Was in bed by 3ish, solid REM going on, dreaming about something amazing I'm sure. "Where's Deano? Hey Deano, where are ya?" It's 5am, Hamish, our Aussie friend that we lost on the ferry going to Phi Phi a few weeks back, was at Patong Backpackers when I returned. I am in my top bunk, ear plugs in, eye mask on, warmly under my blanket. Someone grabs my arm and I realize that voice in my head, "where's Deano" is not a dream.
Hamish? Bro you okay? What's up? "I'm leaving for my visa run in an hour and I'll probably never see you again cause your leaving for Full Moon and where's my phone?" Hamish is clearly blitzed, bored, and excessively loud. He makes an exit, slamming our dorm door behind him. Ear plugs go back in, eye mask on, roll over, door opens, "You guys should lock your door". He's back. He sits on the Irish girls beds below me, "Wanna hear my ringtones?" Guess he found his phone. He bobs around the room, saying goodbye to everyone, including people he's never met, makes one last round at my bed. "You got facebook?" Yep. "Hood, my last name is Hood, add me." I will, now get out of here. Be safe!
Wake up around 11 with flem in my throat, sore throat, headache and the name Hamish Hood burned into my memory. I add him, make my way down to the main area, eat some left over Pizza Company, and lie on a mat in the common area. No movie today, Hannah and Taryne apparently have bought season 4 of "How I Met Your Mother", and are watching every episode on the first disc. Apparently it's a very popular show in Australia, who would of thought.
I exit, hit up the pharmacy, get 20 500mg Amoxicilian tablets for about $6 and head back to the veg area. The rest of the day was a slow one, mostly resting and hoping that the drugs start to take effect before Full Moon Party in Kho Phangan.
I ask the front desk about my laundry that was supposed to be back by now, they say it will come in the morning. Uh, I leave in the morning at 7:45am, what time will it be ready? Note to the reader, Tip the manager speaks almost adequate English, but her helpers are nodders and smilers, with a minuscule vocabulary. They can sometimes understand you, if you speak slowly, but you are never really confident they grasp what you are saying. So yeah, what time in the morning? I sent out all my clothes, had not done laundry in 3 weeks, so everything was in that batch, and I can't leave without it. "What time?" Uh, you guys should know this, you booked it, 7:45am. "Ok, ready by 7." But is she just saying what I want to hear? You never know.
The rest of the night involved an overpriced dinner at a restaurant on the beach with 10 peeps from the hostel. A visit to Hollywood Bar where James (Aussie) and Taryne are adopted by a Thai woman, that neither is interested in. A few different sub par discotheques, and then a late night grubfest at McDonalds, open 24 hours, and we call it a night. I return, 3am, smile stretches across my face, my laundry is on the counter.
Nite Nite, Iphone Blogger Out!
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Day 48: Woah, that's my junk bro...
Woke up to a boiling hot room. Someone clicked off the AC and the 5 of us left, spent a good 15 minutes in our bunk beds looking for the remote and discussing who would cross the room to manually turn it on. I finally do it, being the kind-hearted, heat opposed, gentlemen, as a dude from UK walks in, assesses the situation, grabs the remote from it's holster by the light switch and tosses it to me ... Yeah, we're a brilliant bunch.
We decide to try out the "Pizza Company" for lunch, a place we had passed multiple times on Bangla Rd but never stopped. Plus we were all craving some western food that was not McDonald's. Stylistically, it's reminiscent of a Pizza Hut from the 80's, with striped booths and a floating salad bar in the center of the room. Next to the salad bar, it says "Salad Bar, 99 baht". Now I'm feeling like I could go for a bit of healthiness, especially after all the fried rice and fried noodles I've been eating, And order 1 salad bar. She returns with a bowl the size of a small ashtray and says, "you go one time." What?! I'm either on Candid Camera or you're on crack, which is it? I hand back the bowl and order pasta carbonara.
The great thing about our hostel is the chill time you can spend mind numbingly in front of the big screen, aircon blasting, hundreds of DVD's, especially if you are drained from the beach Ora long night. And apparently half our hostel was drained because when I returned they were laid out all watching Full Moon ... Again. Yep, it's been a fan favorite, caught pieces of it in passing half a dozen times, and a full screening late one night. I take a bit of a nap and awake with a craving for pizza. Yeah, I'm fully aware I had Italian earlier that day, but my stomach has a mind of it's own. So I grabbed 9 others and we head back to the Pizza Company, this time for real pizza. I'll have a large Chicken Trio pie with cheesy crust, mushrooms, I'm watching my weight.
We make a b-line for Hollywood Bar, share some buckets, and head to Seduction, a dance club. There is always a few special people at every club that don't quite know their limits, but you're glad for it - free entertainment. Tonight on the docket was a larger girl, pushing 300lbs, in a white flowing spring dress. And then there was the thin wirey overambitious kiwi. I first meet the lady in white when she spots our mate Tim (Aussie) innocently dancing near a raised area on the floor. Like a steam locomotive, his back turned, she charges, grinding him up and down, owning his backside. In shock, deer in the headlights, he manages to escape her grip long enough to scurry behind our crew. Moments later, this Kiwi with a smile from ear to ear, having troubles keeping his shirt on, enters the scene. Dancing with guys and girls alike, he is easy prey for the lady in white, and once found, he likes it. What comes next is a terrible display of dancing, but a more than adequate display of why not too drink too much. Moments later, after some serious tonsil hockey, she pushes him away, having devoured her prey, she's moves on looking for new toys. He notices our crew in observation, comes our direction, half dancing, half stumbling, hand up for high fives. Well, what could I do, he is owning his experiences and entertained us quite a lot, so I give him a high five up top. He throws his arm round my neck, all buddy like, while his other hand finds his way to my balls, for a solid grab. Woah there buddy, you might have drunk too much. He smiles and laughs, and goes to high five Enrique (our token Argentinian for the night) who falls for the same trick. However, Enrique, being a bit shy and highly uncomfortable with affection, freaks a bit, laughing and pushing him away. Well you know what happens next, the Kiwi has found his prey, and thinking himself hilarious, the next hour, multiple times he pops up out of nowhere and grabs Enrique's package, all to our very amused and approving encouragement. ;)
We head back to the hostel, in bed by 3am, it was a good night!
Nite nite Bloggerland, the iPhone Blogger!
We decide to try out the "Pizza Company" for lunch, a place we had passed multiple times on Bangla Rd but never stopped. Plus we were all craving some western food that was not McDonald's. Stylistically, it's reminiscent of a Pizza Hut from the 80's, with striped booths and a floating salad bar in the center of the room. Next to the salad bar, it says "Salad Bar, 99 baht". Now I'm feeling like I could go for a bit of healthiness, especially after all the fried rice and fried noodles I've been eating, And order 1 salad bar. She returns with a bowl the size of a small ashtray and says, "you go one time." What?! I'm either on Candid Camera or you're on crack, which is it? I hand back the bowl and order pasta carbonara.
The great thing about our hostel is the chill time you can spend mind numbingly in front of the big screen, aircon blasting, hundreds of DVD's, especially if you are drained from the beach Ora long night. And apparently half our hostel was drained because when I returned they were laid out all watching Full Moon ... Again. Yep, it's been a fan favorite, caught pieces of it in passing half a dozen times, and a full screening late one night. I take a bit of a nap and awake with a craving for pizza. Yeah, I'm fully aware I had Italian earlier that day, but my stomach has a mind of it's own. So I grabbed 9 others and we head back to the Pizza Company, this time for real pizza. I'll have a large Chicken Trio pie with cheesy crust, mushrooms, I'm watching my weight.
We make a b-line for Hollywood Bar, share some buckets, and head to Seduction, a dance club. There is always a few special people at every club that don't quite know their limits, but you're glad for it - free entertainment. Tonight on the docket was a larger girl, pushing 300lbs, in a white flowing spring dress. And then there was the thin wirey overambitious kiwi. I first meet the lady in white when she spots our mate Tim (Aussie) innocently dancing near a raised area on the floor. Like a steam locomotive, his back turned, she charges, grinding him up and down, owning his backside. In shock, deer in the headlights, he manages to escape her grip long enough to scurry behind our crew. Moments later, this Kiwi with a smile from ear to ear, having troubles keeping his shirt on, enters the scene. Dancing with guys and girls alike, he is easy prey for the lady in white, and once found, he likes it. What comes next is a terrible display of dancing, but a more than adequate display of why not too drink too much. Moments later, after some serious tonsil hockey, she pushes him away, having devoured her prey, she's moves on looking for new toys. He notices our crew in observation, comes our direction, half dancing, half stumbling, hand up for high fives. Well, what could I do, he is owning his experiences and entertained us quite a lot, so I give him a high five up top. He throws his arm round my neck, all buddy like, while his other hand finds his way to my balls, for a solid grab. Woah there buddy, you might have drunk too much. He smiles and laughs, and goes to high five Enrique (our token Argentinian for the night) who falls for the same trick. However, Enrique, being a bit shy and highly uncomfortable with affection, freaks a bit, laughing and pushing him away. Well you know what happens next, the Kiwi has found his prey, and thinking himself hilarious, the next hour, multiple times he pops up out of nowhere and grabs Enrique's package, all to our very amused and approving encouragement. ;)
We head back to the hostel, in bed by 3am, it was a good night!
Nite nite Bloggerland, the iPhone Blogger!
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Day 47: ENT, Can you please remove my foot from mouth!
Ok, ever start to tell a story about people you had not met, or met in passing, who had made fools of themselves, thus making a great story, but cannot remember what they look like? And then somewhere in the story you realize the story is about the people you are speaking with ... Uh, yeah, welcome to my morning. I should of been more keen on the Irish accent.
The girls below my bunk seem sweet enough, and we were all lounging in our beds way too late into the day. So I strike up a conversation, as I'm prone to do, and joke about the aircon and fans freezing us out in the middle of the night. That's when I learn about the dude who brought his sleeping bag and refuses to sleep with just sheets. Best part, he bogarts the aircon remote control late at night, turns it on 18 degrees Celsius, and pretends like it's lost until it magically appears in his bed in the morning, then hands it to the girls to warm it up. Thoughtful and considerate. This gets us talking about horror stories from hostels, which we've all had.
So the last time I was at Patong Backpackers, I hung with Holly and Annie, two girls from England. They were staying in the C3 dorm on the 3rd floor, one floor above my current accommodations. The day I arrived apparently so did some new bunk mates in their room, two Irish girls who wanted the bottom bunks. Annie walks into the dorm and sees all her stuff on the ground, and the girl is sitting on her bed. She tells her it's her bed, to which the girl replies, oh, I thought this free, since there was nothing on it. Of course there's nothing on it, she had thrown it all on the floor. Who does that? Who just throws peoples things on the ground? So late that night, Annie returns from hanging with us at Hollywood Bar to find that the girl once again in her bed and all the stuff she had on her bed was strewn about the room. Hairbrush by the door, chapstick by a window, clothes on the floor. When she wakes the girl to tell her to get out of her bed and go to the top bunk, the girl, clearly pissed, pun intended, gets up And tries to climb the bunk. She slips, hits her head on the bed, begins to ascend again, reaches the top, slips again but only onto the mattress on the top bunk, passes out. Hilarious for two reasons, 1. She's heavy and the image of it all sounds brilliant, and 2. She was rude and mean, so its what the Easterners would call Karma. And this is when I get interrupted, "where did you say these girls were from?" Ireland. "Oh". Insert uncomfortable silence here ... Uh, where are y'all from? "Ireland". And how long have you been in Patong Beach? "3 weeks, but we were in C3 for a week before we moved to this room." Uh huh ... so ... I'm just gonna throw it out there, is my story about you guys? "I thought it sounded familiar." Anyone know a good ENT Surgeon? My foot is officially lodged deep in my mouth!
Ironically, they were not rude, but took it in stride, we all laughed about it. They knew parts of the story, but parts were lost because apparently they were really drunk - no kidding - and felt a bit bad. I will see them again on Kho Phangan for the Full Moon party & they actually told me if I could not find a place, I could stay with them ... How amazing is that?
Went to the theater again, still nursing the shin burn. Patong Beach is not quaint and cool like Phi Phi, so the appeal to be on it is fleeting.
Watch Percy Jackson Lightening Thief, my review ... Eh, good concept, poor dialogue, cheap payoffs, lacking authentic emotion - do not recommend!
Percy is the bastard child of Poseidon, god of the Sea, but is unaware until some flying demon teacher tries to kill him. He lives with his mom and loser step-dad that is supposed to be a bruiser but is more of a cream puff, and he supposedly hates him, but displays the emotion and dialogue of annoyance more than embittered teenager. His dad is the key, he's angry he left him a a child, but you can't tell that until the end and barely at that. He's also a good kid from the beginning, supposedly a loser, but when was that? We never see that in the film. Long story short, it's a story about a decent kid who then finds out he's half god, and stays a decent kid while saving the planet, and ends up being a decent kid -boring!
That night I hit up dinner with Sophie (but I prefer to call her Shirley) and Hannah. The drinks with Haley and Karen (Aussies) and Mogley the Saffr (South African). Mogley might be the first westerner I have met with no idea of the technological revolution going on in the world today. He sees me playing on my iPhone, asks me what it is and if he can hold it. Blows his mind when I mention it's also an iPod, he just this day heard for the first time what that is. His family has a farm, no Internet, but Satellite TV. He's on facebook, but rarely checks it and has not a single photo he's uploaded himself, just the tagged ones. Amazing!
We hit up Hollywood Bar, buckets flow, I feel way too good and go for a "wander". Yeah, that's right, a "wander". It is 2am, Mogley had left an hour ago and the girls are ready to head back to the hostel. I said to the girls, "I'm gonna go for a wander", and walk off. It's funny because I don't think anyone has used that phrasing since 1824 in Ye Ole England. And wander I did, walk maybe all of Patong Beach before I happen upon a Brit named Thomas who asks, "Are you lost? You look lost. Do you know where you stay?" Of course I do, tell him and he offers me a ride back to the hostel on the back of his motorbike. We stop by 7-11, one on every corner here, I grab some water, and get back to the hostel by 4. Jump in the shower, finish my water, and hit the hay.
Nite nite and love ya Blogland: The iPhone Blogger!
The girls below my bunk seem sweet enough, and we were all lounging in our beds way too late into the day. So I strike up a conversation, as I'm prone to do, and joke about the aircon and fans freezing us out in the middle of the night. That's when I learn about the dude who brought his sleeping bag and refuses to sleep with just sheets. Best part, he bogarts the aircon remote control late at night, turns it on 18 degrees Celsius, and pretends like it's lost until it magically appears in his bed in the morning, then hands it to the girls to warm it up. Thoughtful and considerate. This gets us talking about horror stories from hostels, which we've all had.
