NYE event in Boston

Those of you who are waiting for a last min deal on our biggest NYEevent. We now have 2 General Admin + 5 Drink Tix (Save $20) for only$175.



http://www.SYNERGYNYE.com ...prices will go up soon.

Burma PR

In January of 1962, Burma's democratic state ended and was violently replaced by a military regime that is rightfully compared to Hitler's Army.  The years following have granted Burma with another title: home of the longest civil war in world's history.

Through five decades of bloodshed, fear, and horrendous disregard for human rights, Burma's military junta, the SPDC(State Peace and Development Counsel), has forced nearly four million citizens to seek refuge in surrounding countries and their border camps.  Those who did flee are considered the lucky ones; many are burned, scalped, tortured or forced into vicious unpaid labor for the government.  Women are raped and stripped of their unborn babies; children are sold into sex trafficking or placed as soldiers along with nearly 70,000 other kids resulting in the largest number of child soldiers in the world.  Any resistance is seen as anti-governmental and rarely results in a sound answer; often protestors are met with violent attacks from the military.  The infamous 1988 uprising against the government resulted in thousands of civilian fatalities--students, teachers, and even monks were gunned down for opposing political and economic management.

All this may seem like something out of a history book, but Burma's ethnic cleansing and vicious military rule is increasing annually with the financial backing of several countries.  Investors have thrown billions of dollars into the laps of the military generals, who in turn, spend 40% of their national budget on military--spending 200 times more on military than on health or education--and their only enemy is their very own people.

Those Burmese who oppose the regime still somehow remain positive and peaceful people, although some could say that they are simply helpless; even trying to assemble a militia to defend themselves from the SPDC they are out-numbered- 10:1- and hugely out-financed.  To them, peace without justice is pointless, but they can not fight this battle alone.  International aid is not enough to free these desperate people; it is time that the international community enforced tighter sanctions and puts their heads together to turn this hopeless country into a Democratic Republic once again.  The 2010 elections will be watched closely all over the world, hopefully this monumental year will put an end to the struggle of these oppressed individuals.

Last 40 Days

The last 40-50 days or so have been busy; from jetsetting to entertaining guests, I have had little time to respond to emails or be even a half-way decent friend. I will use this post the best I can to give an update of my recent travels and probably wont have much energy, or desire, to throw in many of the stories. Please understand that when traveling, especially in 3rd world countries or far off lands with entirely different cultures and ways-of-life, stories are made by the hour and rare sites are seen far too often; so spending time to even try to justify which stories are worthy enough of furthering my carpal tunnel while typing is tough to do.

In brief:

In Mid August I had a lovely guest touchdown in the scorching heat of SouthEast Asia. It was her first time in Thailand and her first time in Asia, also our firs time seeing each other in 4 months or so. My wonderful girlfriend made the around the world visit to come see me and show her love and support during my travels, and, more importantly, to eat some damn good food. We spent our first day, from the hour she got off the plane, with a bit of pampering--massage/pedicure/manicure, the likes. Only a portion of what is needed/deserved for a 26 hour flight-taker! After that we took 6 of my lucky students/friends out to dinner and a movie and let them all meet. THey are learning english and are from Burma, the country at the center of Human Rights abuse and under serious civil conflict. THeir stories are amazing, sad, or just plane funny; they loved meeting a foreigner and someone they could practice their English with. We saw an action movie and ate dinner and then some dessert. THey all wanted to take pictures with her for their scrap books, they took turns with different patterns, then switched for the 1 on 1 photo op with the "vewy beautifl giwrl". THe next day, me and the beautiful girl went to an island about 5 hrs out of the city, called KOH CHANG- Translated: Elephant Island...where elephants are sometimes caught roaming free and the water/atmosphere trumps any beach I've seen in America/Hawaii. We got a Bungalo on the water and enjoyed eachother's company for 3 days. On the 4th day, we returned to central Thailand to pick up my next special package arriving from the west: MOMMA!

She arrived early as well, around 10am. I did my best to get her a good massage, finding out that it was her first massage dissapointed me a bit, but also excited me to know I was going to be at the hands of fixing her up with her newest addiction. Two months later I can already picture the meetings, "Hello my name is Nick's Mom, and I'm a massage addict". Funny cuz when I was younger, my mom's name literally was Nick's mom...atleast I thought. Who knew mom's had names?....

We first did a tour of the local temples, and of the grand palace where the reigning king once lived. These are, at the least, breathtaking. Beautiful in all ways that the overcrowded city would allow. Crap, I shouldnt have used the word "breathtaking" yet cuz now I may over use it and I wanted to save it for the next leg of our journey:

Cambodia.

