Hello Folks,

I am currently in Chaing Mai, Thailand. Before coming home I really wanted to see what Thailand was all about, so I justified a plane ticket with the notion that I may never get the chance to see SEA again. I have learned that life throws so many things at you, you never really know if you will have the chance to do something you want to do even with the best intentions.

I left Phnom Penh about 5 days ago. Two of my favorite monk friends saw me off at the airport. I will miss them very much. It was hard to leave Cambodia in some ways, and easy in other ways. It's difficult to explain.

Flying into Chaing Mai from Phnom Penh was only about 2 hours total by air, but with a stop in Bangkok. The differences between Cambodia and Thailand are striking. Flying in, there was nothing but huge beautiful forest below me. I expected CM to be rather small but have been surprised to see that it is actually a quite large city. I can see why people say it's so beautiful here, it really is. I haven't gotten out as much as I would like to though because it has rained steadily here for the last few days. I am glad I got around to a couple of the Wats on my first and second day, while it was still nice. Today is good though, and I am happy to update this now before I leave. I have so many memories that I would like to get down before leaving, but it just isn't going to be possible.

Other than the fact that people here are Asian, and the weather is very similar, the differences between Cambodia and Thailand are many. The only thing that is really cheap here is food. Everything else costs more: taxi's, guesthouses, etc. Shopping is good here though. There is a "night bazaar" every night in the downtown portion of the city, and they sell just about anything you can think of. I want to mention the food again: For only 10 baht, (25 cents) you can get an order of Thai Curry or Tom Yam, or many other things. The same thing at home of course is about $6-8. Of course sometimes I have to be careful, some of these dishes will burn my face off! Usually someone who is selling the food is nice enough to make a "no" motion to me, as they know we foreigners can't take the heat they can. There are fat people here as well. I know this sounds funny, but there just arent any fat people in Cambodia. Really, I mean I see one fat person, maybe once a week. But here in Thailand people seem generally happier with life, and food is cheap. There aren't people begging from me everywhere I go, which is a very nice change from PP.

I just got an email from a friend at LSI saying that LSI is going "fabless" now and our fab is going to be sold. I was expecting this to happen, as our fab is aging but still in good shape. This is bad news, as I was really hoping to get my old job back this fall. Hmmm, not sure what I will do now.

Well, I have been sitting here emailing friends, paying bills etc, and I just can't do it much longer without going stir crazy. Hope all is well with you. I am going to be on a plane headed home in 2 days. Life is bittersweet in many ways. I am excited to come home, but will miss my adventures here.

I have so much more to write when I get home, before I forget it all. Keep tuning in, I plan on updating more later. Ta ta for now. :)