So the last time I was at Patong Backpackers, I hung with Holly and Annie, two girls from England. They were staying in the C3 dorm on the 3rd floor, one floor above my current accommodations. The day I arrived apparently so did some new bunk mates in their room, two Irish girls who wanted the bottom bunks. Annie walks into the dorm and sees all her stuff on the ground, and the girl is sitting on her bed. She tells her it's her bed, to which the girl replies, oh, I thought this free, since there was nothing on it. Of course there's nothing on it, she had thrown it all on the floor. Who does that? Who just throws peoples things on the ground? So late that night, Annie returns from hanging with us at Hollywood Bar to find that the girl once again in her bed and all the stuff she had on her bed was strewn about the room. Hairbrush by the door, chapstick by a window, clothes on the floor. When she wakes the girl to tell her to get out of her bed and go to the top bunk, the girl, clearly pissed, pun intended, gets up And tries to climb the bunk. She slips, hits her head on the bed, begins to ascend again, reaches the top, slips again but only onto the mattress on the top bunk, passes out. Hilarious for two reasons, 1. She's heavy and the image of it all sounds brilliant, and 2. She was rude and mean, so its what the Easterners would call Karma. And this is when I get interrupted, "where did you say these girls were from?" Ireland. "Oh". Insert uncomfortable silence here ... Uh, where are y'all from? "Ireland". And how long have you been in Patong Beach? "3 weeks, but we were in C3 for a week before we moved to this room." Uh huh ... so ... I'm just gonna throw it out there, is my story about you guys? "I thought it sounded familiar." Anyone know a good ENT Surgeon? My foot is officially lodged deep in my mouth!
Ironically, they were not rude, but took it in stride, we all laughed about it. They knew parts of the story, but parts were lost because apparently they were really drunk - no kidding - and felt a bit bad. I will see them again on Kho Phangan for the Full Moon party & they actually told me if I could not find a place, I could stay with them ... How amazing is that?
Went to the theater again, still nursing the shin burn. Patong Beach is not quaint and cool like Phi Phi, so the appeal to be on it is fleeting.
Watch Percy Jackson Lightening Thief, my review ... Eh, good concept, poor dialogue, cheap payoffs, lacking authentic emotion - do not recommend!
Percy is the bastard child of Poseidon, god of the Sea, but is unaware until some flying demon teacher tries to kill him. He lives with his mom and loser step-dad that is supposed to be a bruiser but is more of a cream puff, and he supposedly hates him, but displays the emotion and dialogue of annoyance more than embittered teenager. His dad is the key, he's angry he left him a a child, but you can't tell that until the end and barely at that. He's also a good kid from the beginning, supposedly a loser, but when was that? We never see that in the film. Long story short, it's a story about a decent kid who then finds out he's half god, and stays a decent kid while saving the planet, and ends up being a decent kid -boring!
That night I hit up dinner with Sophie (but I prefer to call her Shirley) and Hannah. The drinks with Haley and Karen (Aussies) and Mogley the Saffr (South African). Mogley might be the first westerner I have met with no idea of the technological revolution going on in the world today. He sees me playing on my iPhone, asks me what it is and if he can hold it. Blows his mind when I mention it's also an iPod, he just this day heard for the first time what that is. His family has a farm, no Internet, but Satellite TV. He's on facebook, but rarely checks it and has not a single photo he's uploaded himself, just the tagged ones. Amazing!
We hit up Hollywood Bar, buckets flow, I feel way too good and go for a "wander". Yeah, that's right, a "wander". It is 2am, Mogley had left an hour ago and the girls are ready to head back to the hostel. I said to the girls, "I'm gonna go for a wander", and walk off. It's funny because I don't think anyone has used that phrasing since 1824 in Ye Ole England. And wander I did, walk maybe all of Patong Beach before I happen upon a Brit named Thomas who asks, "Are you lost? You look lost. Do you know where you stay?" Of course I do, tell him and he offers me a ride back to the hostel on the back of his motorbike. We stop by 7-11, one on every corner here, I grab some water, and get back to the hostel by 4. Jump in the shower, finish my water, and hit the hay.
Nite nite and love ya Blogland: The iPhone Blogger!
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Day 46: Where are my subtitles?
Woke up at noon, head out the door intending to pick up some essentiasls, face wash, tooth paste, sunscreen, etc. Remembered there was a Carrefore (French Walmart) up the street and around the corner, so head that direction. It's in a new mall, which always means a theater. I check out the pricing and what's showing, $4 for a premium seat, $4 for popcorn + bottle of water + a bottle of lemon tea, deal! Valentine's Day was next up and I've been wanting to see it - talk about star overload. Woah, looks like everyone is in this movie ... Julia, Bradley, Anne, Jennifer, Taylor squared, Shirley, George, Ashton, Topher, Alba, Biel, Foxx, Queen Latifa ...
Previews and Commercials begin, they intermix them, 70% are not in English, and of course, there are no subtitles. Kind of makes it a game to figure out if you're watching a preview or commercial, both seem sufficiently cheesy. The commercials have me baffled, what does Fisho (a weird snack) have to do with a girl ticked at her boyfriend for looking at another girl? Is it like a diamond ring? Does it give her memory loss? In America, if she's pissed, some stupid crisp is not gonna make her think, oh, it's ok if he stares at another woman, he spent $1 on a stupid crisp. The movie previews were actually a bit better, though I'm pretty sure one of them is about a 10 yr old Thai kid whose in love with his female doctor and towards the end, kisses her - uh weird. Would give you the title, but it is in Thai which to me looks like proper scribble.
At the end of the previews and commercials, a title card in Thai comes on, a instrumental song begins to play, everyone stands up, an operatic voice begins to sing, and old school videos and pictures come on screen of what I assume is their king. I follow suit, stand for the 3 minutes and then follow everyone elses lead to sit again. Strange custom but kind of special.
Valentines Day review:
It's well done, like the premise and I think they pull off the storylines. The pacing moves well, no lingering on any scene too long, overall believable. Little shocked by the Bradley Cooper - Eric Dane twist, but saw the Julia Roberts thing coming from a mile away. Credits were hilarious, Julia Roberts, "big mistake, big, huge!" Brilliant. Overall, refreshing, nothing pushed, definite point of view, but not cynical or gooey, just kind of real. It gets a "I'd watch it again" recommendation from me for both the guys and the girls!
Head to a coffee shop, catch up on some blogging, post, walk for a bit on the beach in the surf and relax. At the hostel they are watching Taken, next up is Butterfly Effect, a film I think did not get it's due. Before I know it, 1am has come upon me and I have not had dinner. Grab Marcus, a Swede who had arrived earlier today, and we went in search of food. Wrangled up some 24hr Subway - not trusting street vendors or late night Thai places trying to sell their leftovers - and head down Bangla Rd to watch the Mayhem. Everything you could ever want to see ... Or not see ... is available there. From Ping Pong shows to drag queens to lady boys to perverted old men, to intoxicated adolescents showing their age, to horny 20 somethings ready to tango ... It's loco.
End up back at the hostel by 3, and desperately in need of sleep. And that was day 46 my friends ...
Nite nite iPhone Bloggerland!
Previews and Commercials begin, they intermix them, 70% are not in English, and of course, there are no subtitles. Kind of makes it a game to figure out if you're watching a preview or commercial, both seem sufficiently cheesy. The commercials have me baffled, what does Fisho (a weird snack) have to do with a girl ticked at her boyfriend for looking at another girl? Is it like a diamond ring? Does it give her memory loss? In America, if she's pissed, some stupid crisp is not gonna make her think, oh, it's ok if he stares at another woman, he spent $1 on a stupid crisp. The movie previews were actually a bit better, though I'm pretty sure one of them is about a 10 yr old Thai kid whose in love with his female doctor and towards the end, kisses her - uh weird. Would give you the title, but it is in Thai which to me looks like proper scribble.
At the end of the previews and commercials, a title card in Thai comes on, a instrumental song begins to play, everyone stands up, an operatic voice begins to sing, and old school videos and pictures come on screen of what I assume is their king. I follow suit, stand for the 3 minutes and then follow everyone elses lead to sit again. Strange custom but kind of special.
Valentines Day review:
It's well done, like the premise and I think they pull off the storylines. The pacing moves well, no lingering on any scene too long, overall believable. Little shocked by the Bradley Cooper - Eric Dane twist, but saw the Julia Roberts thing coming from a mile away. Credits were hilarious, Julia Roberts, "big mistake, big, huge!" Brilliant. Overall, refreshing, nothing pushed, definite point of view, but not cynical or gooey, just kind of real. It gets a "I'd watch it again" recommendation from me for both the guys and the girls!
Head to a coffee shop, catch up on some blogging, post, walk for a bit on the beach in the surf and relax. At the hostel they are watching Taken, next up is Butterfly Effect, a film I think did not get it's due. Before I know it, 1am has come upon me and I have not had dinner. Grab Marcus, a Swede who had arrived earlier today, and we went in search of food. Wrangled up some 24hr Subway - not trusting street vendors or late night Thai places trying to sell their leftovers - and head down Bangla Rd to watch the Mayhem. Everything you could ever want to see ... Or not see ... is available there. From Ping Pong shows to drag queens to lady boys to perverted old men, to intoxicated adolescents showing their age, to horny 20 somethings ready to tango ... It's loco.
End up back at the hostel by 3, and desperately in need of sleep. And that was day 46 my friends ...
Nite nite iPhone Bloggerland!
Monday, February 22, 2010
Day 45: Fried Legs and Thai Molestation
Woke up at 9:30am ... Still exhausted from the day before. Kian had been up and down for a few hours. We hit up the "all you can eat" buffet at the hotel ... it was fair. Had my first cup of guava juice and first taste of a dragon fruit - both were interesting. After filling up on lots of little things, we headed up to the pool. This is definitely the crown jewel of the place. On the Lobby side, it had a huge piece of glass, affording a profile view of everything underwater. Already mentioned the mosaic tiling and fiber optic lighting, but not yet that it's a raised infinity pool over looking the palms trees, beach and ocean.
It was dead today, only 2 couples lounging beneath some umbrellas and a very bored looking bartender. 45 minutes later it was back to the room, clean up, pack up, taxi waiting on Kian. I left my stuff at the front, walked 15 minutes down the beach to the Patong Backpackers Hostel and reserved my room for the week. Upon return, I lay by the pool, blog, and occasionally catch their wifi signal.
Around 5:30, noticing my legs were a bit warm, I decided it was time to leave Neverland and return to reality. A taxi runs me 200 Baht, $6.50usd, and I settle into the dorm, 2nd floor, ready to relax. Took a shower and that's when a certain sensation hit me. You know that sensation in the shower when warm water hits your flesh and it feels like thousands of needles pricking you at once? Yep, that's the one. The burn stretched from mid thighs all the way to the tops of my feet. Who ever puts lotion on their hairy legs? I will now! After my shower I head down to the common area.
A few things happen downstairs, some cool, some disturbing. I meet a few nice guys, one from St. Louis crazy enough, have some dun conversations and then end up watching Snatch and Fight Club, - no complaints there. However, while watching the first film, something perturbing happens. The TV is on a raised platform, and people lounge on mats and pillows all around it or in chairs on the ground level. So in the beginning of Snatch, I have one leg up, one leg down, while talking to an Aussie that looks like Kevin Jonas. Next thing you know, I feel someone get a whole handful of my arse ... I jump half expecting it to be an old friend from home or a new friend from Phi Phi, but it is neither. It's the tiny Thai night woman from the hostel. She sees my surprise and gives me a "you like it" wink and continues on. What?! Did not know sexual harassment was on the menu, but I guess I should not be that surprised. Last time I was here, Tip the manager reached into my front pockets, feigning to grab my money, but clearly grabbing for something else. What can I say, Thai women have a thing for me ... Yeah me ...
After the molestation and the movies, I am zonked, need to call it a night. Nite nite from the iPhone Blogger!
It was dead today, only 2 couples lounging beneath some umbrellas and a very bored looking bartender. 45 minutes later it was back to the room, clean up, pack up, taxi waiting on Kian. I left my stuff at the front, walked 15 minutes down the beach to the Patong Backpackers Hostel and reserved my room for the week. Upon return, I lay by the pool, blog, and occasionally catch their wifi signal.
Around 5:30, noticing my legs were a bit warm, I decided it was time to leave Neverland and return to reality. A taxi runs me 200 Baht, $6.50usd, and I settle into the dorm, 2nd floor, ready to relax. Took a shower and that's when a certain sensation hit me. You know that sensation in the shower when warm water hits your flesh and it feels like thousands of needles pricking you at once? Yep, that's the one. The burn stretched from mid thighs all the way to the tops of my feet. Who ever puts lotion on their hairy legs? I will now! After my shower I head down to the common area.
A few things happen downstairs, some cool, some disturbing. I meet a few nice guys, one from St. Louis crazy enough, have some dun conversations and then end up watching Snatch and Fight Club, - no complaints there. However, while watching the first film, something perturbing happens. The TV is on a raised platform, and people lounge on mats and pillows all around it or in chairs on the ground level. So in the beginning of Snatch, I have one leg up, one leg down, while talking to an Aussie that looks like Kevin Jonas. Next thing you know, I feel someone get a whole handful of my arse ... I jump half expecting it to be an old friend from home or a new friend from Phi Phi, but it is neither. It's the tiny Thai night woman from the hostel. She sees my surprise and gives me a "you like it" wink and continues on. What?! Did not know sexual harassment was on the menu, but I guess I should not be that surprised. Last time I was here, Tip the manager reached into my front pockets, feigning to grab my money, but clearly grabbing for something else. What can I say, Thai women have a thing for me ... Yeah me ...
After the molestation and the movies, I am zonked, need to call it a night. Nite nite from the iPhone Blogger!
Day 44: Geriatric Assault on Ferry & the Resort
All night we were singing it's gonna be a good night, a good good night... and it was ... end up in the extra bed at my buddy Matthieu's bungalow around 5am. The fan in his room was ridiculously fast, froze my arse off, used two towels to try and cover up. At 8am I gave up the fight to stay warm and left, headed to the Pier to split the group Ferry ticket that Manne and I had - he was staying for a few more days. Split the tickets, return to pack, pack, say my farewells and head to D's Books for breakfast. Feel good about the time I'm making, should be no problem to catch the 11am ferry I see on all the travel boards. Only problem, the 11am ferry to Phuket is a fast boat run through a different company than my ticket and would cost me an additional $30. My previously purchased ferry does not leave until 2:30pm, but of course ... Why am I up again?
Matthieu meets me over at D's Books, we order a quick breakfast, loose terminology since it takes 45 minutes to be served, say our farewells because his 11:30 to Koh Lanta exists, and I work on my blogs, send out emails, read, and just relax.
