There's always an upturn. You just have to have some patience, and if possible plenty of beer on hand until it arrives.

Oh, it's horribly self-absorbed and nothing like real problems, but I was stuck in Penang for 3 days, nothing to do, in this cell of a room:



I couldn't get my computer to recognise my mp3 player, my camera was broken, not reading any memory cards, and then I learned my computer at home was also broken. 3 boring days and I was going crazy, not even going out to eat proper food, but instead going to 7-11 and buying potato chips and bottles of water. Anyway, as I said, nothing major, but life was just a bit crap for a bit, but THEN I managed to fix my camera myself, fiddled around and got the mp3 player working and the computer turned out to be fine with just a couple of loose connections inside! So I'm back on the org, which I'm sure you'll agree is probably a good thing, and now I can photowhore it up here too.

Do you get these little dips and upturns in your life all the time? It's great when you get a few things all at once go against you and then just when you're starting to bug out a bit everything sorts itself out. I moan a lot but I honestly need dramas big and small to give me something to think about as otherwise I'd be horribly content and immensely dull (more so).

So what've I missed on the ol' org?

not trying to sound like an ass here, but why didn't you leave the room more often?

Fauxie said:

Ben is installing a feature where you have to dial 001 before you can log in.

2the9s said:

Imago said:

Well, this wasn't my first time to Penang. Once upon a time I'd take Mon with me or go with my friend Max and spend a bit of money staying somewhere nicer, eating out, visiting places, making it more like a short holiday rather than a visa run. But it's not a big island with all that much to see and being there by myself, for an extra day too because of a public holiday, and not really wanting to be there, I didn't feel like spending any more money there than I absolutely had to. I had a beer a few hours after I got there and felt terrible, wishing I hadn't bought it. There's something about that place I just don't like, I don't know why. I did take a nice walk early one morning to go a street market, but most of the time I stayed in the room reading.

This is where I stayed, the place set back from the street:

2the9s said:

Bastard

If the exterior of the building is anything to go by the merchandise probably ain't too hot.

I think I'm gonna need another upturn after this thread.

Fauxie said:

submit it to the almighty engrish.com!

Ho Auction Room?

july said:

Ho PeleLong?

I went to Pangkor Island once, on the ferry! it's sort of near there isn't it?

So how often do you have to renew your visa? Is it just a routine procedure or are you worried each time that your application might be rejected? Can you apply for a temporary visa an unlimited number of times or will they eventually make you apply for permanent residency or citizenship instead?

Do you have a job right now or are you an unemployed bum like me?

Sorry about all the questions, I'm just curious.

And as for the upturns, I don't get a lot of those these days.

retina said:

They've changed the rules recently. Before there were some people who'd just go to the border every month and get the free automatic 30 days. Now you can only do that 3 times in a row, at which point you need an actual visa. I used to have to go to the border every 3 months (but only to actually get a visa every 9 months as I had a triple entry visa which is 2 plus 1 at immigration in Bangkok x3). Now they only do single entry 2 month tourist visas (plus 1 more at immigration), but I'm not intending to have to get another one of these. I'm actually off to the Burma border next week, but only for a road trip with a friend who's going there for a visa. I won't actually cross the border.

Yes, I am, to all intents and purposes, currently unemployed. Unemployable perhaps. Or just lazy? No, socially incompetent and to quote Morrissey, with 'a shyness that is criminally vulgar'.

Oh, one more thing. They wouldn't make you get a permanent residency visa. They don't want you to have one! Many would like to have one, but it's not easy. I don't want one though as I don't want too many ties to this country at any given time.