Probably one of the few people who visited Cambodia and fell in love right away. But I have never been awed much by the man-made craziness of modern cities, I prefer rich culture and seeing life in its' purest form. I opted to take the misses and the mother on this trip because of the experience, the culture shock, and the 7th wonder of the world: Angkor Wat. Ill get to that in a minute. So I wanted them to understand/experience the full marvels/immersion of the trip, so I steered away from flights or vip buses and went with the gold ol' 50 cent, 6 hour, train ride down the Thai Coast and onto the border of Thailand/Cambodia. We were approached atleast 6-8 times each, all with some different scam or trick, sometimes by one of the 30+ children begging in the street. It break their hearts to see all the abandoned kids living/eating/working on the streets, whether it be in the sex trade business, begging, or pickpocketing...the kids take A LOT out of you when visiting 3rd worlds. We were then scammed a few times with some visa-tricks and fake consulates; from the 6 hr train ride we took a 3 hr shared taxi(aka guy's car we just met) to the city of many of my thoughts the past few months: Siem Reap, the city that holds the coveted Angkor Wat. Everything about Cambodia screams Angkor Wat, from the countries flag to the national Beer, this monument impressed us already and we hadnt even seen it yet. On the ride over, I tried to give my guests a crash course on Cambodia, the Khmer Regime(one of the deadliest bloodsheds of its time, basically Cambodia's Holocaust), and also of the temple systems and of Angkor Wat. I was learning a lot, but sometimes it is possible to enjoy a site even if nothing is known about it at all.

The next morning we wake at 4 am, again, to catch the sunrise over the Angkor Wat temple. As we pull in and park, I am floored. 7th Wonder of the World. The Monument dating back over a thousand years, was right in front of me as the sun was just starting to light up the surroundings. I took a few minutes to catch myself, then immediately started taking pictures and getting mad at them for not having already ran through a roll of film already. We missed the sunrise because of the clouds, but even a monsoon couldn't make this site un-inspiring.

We walked the grounds for about 2 hrs, it was early and a "low-season", so very few tourists were there. Much like most of Cambodia, the only foreigners there were either in Phnom Penn, the capital, or working in the human rights field. Cambodia also has some great beaches I hear, but we didnt have the chance to see them. As we walked the grounds, I loved the amount of freedom we had, there were no guards or workes controlling where you could or couldnt go and what you could or couldnt do; and for a guy with curiosity and a camera, this spelled disaster. I creeped into old temples and we crawled up and down very impressive stairs and around the buildings. It was incredible, and so well set. In the front the lake was set perfectly to reflect the entire Temple, and then it was built almost like a fortress with grass and palm trees seperating different sections. And the king had built a 200-300+ yard walkway up to the entrance that was made so that he could enjoy the view when atop his elephant walking towards his thrown. Impressive. Id imagine something like that of the pyramids in Egypt; just in terms of the scale of work and creativity that went into the project...over 1000 years old! I have met many grandparents and I thought they were ancient when I found out they were 90....but 1000+ years old...

Anyway, Ill save the enthusiasm-energy for the next few sentences. After a full day of temple-viewing and sunset/sunrise chasing, we ate at the local market, my mom got extreme food poisining and we canceled our next leg of the trip which took as six hours east t Phnom Penh and to the Vietname border. We instead hung with mom and made sure the Magic Mango Shake wouldnt have us end up with a microphone under us saying, "She was such a good woman......it was only a mango shake, how could we have known?" THe funny part of the whole thing was that me and my girlfriend had 4 the same night, and felt better than ever. We felt bad for her, but luckily it was just a 24 hr thing and we were able to get back on the road back to bangkok.

Once in Bangkok I took them around toa few more sites and pamperings. Nothign extravagent, but it doesnt take much in a foreign city to "shock" someone who has never been. We visited Jakujak, the world's largest outdoor market; a few other markets and went on a short safari.

Next step: Hong Kong.

We stayed here and also went to the neighboring country, Macau, for a few days. I had already been but wanted them to see a bit of China. My girlfriend flew out of Hong Kong and me and my mother hten went back to THailand. Hong Kong is amazing, but I dont want to write about it since I already have in early blogs...

Next stop: Chiang Mai. Chiang mai is many visitors/locals favorite city of Thailand. It is one of the northernmost of Thailand, rich with culture and even better massages. "Hello my name is Ann's Son, and Im a massage addict." We had a nice time here and did a cooking course where we learned how to cook some of my favorite dishes; it was from 9am-4pm and we were ready to explode by the time 10am hit.