Board the boat at 2, drop off my bags in front, grab my seat on the main level of 4. The flat screens are a few feet from me, blaring Mandarin playing some Chines kids show, fun fun on 3 hours sleep. I'm in the front row, the chair reclines almost flat, I lay back, stretch out my feet, eyes close, iPod drowns out the ruckus. Not 5 minutes later, I feel a sharp pain in my ankles, open my eyes and see my assailant. It's what I like to call a triple threat driver, old+Asian+female. Not sure her age, she could of been 70 or 100, she's Chinese for the love, but regardless, she should not be behind any moving object, including her body. Walking like they drive, she runs straight into me, loses her balance and lands elbow first square in my junk. When I lunge forward, clearly in pain, catch her eyes, no apology to be found, just an angry sneer. After gathering my wits and dislodging her from my sacred space, I ask if she's alright to no response. Just a continual sneer and look of disgust, What the what?! Ok, I'm done with the geriatric rudeness, I quickly close my eyes, bite my tongue, and return to my happy place. That lasts about a minute, enter a Chinese couple with small child occupying the seats to my right and my left. They decide it's a good idea to pass the child back and forth over and around me, the child treating me like a new toy, poking and prodding, awesome! So I make my exit, retire to the sun, the Chinese being like vampires and afraid of the tan, and relax on the front sundeck of the ferry.
I meet Simon, a Brit living in New Zealand on holiday with his mate and bro. After a bit of gab, learning I'm from LA and have taken a stab at stand up, he says the most amazing and ridiculous thing. "Nothing gives me more pleasure than making people laugh. Not dancing, not sports, not sex, nothing." Wait, hold up, did you just say that making a bloke laugh is better than sex? Are you sure you're doing it right? "I think so, it's not rocket science now is it?" Ladies, that question is for you. Next question, what's your girlfriend back homes name? "I don't have one". Yep, suspected that, not doing it right. Hope you're funny.
Boat docks, and the madness ensues. All the luggage is held at the front end of the boat, the exit is at the rear, clearly well designed. So throngs are scurrying to the front of the cabin to retrieve their bags, and others fighting to position their exit out the rear. 2 doors on both sides of the boat lead outside to the front but quickly are clogged by the hundreds of Chinese trying to get out. We knock at the door closest to the front, but the sign on the inside of the door says, "do not open", so they refuse to unlatch it for us. I attempt to explain through the thick window, that only applies when the ship is moving, they do not care. So we are stuck, in the sun, without our bags, waiting for a few hundred people to clear out ... Ah the good times. 20 minutes later, we enter, find our belongings, and head to the rear of the boat. Now please tell me why a few hundred people, most on a tour and not with bags, take so long to exit a large ferry. There are no tricky steps, we are in a bay, so the boat barely moves, it's a wide plank, 2 or 3 person width ... I'm baffled. 20 more minutes later, we cross the plank, touch dry land, and look for our transport.
An hour later I'm dropped off at B-Lay Tong Resort across the street from Patong Beach. Ah, Western comfort, how nice she be. My buddy from LA, Kian, is not in the room, so I take this opportunity to shower under the rain shower head on hot while shaving my face, it's been 2 weeks. Kian's in Phuket because the sports company he runs does most of their manufacturing in China, thus things are extremely slow during the 3 weeks of Chinese New Year. He spent 2 weeks in Burma dropping off the matrix, and came to Phuket to enjoy the sun and surf in luxury. He invites me to crash with him - uh let me think, a reprieve from concrete beds, mosquitos in the room, cold showers ... Yeah, that could work! Plus it's nice to catch up with a friend from back home, talk about our trips, show the pics, not worry about accents ... A welcome reprieve indeed.
That night we go to a fancy restaurant on the beach, Joes something or other, and after a few mixed drinks, a burger, desert and his seafood platter, the bill comes in at more than the cost of my hostel for 2 weeks, Kian graciously pays ... can you tell which one of has a job? During dinner he says something that strikes a cord in me, "I think you have actually learned to chill, it's amazing, you're not thinking 10 steps ahead." Ironically I think about the statement, And you know what? He's right!
Back at the hotel we head to the pool, which is huge an made up of small glass mosaic tile - amazing. But they took it one step further, the put fiber optic lights everywhere, so in the dark, it looks like the stars, and when the water moves, they dance. Kind of unexpected, kind of amazing!
To bed early tonight, I am wasted from no sleep and all the travel today. Nite nite from the iPhone blogger!
Matthieu meets me over at D's Books, we order a quick breakfast, loose terminology since it takes 45 minutes to be served, say our farewells because his 11:30 to Koh Lanta exists, and I work on my blogs, send out emails, read, and just relax.
Board the boat at 2, drop off my bags in front, grab my seat on the main level of 4. The flat screens are a few feet from me, blaring Mandarin playing some Chines kids show, fun fun on 3 hours sleep. I'm in the front row, the chair reclines almost flat, I lay back, stretch out my feet, eyes close, iPod drowns out the ruckus. Not 5 minutes later, I feel a sharp pain in my ankles, open my eyes and see my assailant. It's what I like to call a triple threat driver, old+Asian+female. Not sure her age, she could of been 70 or 100, she's Chinese for the love, but regardless, she should not be behind any moving object, including her body. Walking like they drive, she runs straight into me, loses her balance and lands elbow first square in my junk. When I lunge forward, clearly in pain, catch her eyes, no apology to be found, just an angry sneer. After gathering my wits and dislodging her from my sacred space, I ask if she's alright to no response. Just a continual sneer and look of disgust, What the what?! Ok, I'm done with the geriatric rudeness, I quickly close my eyes, bite my tongue, and return to my happy place. That lasts about a minute, enter a Chinese couple with small child occupying the seats to my right and my left. They decide it's a good idea to pass the child back and forth over and around me, the child treating me like a new toy, poking and prodding, awesome! So I make my exit, retire to the sun, the Chinese being like vampires and afraid of the tan, and relax on the front sundeck of the ferry.
I meet Simon, a Brit living in New Zealand on holiday with his mate and bro. After a bit of gab, learning I'm from LA and have taken a stab at stand up, he says the most amazing and ridiculous thing. "Nothing gives me more pleasure than making people laugh. Not dancing, not sports, not sex, nothing." Wait, hold up, did you just say that making a bloke laugh is better than sex? Are you sure you're doing it right? "I think so, it's not rocket science now is it?" Ladies, that question is for you. Next question, what's your girlfriend back homes name? "I don't have one". Yep, suspected that, not doing it right. Hope you're funny.
Boat docks, and the madness ensues. All the luggage is held at the front end of the boat, the exit is at the rear, clearly well designed. So throngs are scurrying to the front of the cabin to retrieve their bags, and others fighting to position their exit out the rear. 2 doors on both sides of the boat lead outside to the front but quickly are clogged by the hundreds of Chinese trying to get out. We knock at the door closest to the front, but the sign on the inside of the door says, "do not open", so they refuse to unlatch it for us. I attempt to explain through the thick window, that only applies when the ship is moving, they do not care. So we are stuck, in the sun, without our bags, waiting for a few hundred people to clear out ... Ah the good times. 20 minutes later, we enter, find our belongings, and head to the rear of the boat. Now please tell me why a few hundred people, most on a tour and not with bags, take so long to exit a large ferry. There are no tricky steps, we are in a bay, so the boat barely moves, it's a wide plank, 2 or 3 person width ... I'm baffled. 20 more minutes later, we cross the plank, touch dry land, and look for our transport.
An hour later I'm dropped off at B-Lay Tong Resort across the street from Patong Beach. Ah, Western comfort, how nice she be. My buddy from LA, Kian, is not in the room, so I take this opportunity to shower under the rain shower head on hot while shaving my face, it's been 2 weeks. Kian's in Phuket because the sports company he runs does most of their manufacturing in China, thus things are extremely slow during the 3 weeks of Chinese New Year. He spent 2 weeks in Burma dropping off the matrix, and came to Phuket to enjoy the sun and surf in luxury. He invites me to crash with him - uh let me think, a reprieve from concrete beds, mosquitos in the room, cold showers ... Yeah, that could work! Plus it's nice to catch up with a friend from back home, talk about our trips, show the pics, not worry about accents ... A welcome reprieve indeed.
That night we go to a fancy restaurant on the beach, Joes something or other, and after a few mixed drinks, a burger, desert and his seafood platter, the bill comes in at more than the cost of my hostel for 2 weeks, Kian graciously pays ... can you tell which one of has a job? During dinner he says something that strikes a cord in me, "I think you have actually learned to chill, it's amazing, you're not thinking 10 steps ahead." Ironically I think about the statement, And you know what? He's right!
Back at the hotel we head to the pool, which is huge an made up of small glass mosaic tile - amazing. But they took it one step further, the put fiber optic lights everywhere, so in the dark, it looks like the stars, and when the water moves, they dance. Kind of unexpected, kind of amazing!
To bed early tonight, I am wasted from no sleep and all the travel today. Nite nite from the iPhone blogger!
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Day 40 - 43: Missed the Ferry Again ... On purpose.
I'm combining these 4 days because they are pretty much all the same, the only thing changing are the culprits involved.
Day starts out like they all do, 11am, rub my eyes, stretch my limbs, sit up and think, "what's for breakfast?". I grab a friend and head off to a breakfast joint, we have our regulars, D's, Reggae, place next to Pirate Bay.
Sometimes it's a ham & cheese omlette, sometimes it's granola fruit yogurt, sometimes it's just chicken fried rice, but without fail, it involves a banana juice shake with the total running $5usd or less. The days are always hot and humid by this time, so I never wear a shirt, in fact some days a shirt doesn't touch my skin at all, even at night - yep, it's how I picture heaven!
I then return to The Rock (said in a Sean Connery accent), either use the facilities or just change into my boardies. Head by D's Books to get a quick wifi connection and check immediate emails, then head to the beach. The tide is in, the water is clear and warm, the sun is blazing. I learned my lesson in Bali so I always bring sunscreen and lather up, yeah mom, making ya proud. And then I chill, either in the water with friends or in a chair on the beach beneath an umbrella. And my favorite pasttime ensues... people watching. See all shapes and sizes but as a whole, it's a good looking crowd, lots of guys trying to impress, lots of girls pretending not to care ... and the mating ritual begins.
Around 5, I head back to the hostel to shower, the sand finds it's way into the most precarious areas, and clean up in general. Grab a mocha frappé from D's Books and attempt to blog, catch up on the bball scores from the day, and reply to important emails. This usually goes well for about 10 minutes until, without fail, someone from the night before spots me and sits down. Before long I'm holding court, sharing tales from LA, from my company, from my days in youth ministry. People always seem shocked that I'm a Christian, not in a negative way, but apparently in many other countries, their experiences dictate a stiff, legalistic, miserable type of Christian. Unfortunate really. The topic of ignorant Americans, Obama the great, universal healthcare, and the economy soon follow. Always informative, always opiniated, rarely argumentative, it tends to be an enjoyable discussion. Theoretically, many think there is an easy solution, especially those from socialistic countries with universal health care, but explaining economies of scale and the complexities of capitalism oft times opens their eyes, nothings simple about it. Yeah, this is how I chill in the tropics of Thailand ... Shocked?
Let me tell ya about a few cool people I have met at these meetings of the mind. Beyond the usual gang of Swedes that I hang with, I am going to run you through a few others, some met via my hostel, The Rock (said in a Sean Connery accent from the movie), some from the clubs.
I'll start ya with Greg, a Scotsman with a wicked accent and general likability. He wants to work in the renewable energy field, loves Miley, taught me about the Celtic/Rangers football blood fued, and the nonsmoking policies of Scotland. Reminds me of friends from college who are skinny but athletic with generally a lot of worthy things to say.
Then there's Matt, a British Musician from a mixed background of half Irish, half Trinidadian, resulting in a sweet fro and constant tan. He's a musician from London, with a sweet style about him and tons of game - the ladies are fans.
Then there is Mack, the Japenese Canadian. He so wants to be a pimp but has zero game and is better off just being the nice guy enjoying life. We spent at least an hour talking about a girl from the dorms he liked, tifjennlaur... who cares ... who rings him at 3am in the morning when drunk to cuddle and share, but not make out. Yeah, he's been demoted to gay best friend, but will not reconcile, still thinks she'll come around. Great disposition though, just needs to find his balls and not fear rejection.
There's Philly Kate. Met late one night on my way back from the beach clubs with a group of people. From that point on, saw her no less than 5 times a day soon to find out she was in one of the dorms at The Rock (again said with Sean Connery accent).
Matthieu is the french dude who happened to sit next to me while I was trying to get Mack to poop or get off the pot with the girl. He has a great girl back home, been with her for four years, but you can tell he has game, definitely contributes to the conversation. He ends up hanging out with me and the crew for the next few nights which involved lots of free buckets and on two occassions some skinny dipping at 2am in the ocean. It's actually really cool because 10 meters out there are these planktan in the water that glow at night when you move the water around, so kind of your own personal light show. The Aussie girls showed us the first night of dipping and then we showed the Swedish girls the second time around.
Melanie and Camille - fiesty young Australian French girls on holiday from Uni. Melanie looks like a cross between Rachel McAdams and Claire Danes, Camille has an exotic Penolope Cruise thing going on. Ran into them one night with Manne and some Brits (Max, Josh, and Will) and one obnoxious Swede named Anton. He kept telling me, "you want me to hook you up with some hot Swedish girls? Here I'll do that for ya. Girls, this is the guy from the Hangover." Dude, first of all, you think I don't have game? Second, I don't need to lie to impress, I'm quite impressive without it, thanks. Fun guy, not so fun drunk. Back to the Camille and Melanie ... We hit it off and literally Ran into them and hung out everyday from that point until they left a few days later ... Great girls!
Polish guy - not sure his name but he has the quote of the night in Phi Phi. He was attempting to hit on these two cute Israeli girls at the beach. His opening line, and I quote, "Auschwitz, the place to go!" Enough said!
Met a ton of other notables, but for the sake of brevity, not one of my gifts, I will wrap this up. My nights always involved dinner at Papaya, largest portions on the island, we are talking American size which is rare. Then it was off to find a bucket, usually free from the flyers handed out by Western promoters on the street. They get 300baht/night ($10usd) plus all you can drink for free. I guess that can be worth it. We would hit Rolling Stones for some great coverband and then it was off to the beach Clubs, notably, Slinky's for firerope jumping, Abiza for chill time, and Apache for the dance party. They all close at 1am right now because the police are punishing the Thai Mafia for killing a kid on Dec 26th. Since they run the bars, which normally close at 4 or 5 am, they lose tons of money ... But the real losers are all of us tourists :(. So at 1, the music cuts off and everyone usually hangs on the beach or wanders back to the Irish Pub showing late night soccer. Then it is off to bed by 4 or 5, either at my place or a friends if they have an extra bed and it's closer. Great times but easily captured in one long blog, right?
Nite nite via the iPhone Blogger!
Day starts out like they all do, 11am, rub my eyes, stretch my limbs, sit up and think, "what's for breakfast?". I grab a friend and head off to a breakfast joint, we have our regulars, D's, Reggae, place next to Pirate Bay.
Sometimes it's a ham & cheese omlette, sometimes it's granola fruit yogurt, sometimes it's just chicken fried rice, but without fail, it involves a banana juice shake with the total running $5usd or less. The days are always hot and humid by this time, so I never wear a shirt, in fact some days a shirt doesn't touch my skin at all, even at night - yep, it's how I picture heaven!
