Browsing category : Expat Life
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Playing the Tourist in Phuket – Part 3
Posted onWhen I last posted, an ungodly amount of time ago, I left the story of my long weekend being a tourist in Phuket on the drive back from a cruise around Phang Nga Bay. The minivan dropped my friend, Malinda, and I at my apartment at about 6 or 7pm. We decided to immediately go and look for something to eat.
By Ben Reeves
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Playing the Tourist in Phuket – Part 2
Posted onMy weekend of looking at Phuket through the eyes of a tourist, instead of an expat, continued with a trip to one of the most famous and impressive parts of Thailand – Phang Nga Bay. This has been on my bucket list for much of the four years I’ve lived in Phuket for yet, just like the Big Buddha, it has taken me the better part of all four of those years to get around to it. If it’s always going to be there, what’s the rush?
By Ben Reeves
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Playing the Tourist in Phuket – Part 1
Posted onDuring August, I had the opportunity to play the tourist and look around many of the key points of interest in Phuket. The reason was that a good friend of mine was visiting from Bangkok – Malinda. She was coming to celebrate my birthday with me, though she also wanted to do some surfing since Phuket is virtually the only part of the country with any descent waves.
By Ben Reeves
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The Expat Bug
Posted onLiving the expat life brings a lot of advantages and I would never choose any other. However, as much as I would like to continue with upbeat articles and share some more of the wonderful benefits to a life overseas, a friend was recently hit with some of the more endemic downers. I diagnosed The Expat Bug.
By Ben Reeves
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Why Being an Expat is Awesome
Posted onA lot of my recent posts have been rather negative about the expat life. Actually, a lot of my posts generally have quite a negative slant, but that’s an inevitable result of having been a journalist for a fair few years – you develop an innate cynicism which is hard to shift. Anyway, it occurred to me that one or two of my readers might be wondering why I would choose to live overseas if I apparently dislike it so much. The reason is simple: Expat life is awesome!
By Ben Reeves
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Why I Own a Tuxedo
Posted onI seem to recall reading or hearing some general life advice, at some point, which advised owning your own tuxedo. The suggestion was that it would save you money in the long run since renting them is expensive. I think that assumes that you would go to a great many high-society events in your life because I have owned a tuxedo since I was 21 and I think I’ve used it maybe twice in the decade since.
By Ben Reeves
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Farewell, Lady Macbeth
Posted onAlas, the Adventures of Lady Macbeth must finally come to an end, just as my time with my 1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo did. If you recall the ending of the last episode, the old girl had just had another major meltdown. The electrical system was out, from a suspected alternator failure.
By Ben Reeves
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#BeachDay: Ya Nui Beach
Posted onYa Nui Beach is one of the most popular bits of sand in Phuket, which is actually kind of incredible. Among nearly 40 beaches around the island, it is certainly not the most convenient. It’s not at all bad, which is why I chose it for my beach day last weekend, but it’s kind of an oddball for Phuket.
By Ben Reeves
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The Last Ride of Lady Macbeth
Posted onI owned my 1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo for a grand total of 306 days, of which I estimate that she was on the road for maybe half. In spite of that relatively short ownership and my limited time driving, I still miss the old girl to this day. We had some…interesting adventures together, among the best of them being her final voyage.
By Ben Reeves
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Remembering Why I Love Thai People – The Hard Way (Part 2)
Posted onWe return to the sorry story of the complete mess I made of a very simple journey, which we started in the last part. Having made the idiotic mistake of leaving my passport at home and not realising until I’d just arrived at the airport, I was now well behind schedule for the rest of my planned journey to Kanchanaburi for an airsoftevent. Last time, we concluded with a slightly bumpy landing at Bangkok’s Don Muang International Airport. The story continues…
By Ben Reeves
