line my passport was point blank refused by the Cambodian official. The only issue that I could see was that it was completely covered in coffee stains from a clumsy accident I had while working in Starbucks last year. I thought it gave the passport an authentic look but the Cambodian officials were not agreeing with my perception of things. After deep consultation from the 3 emotionless Cambodian officials and my poor attempt at becoming teary eyed like a puppy that can’t get off the couch they let me into their country. Also at immigration there was an elderly woman in the cue who constantly maintained a 2 inch distance from me in the line and continually placed her arm on my back. I couldnt take it any longer so I let her skip by me. I thought she did it because she liked me but it turned out that she also did the same thing to everyone else in front of us as well and the majority of them let her skip past too. Me and that 60 year old line skipping Cambodian were never right for each other anyway. On a completely different and more serious note and as a lot of people are already aware I was pretty sick about 7 years ago and at one stage the doctors told me that I would only last a few weeks if I left the hospital. I was going through many issues in my life and I felt completely powerless at the time. I wasted many of my teenage years dealing with the negative thoughts in my head. I won’t go into too many details but I realised one morning that life is too short to be suffering and that the people that cared for me were also going through this horrible experience and their lives were also being badly affected. I overcame my troubles with the support of my family and friends and today I can honestly say that I am a completely different person and Ive never been happier. I am lucky to know so many great people at home in Ireland and Ive met some of the most genuine and inspiring people on my travels that have made such a positive impact on my life. For the many people that are going through issues in their life don’t let another year go by without seeking help from your family and friends. People who love you will listen and there’s a lot more who fall into that category than you think. Life is too short to be unhappy and everyone deserves to feel good about themselves. I have lost friends through suicide and it stays with the people who know them for the rest of their lives. I’ll happily talk for any length of time to anyone who messages me about this because Ive been through it all and I know that a bit of support can make such a difference. Fighting your thoughts and feelings is the most difficult of battles but it can be overcome, not on your own but with the help of the people who are asking you right now “Are you OK”?. Even if they don’t notice yet please turn to them now because it will be the best decision you have ever made and I can honestly tell you from first-hand experience that life can be incredible if you open up and make people aware of the negative thoughts you’re experiencing at this very moment. Anyways I hope all my family and friends have a healthy year ahead and thank you for being there for me when times were difficult. I hope that a few people read this and it makes a difference to them as well. All the best!
Posted on: Tue, 30 Dec 2014 17:15:38 +0000