I then return to The Rock (said in a Sean Connery accent), either use the facilities or just change into my boardies. Head by D's Books to get a quick wifi connection and check immediate emails, then head to the beach. The tide is in, the water is clear and warm, the sun is blazing. I learned my lesson in Bali so I always bring sunscreen and lather up, yeah mom, making ya proud. And then I chill, either in the water with friends or in a chair on the beach beneath an umbrella. And my favorite pasttime ensues... people watching. See all shapes and sizes but as a whole, it's a good looking crowd, lots of guys trying to impress, lots of girls pretending not to care ... and the mating ritual begins.
Around 5, I head back to the hostel to shower, the sand finds it's way into the most precarious areas, and clean up in general. Grab a mocha frappé from D's Books and attempt to blog, catch up on the bball scores from the day, and reply to important emails. This usually goes well for about 10 minutes until, without fail, someone from the night before spots me and sits down. Before long I'm holding court, sharing tales from LA, from my company, from my days in youth ministry. People always seem shocked that I'm a Christian, not in a negative way, but apparently in many other countries, their experiences dictate a stiff, legalistic, miserable type of Christian. Unfortunate really. The topic of ignorant Americans, Obama the great, universal healthcare, and the economy soon follow. Always informative, always opiniated, rarely argumentative, it tends to be an enjoyable discussion. Theoretically, many think there is an easy solution, especially those from socialistic countries with universal health care, but explaining economies of scale and the complexities of capitalism oft times opens their eyes, nothings simple about it. Yeah, this is how I chill in the tropics of Thailand ... Shocked?
Let me tell ya about a few cool people I have met at these meetings of the mind. Beyond the usual gang of Swedes that I hang with, I am going to run you through a few others, some met via my hostel, The Rock (said in a Sean Connery accent from the movie), some from the clubs.
I'll start ya with Greg, a Scotsman with a wicked accent and general likability. He wants to work in the renewable energy field, loves Miley, taught me about the Celtic/Rangers football blood fued, and the nonsmoking policies of Scotland. Reminds me of friends from college who are skinny but athletic with generally a lot of worthy things to say.
Then there's Matt, a British Musician from a mixed background of half Irish, half Trinidadian, resulting in a sweet fro and constant tan. He's a musician from London, with a sweet style about him and tons of game - the ladies are fans.
Then there is Mack, the Japenese Canadian. He so wants to be a pimp but has zero game and is better off just being the nice guy enjoying life. We spent at least an hour talking about a girl from the dorms he liked, tifjennlaur... who cares ... who rings him at 3am in the morning when drunk to cuddle and share, but not make out. Yeah, he's been demoted to gay best friend, but will not reconcile, still thinks she'll come around. Great disposition though, just needs to find his balls and not fear rejection.
There's Philly Kate. Met late one night on my way back from the beach clubs with a group of people. From that point on, saw her no less than 5 times a day soon to find out she was in one of the dorms at The Rock (again said with Sean Connery accent).
Matthieu is the french dude who happened to sit next to me while I was trying to get Mack to poop or get off the pot with the girl. He has a great girl back home, been with her for four years, but you can tell he has game, definitely contributes to the conversation. He ends up hanging out with me and the crew for the next few nights which involved lots of free buckets and on two occassions some skinny dipping at 2am in the ocean. It's actually really cool because 10 meters out there are these planktan in the water that glow at night when you move the water around, so kind of your own personal light show. The Aussie girls showed us the first night of dipping and then we showed the Swedish girls the second time around.
Melanie and Camille - fiesty young Australian French girls on holiday from Uni. Melanie looks like a cross between Rachel McAdams and Claire Danes, Camille has an exotic Penolope Cruise thing going on. Ran into them one night with Manne and some Brits (Max, Josh, and Will) and one obnoxious Swede named Anton. He kept telling me, "you want me to hook you up with some hot Swedish girls? Here I'll do that for ya. Girls, this is the guy from the Hangover." Dude, first of all, you think I don't have game? Second, I don't need to lie to impress, I'm quite impressive without it, thanks. Fun guy, not so fun drunk. Back to the Camille and Melanie ... We hit it off and literally Ran into them and hung out everyday from that point until they left a few days later ... Great girls!
Polish guy - not sure his name but he has the quote of the night in Phi Phi. He was attempting to hit on these two cute Israeli girls at the beach. His opening line, and I quote, "Auschwitz, the place to go!" Enough said!
Met a ton of other notables, but for the sake of brevity, not one of my gifts, I will wrap this up. My nights always involved dinner at Papaya, largest portions on the island, we are talking American size which is rare. Then it was off to find a bucket, usually free from the flyers handed out by Western promoters on the street. They get 300baht/night ($10usd) plus all you can drink for free. I guess that can be worth it. We would hit Rolling Stones for some great coverband and then it was off to the beach Clubs, notably, Slinky's for firerope jumping, Abiza for chill time, and Apache for the dance party. They all close at 1am right now because the police are punishing the Thai Mafia for killing a kid on Dec 26th. Since they run the bars, which normally close at 4 or 5 am, they lose tons of money ... But the real losers are all of us tourists :(. So at 1, the music cuts off and everyone usually hangs on the beach or wanders back to the Irish Pub showing late night soccer. Then it is off to bed by 4 or 5, either at my place or a friends if they have an extra bed and it's closer. Great times but easily captured in one long blog, right?
Nite nite via the iPhone Blogger!
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Day 39: New Room & Crazy Aussies
Turns out, for 50 baht more a night, I can have a double room, meaning 2 beds only, with a key to the door, and better mattresses. Joseph and I agree this is a much better option to the concrete slabs we were sleeping on, so last night we agree to awake early, and get F2, the only double room at The Rock. How do we know it's available? It's the advantage of being a highly relational being and befriending all in the complex, ie the guys occupying it told me. Only catch, we have to secure it before 10, reservations here are a foreign concept. So to bed at half past 5, up at 9:30, get the room, move our crap, but I'm up now, so I head off to breakfast at The Reggae Bar.
We get there and it's a ghost town. It's 10:15am, there's no one in the kitchen, no customers in the seats, no workers cleanining. Some Thai woman from outside says, they closed, open at 11. Now why would you have a breakfast menu and not open until 11? Welcome to Phi Phi, where everything makes perfect sense. So we retreat back to D's Books and order up an omlette and mocha frappé.
And there I stay for the next 5 hours. Would love to say I was diligently working on my blog or emails, but truth be told, I had met too many people over the last few days, and everyone kept dropping by. Was already there with Joseph when the 3 Aussies stop in at the table looking like death warmed over. They order some acidic juice drinks - uh, not smart since they've been spewing all morning. Several times they make their exit from the table to hit the loo. Marcus the Swede stops by, then Kate from Philly, Lee the Swede takes the table next to us. People continue to come and go. Joe has left by now and Manne has shown up, looking at pictures from the night before, and vegging beneath the umbrella. Martin arrives, sits and stares, not really with us but occassionally we get a cursory smile. He drinks some of my shake. By this point things have settled down, the 3 Aussies have headed to the beach, only the guys remain, so I can ignore them and get some focused time on the blog. I get through day 37, which was a big one, Manne and I settle up for our additional drinks, it's time to eat again and do a bit of shopping.
I find some pants, not sure what they are called, maybe fisherman's pants, they're huge, you fold them over, tie them up around the waste and they just hang on ya. Pretty suweet! Head back to The Rock to find Erik alive, first time today. He slept the entire day because in his words, "Everytime I stands, the room goes woooaahhhh" as his hands signal spinning.
We decide as a group to take tonight easy. After dinner I run into Ted, one of the Aussie dudes from the drunk boat two days before, and he invites me back to hang with his crew. I'm awake and not doing much, Joseph and the guys were relaxing/napping back at The Rock, so why not. Head down a path that turns into sand around a corner into a literal hut village. There I find his Aussie crew of Alex, Fred, and Will, plus the English crew of George, Will and 2 girls, plus about 10 Swedes. Ted and the Aussies are non-stop positive energy party guys, collect friends as they go, some of my favorite to meet thus far.
Side note: If I've yet to mention this, everywhere I've been, the largest group of foreigners are Swedes. Literally there are more Swedes on Phi Phi than Thai's ... It's crazy. But their a hot people group in general, and typically nice once you break the ice, so no complaints.
That night the Aussie crew and I end up hitting Rolling Stones for some live Reggae and Western music, then the Beach for dancing and free buckets. There I meet the two lovely ladies who are half French half Oz, Ms. Melanie & Ms. Camille. They were with Manne, Eric, and Martin, who all made it out, as well as a smathering of others.
Home by 2:30, in bed by 3, nite nite via the iPhone blogger!
We get there and it's a ghost town. It's 10:15am, there's no one in the kitchen, no customers in the seats, no workers cleanining. Some Thai woman from outside says, they closed, open at 11. Now why would you have a breakfast menu and not open until 11? Welcome to Phi Phi, where everything makes perfect sense. So we retreat back to D's Books and order up an omlette and mocha frappé.
And there I stay for the next 5 hours. Would love to say I was diligently working on my blog or emails, but truth be told, I had met too many people over the last few days, and everyone kept dropping by. Was already there with Joseph when the 3 Aussies stop in at the table looking like death warmed over. They order some acidic juice drinks - uh, not smart since they've been spewing all morning. Several times they make their exit from the table to hit the loo. Marcus the Swede stops by, then Kate from Philly, Lee the Swede takes the table next to us. People continue to come and go. Joe has left by now and Manne has shown up, looking at pictures from the night before, and vegging beneath the umbrella. Martin arrives, sits and stares, not really with us but occassionally we get a cursory smile. He drinks some of my shake. By this point things have settled down, the 3 Aussies have headed to the beach, only the guys remain, so I can ignore them and get some focused time on the blog. I get through day 37, which was a big one, Manne and I settle up for our additional drinks, it's time to eat again and do a bit of shopping.
I find some pants, not sure what they are called, maybe fisherman's pants, they're huge, you fold them over, tie them up around the waste and they just hang on ya. Pretty suweet! Head back to The Rock to find Erik alive, first time today. He slept the entire day because in his words, "Everytime I stands, the room goes woooaahhhh" as his hands signal spinning.
We decide as a group to take tonight easy. After dinner I run into Ted, one of the Aussie dudes from the drunk boat two days before, and he invites me back to hang with his crew. I'm awake and not doing much, Joseph and the guys were relaxing/napping back at The Rock, so why not. Head down a path that turns into sand around a corner into a literal hut village. There I find his Aussie crew of Alex, Fred, and Will, plus the English crew of George, Will and 2 girls, plus about 10 Swedes. Ted and the Aussies are non-stop positive energy party guys, collect friends as they go, some of my favorite to meet thus far.
Side note: If I've yet to mention this, everywhere I've been, the largest group of foreigners are Swedes. Literally there are more Swedes on Phi Phi than Thai's ... It's crazy. But their a hot people group in general, and typically nice once you break the ice, so no complaints.
That night the Aussie crew and I end up hitting Rolling Stones for some live Reggae and Western music, then the Beach for dancing and free buckets. There I meet the two lovely ladies who are half French half Oz, Ms. Melanie & Ms. Camille. They were with Manne, Eric, and Martin, who all made it out, as well as a smathering of others.
Home by 2:30, in bed by 3, nite nite via the iPhone blogger!
Day 38: Fire Rope Jumping and Valentines Day
Woke up after a restless night. The beds are like bricks, uncomfortable at best. Tossed and turned begging for sunrise to come so I could leave it's concrete embrace. On every side my back and hips ached, only one more night before we move to a better solution.
Spent the morning at the coffee shop working on blog day 35 from my notes. Ordered mocha frappe and omlette breakfast, turn around and run into the 3 Aussie girls, but of course. I sit at the neighboring table intentionally and tell them so. There is no way I will make any headway on the blog if im carried away in conversation, which they are quite gifted at. Not 5 minutes later Joseph shows up, which brings about casual conversation with the three and us for the next 30 ... I need to blog. Eric, Martin, and Manne join us an hour later, about the same time Pru, Madde, and Belle head off to the beach, maybe 12ish. At 2 they will be leaving for a half day snorkeling trip which I quickly warn them about the Sea Urchins and show them my war wounds. We plan out the day I take a focused hour to finish the day 35 blog, and we set out for the day.
We decide to head to Long Beach, next to Shark Point, about a 30 minute walk. It's has deeper water closer to shore and less people. I reach for my cameras and realize both are dead. Blurgh! The two outlets in the dorm have really loose holes an the plugs refuse to stay lodged, so up the creek without a paddle. Head out anyhow, feeling a little naked.
On the way we stop at a shop and buy the only American football we can find, a minature one. Can you guess the team? The NY Jets. Yeah, I have the same thought, of all the teams ... you'd expect the Cowboys, the Giants, the Saints, the Broncos, even the 49ers, but the Jets? Oh well. At a small beach half way there we stop and I attempt to show the Swedes how to throw the ball. Ironic since I myself am not that good. Eric gets the trajectory down ok, but the motion is lost him. Manne actually gets the spiral down ok, but not the distance. The water is shallow, maybe 18 inches deep for a good 150 meters out, and mostly sand, so I teach them 500. Eric has a propensity for diving, and though his hands are not that sure, mere odds play out and he wins. Play a few other rounds before we move on down the shore over the rocks around the corner towards Long Beach.
We finally stop at a little beach resort sporting a private beach within a rocks throw of Long Beach. It seemed to be a fine spot, equivalent to Long Beach but less crowded. We head into the water and it quickly gets 3 to 4 feet deep, such a refreshing change. We do have to avoid the large coral rocks and the spiny Black Sea Urchins, though more for their sake, I have a vendetta against them.
Joseph and Martin head back to the dorms, so that they can get a run in. It's 90+ with an instant sweat humidity going on, good luck with that. Manne, Eric and I start back the way we came. The tide is out about 100 to 150 meters from the beach, and since the shoreline is curved, we can make a straight line across the sea walking mostly on dry land ... You know I'm all about that. Manne stays the original course as Eric and I venture out, he fears a dead end and is too exhausted to back track. Eric and I get back to the dorms 10 minutes before him. Not often do you get to walk around a long tail boat, seaside, on dry ground.
Head to Reggae bar for food and man the burgers were good. Rena, the lady who runs the joint, spent 7 years in the states and took an immediate liking to me. A portly young German at the table next to us decided to take the Big Burger challenge. It's an 800g burger, loaded up thick fries, massive amount of onion rings, and a deep bowl of cole slaw. It's free if you can finish it in 30 minutes. I should of taken a picture, it was a large order of heart attack with a side order of stroke! We left with 10 minutes to spare and no chance of him winning. Our burgers were the appropriate amount and quite amazing!
I headed back to D'sBooks for a Mocha Frappe, to charge my camera batteries, and to work on day 36 blog. Finished around 9:30, batteries full, it's time to go out -Valentines Day and Chinese New Year!
