Great Falls, MT

Well, I've been stateside now for almost a full year. Spent 9 months in Southern Illinois hanging with Superman in Metropolis, IL and then about two months back in Chicago. It was great spending that time in Chicago since I spent well over a year in SE Asia prior to my assignment in So IL.

One of my coworkers flew in from Sicily and needed to fly directly to Great Falls, MT with a short stop in Chicago. Her drivers licence had just expired and had received an extension in the mail at our office. I had volunteered to drop the extension sticker off at O Hare. When I arrived, instead of handing her the sticker through the window of my car and wishing her a safe trip to Montana, she climbed into the car and explained to me that all of her luggage was lost and she needs to be to the customer site by tomorrow morning AND catch the flight in three hours. And so I became her chauffeur for the afternoon...

We went back to work to gather safety equipment, stopped at her storage locker and also made a quick stop at Target. While back in the office, my managers decided that it would be a good idea for me to travel to Montana as well, as long as the customer approved. I got an e-mail from my coworker with the lost luggage the next day saying I should fly out that night. I packed my bags and was on a plane to Denver 6 hours after recieving the e-mail.

Great Falls, MT was visited by Lewis and Clark in 1805 and was one of their more challenging ordeals of their westerly expedition. Great Falls is split right down the middle by the Missouri River and today has several hydroelectric damns as shown by the picture below. There are five in total.

Great Falls is also known for a fantastic lounge called the "Sip 'n Dip" named for mermaid viewing while having a cold one at the bar. The customer suggested this place and me and coworker with the lost luggage decided that we had to make some time in our busy schedule to visit. Friday night after completion of a 20 hour day at the plant suited us well.

The Sip 'n Dip is a small lounge and casino in a small local Motel called the O' Haire Motor Inn. We arrived around 8:30, grabbed a beverage and waited for the mermaids to arrive at 9. One mermaid swam into view followed by another one about 15 minutes later. It was very bizarre, but really cool at the same time. Around 10, Piano Pat started playing lounge songs on her organ. With the old lady on the keys and mermaids swimming around in the pool behind the bar, this perfected the Sip 'n Dip experience.

The mermaids collected tips through out the night, and i decided to give em a 5 so I could get a picture with em.

GQ voted Sip 'n Dip the best Cocktail Lounge on earth and I can see why. Where else can you hear old timey songs played by Piano Pat AND watch Mermaids swim around the back of the bar. What an experience...what a night!

Oh man...where did the last 6 months go?

I'm sorry. I really am. I knew I was due for a new blog post, but am quite past my deadline. Not cut out for "on time" type work (hopefully my manager doesn't read this post). Or maybe I've been too busy with work to slack off and write a blog (now he can read it).

Well, as you have kept on living the last 6 months, I too have kept on keepin' on. For starters, I am back in Thailand. AH! I never told you I was here in the first place! I came to Thailand for about 3 weeks in February and then returned to Malaysia for the next 4 months. Now, I have joined the team here and should be here for awhile.

Awhile = more than 1 month, less than 1 year

My assignment in Malaysia was to be 3-4 months and turned out to be around 9 months. Both the planned duration and actual time fit into this definition of "awhile" so I will stick to this assumption on the length of my future assignments. Hopefully it won't be too long since I have not returned to the USA since my 25th birthday (just over 9 months ago). Awhile isn't all bad...especially when you have balcony views like this:

My wonderful girlfriend visited for a few weeks in January and it turned out to be the highlight of my time abroad. We visited Cambodia, ate ants, saw floating and stilted houses, climbed on temples about a thousand years old (Angkor near Siem Riep), taught English to Cambodian kids (after we ate ants with them) and just had a grand ol' time. She's beautiful inside and out so our time together is very much cherished...especially while I'm working abroad.

Oh, and I bought a camera. My previous camera was really high tech...for the 90s. That means I can post my pictures to this blog as well. Here are some more good shots from the last couple of months:

• A view from the beach near the Hyatt in Kuantan, Malaysia

• Dusk from the Regency Club lounge at the Hyatt (my favorite picture I have taken thus far)

• A small island off of Tioman Island. We went snorkeling here.
  

• Buddha...in Sepia

• The Petronas Twin Towers at dusk from Traders hotel in Kuala Lumpur

Ok, I promise to write more. Once a week? Oooo don't know bout that. Maybe one every two weeks? I'll try my best. I haven't taken many pictures of Thailand yet, so once I get a nice collection going I'll be sure to post them. A friendly reminder here and there would be good to keep me on task. Until then, keep on keepin' on.

Cock Fight

"Why are those roosters in those wicker baskets?"
"They are for cock fighting..."

These words were said by the driver minutes before we pulled up to a Balinese Hindu Temple...not knowing what we were in store for. We needed to put on sarongs in order to enter the temple. The temple was beautifully decorated and made from volcanic rock. As we went further into the outdoor temple grounds we found a group of people gathering. It looked to be some sort of ceremony. I slowly approached an took this video:

It was a cock fight. Two aggressive rosters with blades on their feet were released at one another with money on the line...and a lot of it. There are two different words said in the video above, one meaning "I'll bet on this rooster" and the other meaning "I'll take that bet". At the end of the above video you can hear the chant change from the first to the second word.

The chanting stops and everyone in the crowd moves in to get as close to the action with about becoming a part of it. My eyes only saw the reaction of the crowd, but I did stick my arm up as far as I could to get over the hoards of people. This video truly shows the emotions of the gamblers with some breaks in the crowd where you can see the cock fight.

The loser was carried off in dismay by its owner and the winner...