From there we checked to see if my mother could extend her 3 week vacation onto another 3 days so that we could hit the beach prior to her departure. Its always a good relaxing ending to a go-go-go nick-lead-country-hoping freeforall. We went to Koh Chang, and as Im writing this, we just got back. Here we just relaxed and soaked up the sun. Avoided a rainstorm by staying inside to read, but still had a chance to relax and really enjoy our last few days together.

Now, in about 15 hours and 38 minutes(not that Im counting it down or anything), my mother leaves to return to the states after over 3 weeks of traveling.

-------

I have more than enjoyed my guests and it was nice to speak non-broken english for a few weeks. Hopefully my next blog will give more than just a itinerary, but hopefully this will steer away some of the "what have you been up to??"s

I love you all and appreciate your reading.

Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand

From Chinese women pushing me into bins of clothes to monkeys begging me for money, I just got back from the first leg of an incredible trip. Started off in the afternoon a few weeks back and took a plane straight to Hong Kong. As soon as I got off I realized what kind of visit it was going to be: crazy. Not "I am 23 and get drunk and call everyone 'dude' " kind of crazy, but crazy just because its China. Hong Kong is best described as a simple comparison to Chinatown, very similar...ha, who knew? The swarms of people and scammers and coldness(of the people) brings it all together to make it so uninviting at first. I was constantly pushed and reached over and yelled at by the locals, but apparently this is something to "not take personally". So instead of buying a pocket knife to fight back, I decided to try to get the most out of this overwhelming city. I met a few tourists and one guy, a Chinese tourist from Shanghai, who helped me get around for a day and actually enjoyed one of the best days together...did an incredible hike and saw the best view in all of Hong Kong...at a location called "The Peak". It overlooks the entire city/island and is breathtaking..literally, you are high atop a mountain and the fog/pollution are a danger. We hiked to the very top, past the tourist viewpoint, and snuck into a village area where we found an even more incredible view...took pictures then we were chased out. Besides this, I met a few more people...some who took me to Karaoke some who took me to eat bad food. Also did another hike to a place called "10,000 Buddahs"...where there are 12,800 different buddah statues dedicated to a special temple, another great hike and a nice day for another nice view. Hong Kong started off as overwhelming and I couldn't deal with the heat and people, but after I left I wanted to go back right away, it was a great experience and I loved the city.

From Hong Kong I hopped on a boat to go to a different country, far more interesting than flying....sometimes the trip there is more interesting than the destination. Especially around here where trains and dingy boats can take you to every nook and cranny of the continent...for near nothing! So I arrived in Macau, a country once owned by Portugal---VERY interesting to see a European influence in an Asian Country. It was great to see signs in Chinese, Portugese, and English....so interesting. And to hear Chinese people try to speak this Latin based language was a riot....to hear Chinese people speak is a riot anyway. I didnt spend long in this country, saw a few of the main attractions and met a few scammers who constantly approached me with some new inventive story or scam. The best part of the country was the Ruins of St Pauls Cathedral...you walk towards it thinking its a giant catherdral, but as you look it is only the front of it which remains.. a giant Facade. It was beautiful and this 500 year old piece of history really brought me a sense of appreciation towards those who fight/fought so hard for their country and for a better future/history.

After Macau I flew to Malaysia. Gosh I am getting tired of writing....okay lets make it easy. Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur. Another interesting country for reasons besides landmarks and historical sites. Who cares?, anyway this is a Muslim Country! The first I have been to so far so it was very interesting..and in some of the more rural areas, Im sure I was very interesting to them too. As for things to see, it didnt have much....but as for FOOD(the best part of traveling), it had MUCHO(not a Malaysian word)! Indian/Halal food is one of my favorite, Hommos and Naan bread has kept my figure in the outstanding shape it is today. This country is Muslim, meaning there is plenty of vegetarian food...im not a big fan of bad food, but my brother Phil loves it! I toured the city and met an Aussie who ended up spending a day with me and we did some of the tourist-y things...saw the once-world's tallest buildings-The Petronas Towers-, saw some amazing mosques, and saw the KL Tower, World's Tallest Cement Structure(where do they come up with these titles?)

From there I wake up at 4am to hop on a plane to Vietnam...really long story short(ya right), I ended up getting taken to the wrong airport, miss my flight, meet a guy who brags to me about Phuket, Thailand...and I join him. He wasssssssss right! WOW! This is where one of the James Bond's was filmed, it is rated in many magazines as the World's Most beautiful island..ect, ect. So I spent 4 days, which were supposed to be spent in Viet Nam, in Phuket. Went to Phi Phi Island, saw Monkeys swimming in the ocean, and got my hair braided on the beach while getting a massage under the sunset. Rented a motorcycle and toured the island for a day...and just enjoyed my remaining days after a long 2 week outing.