Went with the Swedes to the beach. It was free buckets from 10:00 - 10:10 at Ibiza. Sounds like a deal until you meet the buckets, taste like varnish with some cheap Samsong liquor, coke, and redbull type additive. It goes down hard and the after taste lingers, but it's free. We finish our buckets and head back to the street, the beach entrance, where you can buy buckets for cheaper. I bought an orange juice at the mart, had them remove the can of sprite, and combined the OJ with some type of red bull additive and vodka for 300 baht. Went to Slinky's on the beach where they invited you to join in on the fire fun. They had jump rope, a diving ring, and a limbo pole. All three are made of fabric and ropes drenched in gasoline, lit on fire. Can you guess which ones I did? Yep, all 3 - I have videos! And every time you limbo or jump, they give you a shot. Yeah, to summarize, they try to inspire you to play in the fire by giving free shots, which then gets you feeling good, making you want to play in the fire more, which then gets you more shots, which then makes you feel good, which then ... Gasoline covered ropes spun by Thai's with no concept of liability + Alcohol = brillant!
Then we left and headed over to the dance party at Apache Bar, next to Slinky's. Run into the 3 Aussies again - Pru, Madde & Belle - convinced they're stalking us. A group of Swedish girls adopt me, start to grind up on me, so I called over and introduce my boy Manne to them. One fiesty intoxicated Swede, Cassandra, isolates me and before I know it, her tongue is down my throat & her hands start to roam ... Woah, Happy Valentine's Day to you too. Hey, I gotta find my friends, they're looking for me. "Nooo, they don't need you, you need me, stay." I've got to go - literally peeling her hands off of me. "Ok, come back!" Suurree. I make a b-line through the dance floor to the other side of the beach.
Find Erik who's hanging with a Brit and a South Carolinian, Liza. Shortly after meeting the Brit, he anounces to us he slept with a lady boy in Chang Mai and that he's proud of it, he earned his stripes ... Uh, what stripes would that be? The story goes he had no clue until he got her back to the room, but upon finding out, his hormones took precedent, aka "he was so horny, he just went for it". Post-op or pre-op, I did not ask, but I did mention that his closet door now had a window that was clearly open.
Liza and I finish up our convo and off I head to find Manne and the crew. I see Martin and Erik close to the Aussie tonsil stealer, so I decide it's time to make my way back towards the hostel, it was past 1 after all.
I run into a number of people I know, and make friends with a few more. A few new ones of note would be Joe and Mikala, an Irish couple who have been together for 6 years. They were on the street with another couple when I walked up and we all hit it off. The comedy begins to flow, he has a dousey of a lady boy story and I won't ruin it for ya, but he ends up without a stitch of clothing in the back room, though nothing happened. Via that story we all learn he's 9 inches soft, his girlfriend confirms, and in his state jokingly threatens to pull it out. It's all good bro, if I had that, I'd show it off too. They head on their way and that's when Tess and Jules appear outside the Freshmart. Conversation was fun and light and they ended up getting my name though I have yet to see the facebook friend request. Shortly after I meet the Swedes Oscar and Lars, the Americans Kate and Ricky, and an Irish/Singapore couple.
Finally make it back to the dorm at 5am, exhausted ... Nite nite, iPhone Blogger out.
Spent the morning at the coffee shop working on blog day 35 from my notes. Ordered mocha frappe and omlette breakfast, turn around and run into the 3 Aussie girls, but of course. I sit at the neighboring table intentionally and tell them so. There is no way I will make any headway on the blog if im carried away in conversation, which they are quite gifted at. Not 5 minutes later Joseph shows up, which brings about casual conversation with the three and us for the next 30 ... I need to blog. Eric, Martin, and Manne join us an hour later, about the same time Pru, Madde, and Belle head off to the beach, maybe 12ish. At 2 they will be leaving for a half day snorkeling trip which I quickly warn them about the Sea Urchins and show them my war wounds. We plan out the day I take a focused hour to finish the day 35 blog, and we set out for the day.
We decide to head to Long Beach, next to Shark Point, about a 30 minute walk. It's has deeper water closer to shore and less people. I reach for my cameras and realize both are dead. Blurgh! The two outlets in the dorm have really loose holes an the plugs refuse to stay lodged, so up the creek without a paddle. Head out anyhow, feeling a little naked.
On the way we stop at a shop and buy the only American football we can find, a minature one. Can you guess the team? The NY Jets. Yeah, I have the same thought, of all the teams ... you'd expect the Cowboys, the Giants, the Saints, the Broncos, even the 49ers, but the Jets? Oh well. At a small beach half way there we stop and I attempt to show the Swedes how to throw the ball. Ironic since I myself am not that good. Eric gets the trajectory down ok, but the motion is lost him. Manne actually gets the spiral down ok, but not the distance. The water is shallow, maybe 18 inches deep for a good 150 meters out, and mostly sand, so I teach them 500. Eric has a propensity for diving, and though his hands are not that sure, mere odds play out and he wins. Play a few other rounds before we move on down the shore over the rocks around the corner towards Long Beach.
We finally stop at a little beach resort sporting a private beach within a rocks throw of Long Beach. It seemed to be a fine spot, equivalent to Long Beach but less crowded. We head into the water and it quickly gets 3 to 4 feet deep, such a refreshing change. We do have to avoid the large coral rocks and the spiny Black Sea Urchins, though more for their sake, I have a vendetta against them.
Joseph and Martin head back to the dorms, so that they can get a run in. It's 90+ with an instant sweat humidity going on, good luck with that. Manne, Eric and I start back the way we came. The tide is out about 100 to 150 meters from the beach, and since the shoreline is curved, we can make a straight line across the sea walking mostly on dry land ... You know I'm all about that. Manne stays the original course as Eric and I venture out, he fears a dead end and is too exhausted to back track. Eric and I get back to the dorms 10 minutes before him. Not often do you get to walk around a long tail boat, seaside, on dry ground.
Head to Reggae bar for food and man the burgers were good. Rena, the lady who runs the joint, spent 7 years in the states and took an immediate liking to me. A portly young German at the table next to us decided to take the Big Burger challenge. It's an 800g burger, loaded up thick fries, massive amount of onion rings, and a deep bowl of cole slaw. It's free if you can finish it in 30 minutes. I should of taken a picture, it was a large order of heart attack with a side order of stroke! We left with 10 minutes to spare and no chance of him winning. Our burgers were the appropriate amount and quite amazing!
I headed back to D'sBooks for a Mocha Frappe, to charge my camera batteries, and to work on day 36 blog. Finished around 9:30, batteries full, it's time to go out -Valentines Day and Chinese New Year!
Went with the Swedes to the beach. It was free buckets from 10:00 - 10:10 at Ibiza. Sounds like a deal until you meet the buckets, taste like varnish with some cheap Samsong liquor, coke, and redbull type additive. It goes down hard and the after taste lingers, but it's free. We finish our buckets and head back to the street, the beach entrance, where you can buy buckets for cheaper. I bought an orange juice at the mart, had them remove the can of sprite, and combined the OJ with some type of red bull additive and vodka for 300 baht. Went to Slinky's on the beach where they invited you to join in on the fire fun. They had jump rope, a diving ring, and a limbo pole. All three are made of fabric and ropes drenched in gasoline, lit on fire. Can you guess which ones I did? Yep, all 3 - I have videos! And every time you limbo or jump, they give you a shot. Yeah, to summarize, they try to inspire you to play in the fire by giving free shots, which then gets you feeling good, making you want to play in the fire more, which then gets you more shots, which then makes you feel good, which then ... Gasoline covered ropes spun by Thai's with no concept of liability + Alcohol = brillant!
Then we left and headed over to the dance party at Apache Bar, next to Slinky's. Run into the 3 Aussies again - Pru, Madde & Belle - convinced they're stalking us. A group of Swedish girls adopt me, start to grind up on me, so I called over and introduce my boy Manne to them. One fiesty intoxicated Swede, Cassandra, isolates me and before I know it, her tongue is down my throat & her hands start to roam ... Woah, Happy Valentine's Day to you too. Hey, I gotta find my friends, they're looking for me. "Nooo, they don't need you, you need me, stay." I've got to go - literally peeling her hands off of me. "Ok, come back!" Suurree. I make a b-line through the dance floor to the other side of the beach.
Find Erik who's hanging with a Brit and a South Carolinian, Liza. Shortly after meeting the Brit, he anounces to us he slept with a lady boy in Chang Mai and that he's proud of it, he earned his stripes ... Uh, what stripes would that be? The story goes he had no clue until he got her back to the room, but upon finding out, his hormones took precedent, aka "he was so horny, he just went for it". Post-op or pre-op, I did not ask, but I did mention that his closet door now had a window that was clearly open.
Liza and I finish up our convo and off I head to find Manne and the crew. I see Martin and Erik close to the Aussie tonsil stealer, so I decide it's time to make my way back towards the hostel, it was past 1 after all.
I run into a number of people I know, and make friends with a few more. A few new ones of note would be Joe and Mikala, an Irish couple who have been together for 6 years. They were on the street with another couple when I walked up and we all hit it off. The comedy begins to flow, he has a dousey of a lady boy story and I won't ruin it for ya, but he ends up without a stitch of clothing in the back room, though nothing happened. Via that story we all learn he's 9 inches soft, his girlfriend confirms, and in his state jokingly threatens to pull it out. It's all good bro, if I had that, I'd show it off too. They head on their way and that's when Tess and Jules appear outside the Freshmart. Conversation was fun and light and they ended up getting my name though I have yet to see the facebook friend request. Shortly after I meet the Swedes Oscar and Lars, the Americans Kate and Ricky, and an Irish/Singapore couple.
Finally make it back to the dorm at 5am, exhausted ... Nite nite, iPhone Blogger out.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Day 37: "The Beach" & the Sea Urchin
My internal clock is clearly confused, wake up at 8:15am, my alarm was set for 9, I had gone to bed after 2. We are expected downstairs at 9:30am, ready to move our bags into the dorms and dressed for our snorkeling adventure. We pack, transport our stuff, climb down and back up what seems like a thousand steps (Santa Monica 4th street Stairs got nothing on us), and join a growing caravan to the U-Rip Long Boats dock a mile away.
It's a day trip, from 10am until sunset, around all of Phi Phi Leh and Phi Phi Don for 500 baht. We hit the beach where the boats are docked and follow the throngs of people. There looks to be 5 or 6 that will be taking off, though 2 different sizes, both are of the same style, long and lean, small covering in the middle made of plastic. The difference lies in that the larger ones have in-bound motors and smaller ones have a funny outboard motor contraption on the back. Two long poles, a car engine resting on a platform between them. Attached to the engine is a pole stretching into the water with a single rotary blade, and the driver holding the rudder to steer. But those are 10 times louder than the inbound motors, so though it looks cool and holds a more intimate group, it would seem a bit bothersome. As our group was getting corralled to one of the larger boats, phew, we see 5 cases of beer being loaded on a smaller one with about 12 Aussies, calling us to join. Yeah, a bunch of drunk Aussies, rough open water, 120 beers with no concept of limits ... eh, I'll pass on the spewfest. All the seats are taken so the 5 of us sit up on the stern, with our bags secured below our feet. As the boat starts up, I realize, oh crap, I don't have my motion sickness bands. Not enough time to go back, no one has Dramamine in their bags ... Uh oh, this might be a long day.
Breakfast is served on the boat as we cross the Andaman Sea on our way to Phi Phi Leh. A little two layer sandwich of egg, tomato & cucumber between three tiny slices of bread, obviously made for the small idigenous thai people, not healthy growing American and Swedish boys. I can tell I'll be losing weight on this day. We pass the Viking Cave, where I assume Vikings hid their spoils and themselves from the Brits. Our first actual stop is at Peleh Bay, where the mountains shoot up from sea and the sandy bottom begs for a swim. We launch off the longtail, find a hanging rope near the cliffs and the fun ensues. 20 minutes later, they whistle our return and it's off to Loh Samah Bay for our first snorkel. We drop into the 30 foot deep crystal clear blue water. In the shade of the boat, it teems with fish, and the first real test of my underwater camera begins. (Wish I could load a video for you guys immediately, but you will have to wait on both pics and vids for a decent internet connection).
30 minutes in the water and the whistle blows again. Off this time to Maya Bay otherwise known as "The Beach"! We turn the corner to enter the bay, and find shockingly, we will not be the only boat to drop by here today. Literally about 50 boats docked up on The Beach with hundreds if not a thousand people speckled across it. It's beautiful, but barely resembles the movie in the sense of isolation and mystique.
Here we are given lunch, a small portion of fried rice with chicken in a styrofoam container. Yep, I'm losing weight today. We hang there for a good 30 minutes and who would you presume we meet in the water? No, not Leonard DiCaprio, but the 3 no-name Aussie girls. I'm convinced they're stalking us.
The whistle blows, and off we go, away from the island of Phi Phi Leh, back to Phi Phi Don (main island) and Monkey Bay. This bay boasts of aggressive wild monkeys, and good snorkeling. So we watch ballsy tourists try to hand feed the primates, some being chased into the surf, much to our enjoyment. I'm now going to fast forward through the rest of the day and bring you to Shark Point. We snorkel Mosquito Island, rest on Bamboo island but not before getting chewed up by the coral on our way to and from shore.
Last stop as the sun sets is Shark Point just off the Southern most point of Phi Phi Don. The top of my right big toe (still healing from the motorbike accident) is sore from the fins, so I decided to go finless ... brilliant idea with sharp coral in shallow water. The water is maybe 6 feet deep where we lauch off the boat, but we're instructed to swim towards the rock outcropping and towards shore, where it's can get as shallow as 3 feet. I see two black tip reef sharks and head back to the boat as the visibility is almost non-existent because the sun has set. On my way back, a fellow snorkler, Maddie, has not seen one yet and asks me to stay in the water with her on her search. I comply and after about 10 minutes, I stand up to ask her if she's had any luck. At that moment, pain enters my toes and foot and shoots up my leg, what the heck was that. I immediately lift my feet and plant my face in the water and recognize the culprit. I had jut stepped on a black Sea Urchin ... Imagine a porcupine under water with fragile quills that snap when you touch, so cannot be dislodged from your foot. Yeah, some were a few inches long sticking out, others provided perhaps a quarter of an inch to retrieve. Either way, you basically crush the exposed parts, put neosporin to stave off infection, and hope your body dissolves it in time. Blurgh, The nerve of that sea urchin to protect itself on it's home territory while I'm invading it's personal space. Ridiculous.
We get back to the U-Rip boat dock after 7 with the night completely upon us. I am shocked and impressed that I did not take to motion sickness once. I believe it has to do in part with the boat being near ocean level as well as a constant breeze of fresh air and ocean spray upon my body and face. Head back to the hostel for a clean up and then hit Pirate Bay for grub. Joseph is starving, nothing new there, so garlic bread, order of Pad Thai, a cheeseburger with french fries, and 300 baht later, he's satisfied.
I head to D's Books and run into the 3 Aussies again while checking the internet and enjoying an early evening mocha frappé. After seeing them probably a good 10 times in the last 48 hours, I finally drop the question, "Uh, I feel like I should already know this, but have we introduced ourelves yet? Y'all have names?" They burst into laughter, they literally had just been talking about the same thing with regards to my crew not 30 minutes before. Pru, Belle, and Madde ... but still in my heart they will be known as the 3 Aussies.
After a few hours and another blog posting, I head to eat one more time and then in for a restful and early night.
Nite nite blogland via the iPhone blogger.
It's a day trip, from 10am until sunset, around all of Phi Phi Leh and Phi Phi Don for 500 baht. We hit the beach where the boats are docked and follow the throngs of people. There looks to be 5 or 6 that will be taking off, though 2 different sizes, both are of the same style, long and lean, small covering in the middle made of plastic. The difference lies in that the larger ones have in-bound motors and smaller ones have a funny outboard motor contraption on the back. Two long poles, a car engine resting on a platform between them. Attached to the engine is a pole stretching into the water with a single rotary blade, and the driver holding the rudder to steer. But those are 10 times louder than the inbound motors, so though it looks cool and holds a more intimate group, it would seem a bit bothersome. As our group was getting corralled to one of the larger boats, phew, we see 5 cases of beer being loaded on a smaller one with about 12 Aussies, calling us to join. Yeah, a bunch of drunk Aussies, rough open water, 120 beers with no concept of limits ... eh, I'll pass on the spewfest. All the seats are taken so the 5 of us sit up on the stern, with our bags secured below our feet. As the boat starts up, I realize, oh crap, I don't have my motion sickness bands. Not enough time to go back, no one has Dramamine in their bags ... Uh oh, this might be a long day.
Breakfast is served on the boat as we cross the Andaman Sea on our way to Phi Phi Leh. A little two layer sandwich of egg, tomato & cucumber between three tiny slices of bread, obviously made for the small idigenous thai people, not healthy growing American and Swedish boys. I can tell I'll be losing weight on this day. We pass the Viking Cave, where I assume Vikings hid their spoils and themselves from the Brits. Our first actual stop is at Peleh Bay, where the mountains shoot up from sea and the sandy bottom begs for a swim. We launch off the longtail, find a hanging rope near the cliffs and the fun ensues. 20 minutes later, they whistle our return and it's off to Loh Samah Bay for our first snorkel. We drop into the 30 foot deep crystal clear blue water. In the shade of the boat, it teems with fish, and the first real test of my underwater camera begins. (Wish I could load a video for you guys immediately, but you will have to wait on both pics and vids for a decent internet connection).
30 minutes in the water and the whistle blows again. Off this time to Maya Bay otherwise known as "The Beach"! We turn the corner to enter the bay, and find shockingly, we will not be the only boat to drop by here today. Literally about 50 boats docked up on The Beach with hundreds if not a thousand people speckled across it. It's beautiful, but barely resembles the movie in the sense of isolation and mystique.
Here we are given lunch, a small portion of fried rice with chicken in a styrofoam container. Yep, I'm losing weight today. We hang there for a good 30 minutes and who would you presume we meet in the water? No, not Leonard DiCaprio, but the 3 no-name Aussie girls. I'm convinced they're stalking us.
The whistle blows, and off we go, away from the island of Phi Phi Leh, back to Phi Phi Don (main island) and Monkey Bay. This bay boasts of aggressive wild monkeys, and good snorkeling. So we watch ballsy tourists try to hand feed the primates, some being chased into the surf, much to our enjoyment. I'm now going to fast forward through the rest of the day and bring you to Shark Point. We snorkel Mosquito Island, rest on Bamboo island but not before getting chewed up by the coral on our way to and from shore.
Last stop as the sun sets is Shark Point just off the Southern most point of Phi Phi Don. The top of my right big toe (still healing from the motorbike accident) is sore from the fins, so I decided to go finless ... brilliant idea with sharp coral in shallow water. The water is maybe 6 feet deep where we lauch off the boat, but we're instructed to swim towards the rock outcropping and towards shore, where it's can get as shallow as 3 feet. I see two black tip reef sharks and head back to the boat as the visibility is almost non-existent because the sun has set. On my way back, a fellow snorkler, Maddie, has not seen one yet and asks me to stay in the water with her on her search. I comply and after about 10 minutes, I stand up to ask her if she's had any luck. At that moment, pain enters my toes and foot and shoots up my leg, what the heck was that. I immediately lift my feet and plant my face in the water and recognize the culprit. I had jut stepped on a black Sea Urchin ... Imagine a porcupine under water with fragile quills that snap when you touch, so cannot be dislodged from your foot. Yeah, some were a few inches long sticking out, others provided perhaps a quarter of an inch to retrieve. Either way, you basically crush the exposed parts, put neosporin to stave off infection, and hope your body dissolves it in time. Blurgh, The nerve of that sea urchin to protect itself on it's home territory while I'm invading it's personal space. Ridiculous.
We get back to the U-Rip boat dock after 7 with the night completely upon us. I am shocked and impressed that I did not take to motion sickness once. I believe it has to do in part with the boat being near ocean level as well as a constant breeze of fresh air and ocean spray upon my body and face. Head back to the hostel for a clean up and then hit Pirate Bay for grub. Joseph is starving, nothing new there, so garlic bread, order of Pad Thai, a cheeseburger with french fries, and 300 baht later, he's satisfied.
I head to D's Books and run into the 3 Aussies again while checking the internet and enjoying an early evening mocha frappé. After seeing them probably a good 10 times in the last 48 hours, I finally drop the question, "Uh, I feel like I should already know this, but have we introduced ourelves yet? Y'all have names?" They burst into laughter, they literally had just been talking about the same thing with regards to my crew not 30 minutes before. Pru, Belle, and Madde ... but still in my heart they will be known as the 3 Aussies.
After a few hours and another blog posting, I head to eat one more time and then in for a restful and early night.
Nite nite blogland via the iPhone blogger.
Day 36: Phi Phi, Thai Boxing, The Crush
Bus picks us up at 7:15 am so I wake at 6:30 ... You know how well that goes in my world. So let me rephrase the first sentence. Bus picks us up at 7:15am, so I begrudgingly drag my arse, kicking and screaming, out of bed. Ok, that's more accurate. I head up to the 3rd floor, where the Swedes stay, to make sure they're handling the early call better than I. They are up, but from the look on their faces, the verdict is still out.
Aside: Oh and for those who are unfamiliar with hostels, they come in all styles and sizes. This one has a reception area, large common area room, 3 private rooms with either 4 or 5 beds each, a toilet room and a shower room. Then you step outside a door, which is covered but literally outside, and take stairs to the 2nd and 3rd floors, where there are several large rooms with multiple bunks, a bank of sinks, toilets, and shower rooms, per each floor. Each bedroom has aircon but the rest of the space is open air.
Bus takes us 45 minutes to the port, up and over the mountains to the other side of the peninsula. There we catch the ferry for a 2 hour ride across the bay to the island of Kho Phi Phi Don ... the one with accommodations and restaurants, etc. This was my first real test with my motion sickness wrist bands from REI, they work like a charm, but the seas were calm, the boat is huge and seats probably 500 plus, so not sure if this was a true test. On the boat, we hang with three Aussie girls that were also at the hostel in Patong Beach. Ironically none of us know their names nor do we ask, not sure why. We position ourselves to run off the boat so we can get to one of only two hostels first. This hostel, the Rock, has a first come first serve policy & there were a number of other backpackes on the boat, so we made a dash through town, picked up an Aussie guy, Nick, on the way, and get there to find they only have 3 bunks available in the dorm. The dorm room bunks are only 250 baht, so less than $10usd, a sweet deal on Phi Phi. But still, we have the problem that there are 6 of us. Mon the manager said he also manages the Tara Inn Hotel and 3 of us can have a room for 1200 baht there, which equates to $13usd/night, so I, Manne and Joseph agree to take that room and give Eric, Martin, and Nick the bunks. Joseph decides to try and bargain with Mon for a better price on the room. Mon asks, "where you from?" He replies Sweden, but Mon says, "no, not with those eyes, where you from?" Oh, his Dad is Syriac, his mom is from Lebanon, but both grew up in Lebanon and he is born in Sweden. Mon says, "I knew it because you argue so much. I show you room". During the whole conversation, Mon is a hard read, so sarcastic and his English needs work. He also focuses all his energy on Joseph, no matter what any of us ask or say - that is weird.
The view from our hotel room was amazing and we could see both bays. We have an airconditioner in the room, but we would have to pay an extra 500 baht to use it, so we decline and stick with a fan. Since we are higher up, the breeze is strong and we can take cold showers before bed.
We head down to the Pirates Bay Restaurant for some grub, and grub down we did. We head back to the room to change and hit up the main beach. The tide was out so you literally had to walk 100 meters on mush and then it was at least 500 meters out before the water level was more than a meter ... Way too far. Plus it was sand intermixed with coral, so you had to watch your step or your feet would suffer the consequences. So we headed back to town to explore, Manne comments that it's "cozy". What does that mean? "I dont know, it's cozy, like the other night when we (reference to him and the other Swedes) watched Notting Hill twice in a row, it was a cozy night. It's a big word, use it many times, girl can be cozy, guy can be, your feet can be, it means many things". Yeah, that does not help. But I am pretty sure in America we would call this town quaint, so I'm gonna go with that for this definition. We spen an hour walking and checking out tour rates for a full day of snorkeling and head back to the room. We are all hungry again and this time we hit up a cheaper place at the foot of the steps of "The Rock" dorms.
Joseph heads to Mon's reception area off the street, down the stairs from the Inn and down the way from the hostel. I meet him there after running into the 3 Aussie girls again, 2nd time since landing on Phi Phi, and find out Mon has given a special wifi connection to Joseph. I ask him about it but he keeps saying I can just use his computer, but why would I do that when I have my Iphone. After 5 minutes of arguing, we ask him about getting into the dorm rooms for tomorrow and about snorkeling trip prices. He says with a scowl, "Yeah, I do trips, I see you talk to them bout trip", referring to the travel shop across the road. Well yeah, we are looking to snorkel, how are we to know he can set that up? So I ask how much, find out the rates are the same, and ask if he can set us up for a trip for the 5 of us, we will pay right now. His demeanor changes, he confirms dorm rooms for tomorrow, gives me access to wifi and takes our money for the trip. Then he begins to joke around with Joseph about his eyes and says to wear a condom with those sweet eyes. Uh, come again? He tells us a story about the time they had a girl who went through the dorm room trying to sleep with every guy. Ok? And again mentions to Joseph with those sweet eyes he can sleep with many girls to wear a condom. Uh, we try to explain Joseph is very happy with his girlfriend back in Sweden, but he's not getting it. Me thinks someone might be sweet on Joseph. We both are done with this conversation and start focusing on our iPhones. I make a comment about Mon and Josephs relationship on my facebook, and after Joe and I go back and forth a few times, joseph says sarcastically, "Oh yeah, cause I'm gay". Mon comes from behind the counter across the room and says, "What did you just say?" Joe blows it off and says oh nothing, he was clearly kidding. But oh no, Mon ain't letting it rest, again he says in an intrigued tone, eyes curiously wide open, "No, what did you just say? You just say something, what was it?" Joe and I laugh, Mon just confirmed what we both were suspecting. We again say it was nothing and drop it, but them I say to Joseph, "Work your magic, get a discount for our room, take one for the team!"
That night we head off to The Reggae Bar where they do Thai Kick Boxing every night. For the first few hours, westerners sign up to fight each other, which results in a free bucket of mixed drink and a t-shirt about the event. Of you could of seen the black eyes, bruises, and broken lips on these people, I think we can all agree it's not worth it. They also have happy hour deal where you get a bucket of rum & sprite for 100 baht, most others are 600 baht. So we all get one, the last poured mine as a double. It was evident she had a thing for me. I was feeling good about 30 minutes later after I polished it off with a grimace. Bleh. Then I met pretty much everyone in the bar as I went table to table making friends and meeting people. The Swedes call it a gift, I call it networking, lol. While I was up from the table, the bartender/waitress asks Manne (21) if I am his Dad, which he replies, YES. Then she asks his age, he lies and says 19, though he could pass for 16 easily. He says I am a young Dad and had I'm at 18, that I'm 37, which sadly is very near my age, and that I'm single. Thanks Manne.
We leave there around 11 and head to the beach party. There is a dance club and several bars, all open air, and all bouncing with throngs of people. We start at the neon dance club and kick it to Lady Gaga and Rihana, when fire catches our eyes. Literally, there are guys on the beach spinning and tossing fire logs into the air, about 50 meters away. So you know guys and fire, we are drawn to it like moths to a flame and spend the next 15 minites up wind watching in awe. After having our fill and with no end in sight or new tricks evident, we head back to the dance floor. I'm tired now and we have a long day tomorrow with the snorkeling trip, so our room collectively decides to head back, but Martin and Eric stay out.
We hit the showers quickly to cool down and rinse off, turn the fan on high, and hit the hay.
Nite nite from the iPhone Blogger!
Aside: Oh and for those who are unfamiliar with hostels, they come in all styles and sizes. This one has a reception area, large common area room, 3 private rooms with either 4 or 5 beds each, a toilet room and a shower room. Then you step outside a door, which is covered but literally outside, and take stairs to the 2nd and 3rd floors, where there are several large rooms with multiple bunks, a bank of sinks, toilets, and shower rooms, per each floor. Each bedroom has aircon but the rest of the space is open air.
Bus takes us 45 minutes to the port, up and over the mountains to the other side of the peninsula. There we catch the ferry for a 2 hour ride across the bay to the island of Kho Phi Phi Don ... the one with accommodations and restaurants, etc. This was my first real test with my motion sickness wrist bands from REI, they work like a charm, but the seas were calm, the boat is huge and seats probably 500 plus, so not sure if this was a true test. On the boat, we hang with three Aussie girls that were also at the hostel in Patong Beach. Ironically none of us know their names nor do we ask, not sure why. We position ourselves to run off the boat so we can get to one of only two hostels first. This hostel, the Rock, has a first come first serve policy & there were a number of other backpackes on the boat, so we made a dash through town, picked up an Aussie guy, Nick, on the way, and get there to find they only have 3 bunks available in the dorm. The dorm room bunks are only 250 baht, so less than $10usd, a sweet deal on Phi Phi. But still, we have the problem that there are 6 of us. Mon the manager said he also manages the Tara Inn Hotel and 3 of us can have a room for 1200 baht there, which equates to $13usd/night, so I, Manne and Joseph agree to take that room and give Eric, Martin, and Nick the bunks. Joseph decides to try and bargain with Mon for a better price on the room. Mon asks, "where you from?" He replies Sweden, but Mon says, "no, not with those eyes, where you from?" Oh, his Dad is Syriac, his mom is from Lebanon, but both grew up in Lebanon and he is born in Sweden. Mon says, "I knew it because you argue so much. I show you room". During the whole conversation, Mon is a hard read, so sarcastic and his English needs work. He also focuses all his energy on Joseph, no matter what any of us ask or say - that is weird.