Now I am back in Bangkok, as I write this I am boarding a train to Chaing Mai. It is the Northern area of Bangkok and is known for its hikes and more relaxing/outdoorsy feel. I signed up for a Meditation class, a cooking class and some other stufffffffff. Then heading through Laos and through Burma,,,down back to Bangkok and down through Cambodia and up through Vietnam! Stoked! Hope it works out well...if not I will just google "cool travel story" and post it as my own.

Anyway. If anyone is still reading, I thank you. If anyone is not, I do not blame you.

xo

Life

Its hard to understand things sometimes; maybe because you are not involved in that situation or because you are too far involved in that situation. But at times we are able to pull ourselves out of the daily-routine and tiresome thoughts, and just clear our minds. It is unusual that having this clear mind sometimes allows things to make more sense than when we try to make sense of them...it helps us to realize two things: either everything is one, or everything is nothing. Neither is more pessimistic or optimistic than the other, just different ways of viewing the same things.

I have spent a lot of time in trains and planes and buses recently and giving myself a chance to think..I have meditated with monks and done yoga with tribes-people. I have done many things to dig deeper into myself and dig deeper into the trials of our mind and of our thought-processes. Desire, needs, sensations, satisfaction, happiness, fulfilment. All feelings that we feel need to be quenched in one way or another. These generally come about with some sort of attraction or attachment to a particular person, feeling or thing...loosing this attachment helps us clear our minds to gain a better understanding of why we think the way we do. Gaining knowledge of ourselves and knowledge of nature brings us closer to a knowledge of life...I will not dig deep enough to ask of goals or ambitions, ambitions create depression and egotistical longings. Gaining control over our mind and our body is the key to feeling better...or atleast this is the case for myself.

I feel that the most powerful and meaningful sensation and desire is that of significance. To whom or what are we important? Love and other emotions can become tainted and egos constanltly get in the way of what we really will feel fulfilled with. I constantly, annoyingly, ask my friends and people I meet if they would truly, truly, feel fulfilled if they got to that point that they are shooting for...if that is the place where they see themselves looking back and forward with a smile. Of course accomplishments are great, but thats living in the past moreso than the present. It is difficult to find our true happiness, but we certainly have the right and ability to pursue it. I hope only the best for everyone in this pursute.

Airborne

Heading out on a short trip now. Been enjoying the time in BKK a whole bunch, meeting so many people and really enjoying the benefits of the people I am meeting and the work I am taking part in.

I hope to come back with a new knowledge of the world as I know it; also with some great experiences, new friends/contacts, and maybe a few presentable pictures. We shall see...for now, here are a few pictures from an appreciatory-dinner that some of my students put on for all the teachers.

Goodbye, (English), Zai Jain(Chinese), Sain yavaarai(Mangolian), Xin chào ông (Vietnamese), Selamat tingga(Malaysian)..and of course, Sawasdee Khrap! (Thai).

Quick update

It is Thursday, a weekday, and I am home! Its been a while since I was able to just sit back and relax for a day...but I was allowed a day off and I have certainly made the most of it! Just had some people over to swim and now heading out to grab some food and then go out later on in the evening with some work friends.

Have been meeting some great people lately, people from all over the place and it really allows me an inside scoop on where to, and not to, visit on my upcoming travels. Its nice to know I can ask them [too many] questions and have a couch to crash on if I end up hitting their country in the coming months.

On the same note, this month will be a traveling month. School is out and I am free for a while--well Ill have to take a few days off from work, but no big deal. I am finally relatively fluent in the language and have found it incredible to conversate with people that I could not before; its also nice to hear what strangers are saying about me while I am there("Why does boy wear pink shorts?"). I have a few friends who are also traveling a bit this month---so Viet Nam, Hong Kong, Indonesia, and a few other countries are most likely on the itinerary.

In some of these countries it is very difficult to bring in a computer and other electronics, so I am not sure if I will have much chance to keep in touch with everyone. My most desired destination is Myanmar! More than anywhere in the world. It is so appealing because it is so undeveloped and so mysterious. Many people are denied access to this Diplomatic Country, and once you get in it is still not 100% guaranteed. Being an American has many advantages, but also some downfalls when it comes to traveling. No complaints though, I will give it a shot and see if I can get into this country that doesn't even have visa, atms, computers, or cell phones.

Other than this nonsense, all is great. Spending a lot of time with the friends I have out here and also working on a few big projects... The government shut down EVERY school in Bangkok due to the Flu, so we all have a nice long Holiday.

Hopefully the Flu isn't taking over out there...lets let Obama have another term before the Flu Apocalypse