The view from our hotel room was amazing and we could see both bays. We have an airconditioner in the room, but we would have to pay an extra 500 baht to use it, so we decline and stick with a fan. Since we are higher up, the breeze is strong and we can take cold showers before bed.
We head down to the Pirates Bay Restaurant for some grub, and grub down we did. We head back to the room to change and hit up the main beach. The tide was out so you literally had to walk 100 meters on mush and then it was at least 500 meters out before the water level was more than a meter ... Way too far. Plus it was sand intermixed with coral, so you had to watch your step or your feet would suffer the consequences. So we headed back to town to explore, Manne comments that it's "cozy". What does that mean? "I dont know, it's cozy, like the other night when we (reference to him and the other Swedes) watched Notting Hill twice in a row, it was a cozy night. It's a big word, use it many times, girl can be cozy, guy can be, your feet can be, it means many things". Yeah, that does not help. But I am pretty sure in America we would call this town quaint, so I'm gonna go with that for this definition. We spen an hour walking and checking out tour rates for a full day of snorkeling and head back to the room. We are all hungry again and this time we hit up a cheaper place at the foot of the steps of "The Rock" dorms.
Joseph heads to Mon's reception area off the street, down the stairs from the Inn and down the way from the hostel. I meet him there after running into the 3 Aussie girls again, 2nd time since landing on Phi Phi, and find out Mon has given a special wifi connection to Joseph. I ask him about it but he keeps saying I can just use his computer, but why would I do that when I have my Iphone. After 5 minutes of arguing, we ask him about getting into the dorm rooms for tomorrow and about snorkeling trip prices. He says with a scowl, "Yeah, I do trips, I see you talk to them bout trip", referring to the travel shop across the road. Well yeah, we are looking to snorkel, how are we to know he can set that up? So I ask how much, find out the rates are the same, and ask if he can set us up for a trip for the 5 of us, we will pay right now. His demeanor changes, he confirms dorm rooms for tomorrow, gives me access to wifi and takes our money for the trip. Then he begins to joke around with Joseph about his eyes and says to wear a condom with those sweet eyes. Uh, come again? He tells us a story about the time they had a girl who went through the dorm room trying to sleep with every guy. Ok? And again mentions to Joseph with those sweet eyes he can sleep with many girls to wear a condom. Uh, we try to explain Joseph is very happy with his girlfriend back in Sweden, but he's not getting it. Me thinks someone might be sweet on Joseph. We both are done with this conversation and start focusing on our iPhones. I make a comment about Mon and Josephs relationship on my facebook, and after Joe and I go back and forth a few times, joseph says sarcastically, "Oh yeah, cause I'm gay". Mon comes from behind the counter across the room and says, "What did you just say?" Joe blows it off and says oh nothing, he was clearly kidding. But oh no, Mon ain't letting it rest, again he says in an intrigued tone, eyes curiously wide open, "No, what did you just say? You just say something, what was it?" Joe and I laugh, Mon just confirmed what we both were suspecting. We again say it was nothing and drop it, but them I say to Joseph, "Work your magic, get a discount for our room, take one for the team!"
That night we head off to The Reggae Bar where they do Thai Kick Boxing every night. For the first few hours, westerners sign up to fight each other, which results in a free bucket of mixed drink and a t-shirt about the event. Of you could of seen the black eyes, bruises, and broken lips on these people, I think we can all agree it's not worth it. They also have happy hour deal where you get a bucket of rum & sprite for 100 baht, most others are 600 baht. So we all get one, the last poured mine as a double. It was evident she had a thing for me. I was feeling good about 30 minutes later after I polished it off with a grimace. Bleh. Then I met pretty much everyone in the bar as I went table to table making friends and meeting people. The Swedes call it a gift, I call it networking, lol. While I was up from the table, the bartender/waitress asks Manne (21) if I am his Dad, which he replies, YES. Then she asks his age, he lies and says 19, though he could pass for 16 easily. He says I am a young Dad and had I'm at 18, that I'm 37, which sadly is very near my age, and that I'm single. Thanks Manne.
We leave there around 11 and head to the beach party. There is a dance club and several bars, all open air, and all bouncing with throngs of people. We start at the neon dance club and kick it to Lady Gaga and Rihana, when fire catches our eyes. Literally, there are guys on the beach spinning and tossing fire logs into the air, about 50 meters away. So you know guys and fire, we are drawn to it like moths to a flame and spend the next 15 minites up wind watching in awe. After having our fill and with no end in sight or new tricks evident, we head back to the dance floor. I'm tired now and we have a long day tomorrow with the snorkeling trip, so our room collectively decides to head back, but Martin and Eric stay out.
We hit the showers quickly to cool down and rinse off, turn the fan on high, and hit the hay.
Nite nite from the iPhone Blogger!
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Day35: First full day at Patong Beach
So I awake at 11 which is good considering I spent an hour last night trying to fix their wifi ... Till 4am. Success. Holly and Annie were both up but Manne was not. Went to his bunk to check his lunch plans, He mumbles something, rolls over, but surfaces 10 minutes later and off we go.
Sheila's guesthouse restaurant and bar seems like a fair enough joint. Drawn in by the false advertisement of all you can eat for 180 baht, which was not true, only 3 cups of coffee, and an English breakfast ... sit down anyway. The American Breakfast consists of 2 eggs, 3 rashers of bacon, fried potato, toast with jam or marmalade, with juice and coffee. Rasher? What the heck is a rasher? Annie looks at me and says, "it's a rasher, you know like a slice, a rasher." Why would you call it that? Is that a common phrase? "Of course, everyone calls it a rasher." Then what do you call it when your skin gets irritated and spotty in need of a cream? "A rash". Ok, so then why would you want a rash on your bacon. "No, because it's a rasher of bacon". Annie, you do know that defining a word with the same word does not equal a definition? Regardless, learned a new phrase today.
The conversation quickly goes to potty talk, literally. The girls apparently are plenty upset that in some mens restrooms in the UK, there's a guy who gives you paper towels and spritzes you with cologne. Yeah, we have that in the US too, in most nice clubs. Apparently, the girls bathrooms do not, much to their consternation. Also, did you know that girls go to the bathroom with other girls so that they have someone to press the door closed and hold their purse? And guys, I mean on the inside of the stall. Think about how small that stall is, and now you have a friend in there trying not to watch, so your squatting and thier tail end's in your face. No thanks. I'll rig the door closed with a piece of hair and chewing gum, McGuyver style. Now onto the purse, why don't they just use the hooks on the back of the door? Annie quips, "We don't have any of those either. We just get royally ripped off." Another reason I'm glad to be a dude. Especially since I usually remove all upper body clothing in any bathroom before dropping a deuce. TMI?
We return to the hostel to grab our stuff for the beach. We pick up Sasha, a full figured, pale, lady from England staying at the hostel with us, and head for the famous Patong beach. It's packed, loungers everywhere, a few folk in the water, majority catching rays. Interesting beach for sure, tons of "westerners" as they call the whites, but more so Euros. Though this is not a topless beach, a number of older overweight weathered ladies did not get the memo, so boobs are out all over the place. A sweet older anorexic Asian lady decided it was keen to wear a thong, though not sure how it stayed up without a butt. Literally, her legs just went straight up, with a litlle piece of string up the crack and tied around the waist, barely on since the hips were square. And don't even get me started on the banana hammocks. You have two types that wear them. Either really fit muscle head types, or extremely overweight, belly hanging over types where you can scarcely tell they are wearing anything. And if you think I'm being a bit jugemental here, my rule of thumb is if your willing to wear it out to the beach then be proud and own it. That way you never care what people say, and clearly, all the people I'm describing were confident and could careless what I think, probably why they were intersting to observe.
After 2 hours of doing nothing but sitting half in and half out of the still water ... No surf here ... We headed back for a shower and some rest.
There we run into the whole group of Manne's Swedish friends, Eric, Joseph, Haki, and Martin. We actually hung out with them at the Hollywood Bar the night before as well, really nice guys. If I had not made mention of this fact before, I've never met a Swede I did not like. They are all very nice however much more reserved, so unless you initiate, they will not interact, and you might assume them to be snobs. Don't be fooled, just start a conversation, they all speak great English and typically want to know about how America really is. Ok, now onto the rest of my day.
At the hostel they have decided they are going to Phi Phi in the morning, something I am dying to do, and they invite me. Only problem... I paid in advance to the hostel for 7 days and they are not too keen on refunds, blurgh! Tip is the manager who clearly has a crush on me. She has more than once reached in my pocket "as a joke" to grab my room key or my money. She always gives it back, but really? Anyhow, she says it's very hard to give me back my money, so we agree that when I return, she will give me 5 nights of free stay, which works since I'm coming back in a few days. Score ... I'm going to Koh Phi Phi.
Another random fact, in Thai, Koh means island, so if I ever say Kho, it's an island, though sometimes I'm lazy and leave the Kho off.
We each pay 650 baht (around $20usd) for a round trip boat ride and taxi to and from Phi Phi, scheduled to leave at 7:15am in the morning. The boat dock is a 45 minute taxi ride, the ferry is 2 hours, so it's a fair price.
After we get all our traveling plans straightened out, I head by myself to Beach Way, the coffee shop with Mocha Oreo Frappe, and catch up on FB and Aggie sports.
That night it was dinner for 8, the 5 Swedes, and the two Brits plus me. They ask if it will be separate checks, first time to hear that, and we say sure! Joseph, the big eater in the group, asks for a double portion as does Manne, Eric, and Martin. The meals arrive, sporadically of course, and out of all of the meals, Joseph's was the smallest. You should of seen the look on his face, priceless. Hes too hungry to argue, but the entire meal, he grumbles about the size. When the bill came, we were sure he would be charged for a single ... Nope, a double. And since he ate it without complaint, he had to pay full price, sucka! We signal for the check and half an hour later, the bill finally arrives as one big number ... Uh, separate bills my arse. We have them break it down, tell us amounts, pay our share and then off we go. We had to make a b-line for McDonalds where Joseph downs a Big Mac, it was a necessity in his words, and head to the market for supplies for Phi Phi.
Side note: Everything in Thailand is backwards a bit, chocolate is expensive, full meals are cheap, playing card cost 500 baht, as do full day snorkeling trips with meals on board. Little bit strange.
We head back to the hostel, get an early start at bed, so with that, it's farewell and nite nite from the iPhone blogger.
Sheila's guesthouse restaurant and bar seems like a fair enough joint. Drawn in by the false advertisement of all you can eat for 180 baht, which was not true, only 3 cups of coffee, and an English breakfast ... sit down anyway. The American Breakfast consists of 2 eggs, 3 rashers of bacon, fried potato, toast with jam or marmalade, with juice and coffee. Rasher? What the heck is a rasher? Annie looks at me and says, "it's a rasher, you know like a slice, a rasher." Why would you call it that? Is that a common phrase? "Of course, everyone calls it a rasher." Then what do you call it when your skin gets irritated and spotty in need of a cream? "A rash". Ok, so then why would you want a rash on your bacon. "No, because it's a rasher of bacon". Annie, you do know that defining a word with the same word does not equal a definition? Regardless, learned a new phrase today.
The conversation quickly goes to potty talk, literally. The girls apparently are plenty upset that in some mens restrooms in the UK, there's a guy who gives you paper towels and spritzes you with cologne. Yeah, we have that in the US too, in most nice clubs. Apparently, the girls bathrooms do not, much to their consternation. Also, did you know that girls go to the bathroom with other girls so that they have someone to press the door closed and hold their purse? And guys, I mean on the inside of the stall. Think about how small that stall is, and now you have a friend in there trying not to watch, so your squatting and thier tail end's in your face. No thanks. I'll rig the door closed with a piece of hair and chewing gum, McGuyver style. Now onto the purse, why don't they just use the hooks on the back of the door? Annie quips, "We don't have any of those either. We just get royally ripped off." Another reason I'm glad to be a dude. Especially since I usually remove all upper body clothing in any bathroom before dropping a deuce. TMI?
We return to the hostel to grab our stuff for the beach. We pick up Sasha, a full figured, pale, lady from England staying at the hostel with us, and head for the famous Patong beach. It's packed, loungers everywhere, a few folk in the water, majority catching rays. Interesting beach for sure, tons of "westerners" as they call the whites, but more so Euros. Though this is not a topless beach, a number of older overweight weathered ladies did not get the memo, so boobs are out all over the place. A sweet older anorexic Asian lady decided it was keen to wear a thong, though not sure how it stayed up without a butt. Literally, her legs just went straight up, with a litlle piece of string up the crack and tied around the waist, barely on since the hips were square. And don't even get me started on the banana hammocks. You have two types that wear them. Either really fit muscle head types, or extremely overweight, belly hanging over types where you can scarcely tell they are wearing anything. And if you think I'm being a bit jugemental here, my rule of thumb is if your willing to wear it out to the beach then be proud and own it. That way you never care what people say, and clearly, all the people I'm describing were confident and could careless what I think, probably why they were intersting to observe.
After 2 hours of doing nothing but sitting half in and half out of the still water ... No surf here ... We headed back for a shower and some rest.
There we run into the whole group of Manne's Swedish friends, Eric, Joseph, Haki, and Martin. We actually hung out with them at the Hollywood Bar the night before as well, really nice guys. If I had not made mention of this fact before, I've never met a Swede I did not like. They are all very nice however much more reserved, so unless you initiate, they will not interact, and you might assume them to be snobs. Don't be fooled, just start a conversation, they all speak great English and typically want to know about how America really is. Ok, now onto the rest of my day.
At the hostel they have decided they are going to Phi Phi in the morning, something I am dying to do, and they invite me. Only problem... I paid in advance to the hostel for 7 days and they are not too keen on refunds, blurgh! Tip is the manager who clearly has a crush on me. She has more than once reached in my pocket "as a joke" to grab my room key or my money. She always gives it back, but really? Anyhow, she says it's very hard to give me back my money, so we agree that when I return, she will give me 5 nights of free stay, which works since I'm coming back in a few days. Score ... I'm going to Koh Phi Phi.
Another random fact, in Thai, Koh means island, so if I ever say Kho, it's an island, though sometimes I'm lazy and leave the Kho off.
We each pay 650 baht (around $20usd) for a round trip boat ride and taxi to and from Phi Phi, scheduled to leave at 7:15am in the morning. The boat dock is a 45 minute taxi ride, the ferry is 2 hours, so it's a fair price.
After we get all our traveling plans straightened out, I head by myself to Beach Way, the coffee shop with Mocha Oreo Frappe, and catch up on FB and Aggie sports.
That night it was dinner for 8, the 5 Swedes, and the two Brits plus me. They ask if it will be separate checks, first time to hear that, and we say sure! Joseph, the big eater in the group, asks for a double portion as does Manne, Eric, and Martin. The meals arrive, sporadically of course, and out of all of the meals, Joseph's was the smallest. You should of seen the look on his face, priceless. Hes too hungry to argue, but the entire meal, he grumbles about the size. When the bill came, we were sure he would be charged for a single ... Nope, a double. And since he ate it without complaint, he had to pay full price, sucka! We signal for the check and half an hour later, the bill finally arrives as one big number ... Uh, separate bills my arse. We have them break it down, tell us amounts, pay our share and then off we go. We had to make a b-line for McDonalds where Joseph downs a Big Mac, it was a necessity in his words, and head to the market for supplies for Phi Phi.
Side note: Everything in Thailand is backwards a bit, chocolate is expensive, full meals are cheap, playing card cost 500 baht, as do full day snorkeling trips with meals on board. Little bit strange.
We head back to the hostel, get an early start at bed, so with that, it's farewell and nite nite from the iPhone blogger.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Day 34: KL Mayhem and Phuket
Got dropped off at international airport terminal, which makes sense since I'm flying to Thailand, 2 1/2 hours early. I'm happy with the building, clearly new construction, and I imagine they will have lots of places to buy coffee and grab some grub before my plane takes off. This would of been all well and good If I was flying any other airline than Air Asia, but Air Asia is special and has their own terminal no where close to the international one ... This I find out after wandering about looking for the Air Asia counter for 15 minutes. Now bear in mind I am weighed down with my entire pack and over the shoulder bag. So I follow the signs to the bus terminal which stretches across the whole of the terminal, down some stairs, across a skywalk, down some more stairs where a man asks, where are you going? Air Asia is all I say and he says 10, which is the bus terminal that the bus will come to. I think alright, it will be a quick jaunt. Then he says, 2.50 ringgits (Malaysian currency). Uh, what ... In the states all terminals are connexted by trams or buses at 0 cost to the customer. Plus, as you recall, I proudly just spent all my ringgits yesterday at the mall. So he says I need to go back up the stairs, across the skywalk, up another set of stairs, across the terminal to the far side where the currency exchange booth is. Yeah, basically where I started some 30 minutes ago. So I do as told, but am not wanting to change a whole $20usd in for 70 ringgits, which they take a cut on, and then have to change it in Thailand for Bahts and get another portion taken out, all so I can pay less than $1usd for a bus ride to a terminal that should be free. I look in my money pouch, see 50,000 Rupiah from Indo and change it out for 17 ringgits and head back to the bus.
I return, step out to the terminal, and that is where I wait, and wait, and wait. The bus comes some 20 minutes later, about an hour and 20 minutes before departure. I jump on, pay my ringgits and off we go, thinking this should be a short jaunt, I'm still doing great. I'm pretty sure we left the airport entirely, made a lap around KL and then arrive at another airport. Truth be told, it was a good 25 minutes and the terminal we arrive at, all Air Asia, looks like something out of the 50's packed out with consumeristic establishments on the outside, barren concrete walls on the inside. Obviously it is the old terminal from long long ago and shares the same runway as the other terminal I was at.
We arrive with less than an hour to departure. I enter through the throngs of people, see a Self-checkin kiosk, hit it up and think I'm ahead of the game.. I just have to drop off my bag at the baggage drop and proceed to grab a bite and head to the gate. If it was only that easy. I get to the baggage drop line and it's long and at a stand still. Meanwhile all the normal check in lines (not self-check in kiosk) are empty. So I proceed to one of those thinking, they surely can check my bag here. Oh no. They tell me since I've already checked in, I need to go to line R4 or R5 ... The really long lines that are not moving. I try to explain to her the fact that my plane takes off in less than 50 minutes and I want my bag on it ... She again points. Blurgh! So I get in line and 25 minutes later my bag is checked. No time for food because I still have immigration to go through, another security line and then get to the gate. Immigration is fairly quick as was security, but then I had to go down an escalator, through a corridor, to a grouping of gates, proceed out my gate door, down a sidewalk, across a road, and down another corridor to find my plane. I board with 3 minutes to spare ... But now I'm hungry ;(
No one is sitting in my row and I get excited, until I see a large Indian man, obviously sweating, smellable from 5 rows away, heading my direction. As he proceeds closer and closer looking at seat numbers I'm thinking, please not close, please not close ... He sits in the isle seat of my row. Not as bad as a direct hit, the middle seat next to me, but way too close. He turns his air on above his head but points it slightly to the left of his body, sending the fumes from his body, down his seat, across the middle seat, up my body right into my olfactories. I try to combat it with my air, but to no avail. He passes out, I almost pass out, put on my eye mask, and go to my happy place.
We arrive in Thailand, everyone exits the plane and mkes a b-line to customs, which in every country is a hit or miss with long lines. This one was a miss, about 16 lines across at least 20 people deep, we wait. I somehow found myself in between a tour group all speaking Arabic, some are in front, some are behind, but they speak past me as if I do not exist. Get through customs, no visa required for Americans, woo hoo, pick up my bag, it was there woo hoo, and make my exit looking for an ATM. There I am bombarded by taxi and shuttle brokers, spot the ATM, ignore them and make a b-line. Pull out 5000 baht = $160, and pick up a shuttle for 150 baht to my hostel.
The trip is usually 45 minutes, but apparently this particular shuttle stops outside of the beaches and has you come into a storefront to "get your specific location". But in reality this is where they pitch you on hotels if you have not secured one, upsell you if they can, and try to sell you boat tours and elephant trek packages. Smart, but annoying. I get out, give them my hotel
location, tell them I'm not making decisions until I arrive, and get back in the aircon van. 15 minutes later, after everyone has been pitched, we take off for Patong Beach.
I'm staying at Patong Backpackers Hostel, which is literally 1 minute from the beach and one minute from Bangla Rd which is where all the clubs and bars are off of. Brilliant location. I check in, pay for my 7 nights stay, throw my bags on my bed, discover the wifi is down, and head out to a coffee shop with wifi. Order the Mocha Oreo Frappe, fall in love with it, make baby frappes and live happily ever after. Or, devour the drink, hit up facebook and my blog, hit the beach as the sun is setting, and head back to PBH, my hostel. There I meet Manne (pronounced Manny), a 21 yr old swede also traveling on his own, but who knows most of the other hostel mates, several also being Swedes. We go to dinner with Annie and Holly, 2 British girls he met in Bangkok a while back but just arrived today as well. Hit up some local joint a bit on the cheaper side, and head to the local store to buy liquor. They're 21, and pre-partying at the hostel is a ritual among the backpack crew, saves on spending out at the bars. Then we all head out.
We end up at a place called Hollywood Bar ... but of course ... Lured in by the promise of 2 buckets for 300baht. Buckets are what you think they are, like pails you give toddlers to build sand castles with, made up of whatever concoction you desire. Hollywood is made up of 15 or 20 bars, individually run, with their own special deals and activities. The one we were at had a large slab of wood that you hammer nails into until they feel secure, then you take turns with the hammer trying to pound them flush. The catch? You use the small angled backside part of the hammer, usually used to remove nails, instead of the front square solid surface. It's very difficult to hammer the nail with that end in the first place, but then add a little alcohol and it is cause for hours of entertainment.
We return to the hostel by 3am, the wifi password is still not working, so I set to fixing it. Tap into the router, reset the entire thing, reload the device name and password, and it works. I'm now the hero of the hostel, according to Tip, the manager.
Nite nite via the iPhone blogger!
I return, step out to the terminal, and that is where I wait, and wait, and wait. The bus comes some 20 minutes later, about an hour and 20 minutes before departure. I jump on, pay my ringgits and off we go, thinking this should be a short jaunt, I'm still doing great. I'm pretty sure we left the airport entirely, made a lap around KL and then arrive at another airport. Truth be told, it was a good 25 minutes and the terminal we arrive at, all Air Asia, looks like something out of the 50's packed out with consumeristic establishments on the outside, barren concrete walls on the inside. Obviously it is the old terminal from long long ago and shares the same runway as the other terminal I was at.
We arrive with less than an hour to departure. I enter through the throngs of people, see a Self-checkin kiosk, hit it up and think I'm ahead of the game.. I just have to drop off my bag at the baggage drop and proceed to grab a bite and head to the gate. If it was only that easy. I get to the baggage drop line and it's long and at a stand still. Meanwhile all the normal check in lines (not self-check in kiosk) are empty. So I proceed to one of those thinking, they surely can check my bag here. Oh no. They tell me since I've already checked in, I need to go to line R4 or R5 ... The really long lines that are not moving. I try to explain to her the fact that my plane takes off in less than 50 minutes and I want my bag on it ... She again points. Blurgh! So I get in line and 25 minutes later my bag is checked. No time for food because I still have immigration to go through, another security line and then get to the gate. Immigration is fairly quick as was security, but then I had to go down an escalator, through a corridor, to a grouping of gates, proceed out my gate door, down a sidewalk, across a road, and down another corridor to find my plane. I board with 3 minutes to spare ... But now I'm hungry ;(
No one is sitting in my row and I get excited, until I see a large Indian man, obviously sweating, smellable from 5 rows away, heading my direction. As he proceeds closer and closer looking at seat numbers I'm thinking, please not close, please not close ... He sits in the isle seat of my row. Not as bad as a direct hit, the middle seat next to me, but way too close. He turns his air on above his head but points it slightly to the left of his body, sending the fumes from his body, down his seat, across the middle seat, up my body right into my olfactories. I try to combat it with my air, but to no avail. He passes out, I almost pass out, put on my eye mask, and go to my happy place.
We arrive in Thailand, everyone exits the plane and mkes a b-line to customs, which in every country is a hit or miss with long lines. This one was a miss, about 16 lines across at least 20 people deep, we wait. I somehow found myself in between a tour group all speaking Arabic, some are in front, some are behind, but they speak past me as if I do not exist. Get through customs, no visa required for Americans, woo hoo, pick up my bag, it was there woo hoo, and make my exit looking for an ATM. There I am bombarded by taxi and shuttle brokers, spot the ATM, ignore them and make a b-line. Pull out 5000 baht = $160, and pick up a shuttle for 150 baht to my hostel.
The trip is usually 45 minutes, but apparently this particular shuttle stops outside of the beaches and has you come into a storefront to "get your specific location". But in reality this is where they pitch you on hotels if you have not secured one, upsell you if they can, and try to sell you boat tours and elephant trek packages. Smart, but annoying. I get out, give them my hotel
location, tell them I'm not making decisions until I arrive, and get back in the aircon van. 15 minutes later, after everyone has been pitched, we take off for Patong Beach.
I'm staying at Patong Backpackers Hostel, which is literally 1 minute from the beach and one minute from Bangla Rd which is where all the clubs and bars are off of. Brilliant location. I check in, pay for my 7 nights stay, throw my bags on my bed, discover the wifi is down, and head out to a coffee shop with wifi. Order the Mocha Oreo Frappe, fall in love with it, make baby frappes and live happily ever after. Or, devour the drink, hit up facebook and my blog, hit the beach as the sun is setting, and head back to PBH, my hostel. There I meet Manne (pronounced Manny), a 21 yr old swede also traveling on his own, but who knows most of the other hostel mates, several also being Swedes. We go to dinner with Annie and Holly, 2 British girls he met in Bangkok a while back but just arrived today as well. Hit up some local joint a bit on the cheaper side, and head to the local store to buy liquor. They're 21, and pre-partying at the hostel is a ritual among the backpack crew, saves on spending out at the bars. Then we all head out.
We end up at a place called Hollywood Bar ... but of course ... Lured in by the promise of 2 buckets for 300baht. Buckets are what you think they are, like pails you give toddlers to build sand castles with, made up of whatever concoction you desire. Hollywood is made up of 15 or 20 bars, individually run, with their own special deals and activities. The one we were at had a large slab of wood that you hammer nails into until they feel secure, then you take turns with the hammer trying to pound them flush. The catch? You use the small angled backside part of the hammer, usually used to remove nails, instead of the front square solid surface. It's very difficult to hammer the nail with that end in the first place, but then add a little alcohol and it is cause for hours of entertainment.
We return to the hostel by 3am, the wifi password is still not working, so I set to fixing it. Tap into the router, reset the entire thing, reload the device name and password, and it works. I'm now the hero of the hostel, according to Tip, the manager.
Nite nite via the iPhone blogger!
Day 33: Lost in the Mall
I awake, jump in their shower, the heat is working, insert smile here, however the pressure is still non-existent, insert frown. I feel bad for Amy because she has long thick hair and I know it has to take her forever to wash it.
I meet them downstairs and we take off to a friend's little girls birthday party. Yeah, on a Tuesday, starting at noon, while school is in and people are working. Strange, even for Malaysia. Also noteworthy, in Malaysia, any kind of event hosted at your home is a big deal. And when you invite one person, it is an open invite for them to bring friends. For example, Ryan and Amy had a birthday party for Jackson's 1st, and a single guy brought 6 of his friends to it, yeah 6. No such thing as being particular about your guest list, people are coming and bringing whoever they want with them - it's expected in their culture, regardless of your finances. So we arrive at the flat, which is in an area we would call "the projects", on the 16th floor of a building. A quarter of the buttons on the elevator panel are missing, some weird copper wire contraption streaks down the face of it, holding it together, outside pieces of concrete from the structure litter the place. It definitely takes a level of faith in the Malays ability to build quality buildings in the 80's.
When we find her flat, it's a small and cold, 2 tiny bedrooms, a living room with no furniture other than a folding table, a few folding chairs, an outdated tv box, and A few bamboo mats on the floor for sitting. She is the mother of 5 little girls ranging from age 6 months to 9 years old. We walk in and she is still bathing the littlest one, no other guests are there. Turns out that in light of the size of her place, she has spaced out the timing of her guests, we are the first and only ones until two o'clock. She serves us some really d-lish chicken and noodles dish with red koolaide on the side. I finish my first plate only to find a second pushed on me. It's rude not to finish what is given, so I polish off the second helping and quickly dispose of my paper bowl before a 3rd helping could be allocated. I down some weird bland orange dessert topped with salty coconut shreds, all the time eyeing a delicious chocolate sprinkled cake. She can sense my angst and cuts the cake up, serving me the first slice. She does not bake her cakes, she actually steams them, leaving them moist and warm. This one was completed 4 hours before, yet still was warm and moist on the inside once cut. By far my favorite dessert to date on my trip. I pulled out my camera, took some shots of Jackson and her adorable daughters, and then we headed on our way.
Ryan and Amy had a packed day of meetings and such, so I asked them to drop mr off at their local mall so I could catch a show and chill at a coffee shop. So at 2:00pm, they dropped me off at One Utama, the same mall I originally was dropped off by the bus from Singapore. To say this mall is a mammoth is an understatement. Orchard Road in Singapore is a number of malls connected together stretching for almost 2 miles. This mall was not that large, but close, and combines an original 4 story mall from the 90's with an additional 6 story mall from the last few years. It is connected above and below a major road via a skywalk and underground passageway, resulting in 6 floors of shops galore, 2 theaters, multiple food courts, a minature rainforest with coy ponds, and a really confusing layout.
I enter, and wander aimlessly, not being able to find a working digital directory. The touch screen just reads computer error ... Must be windows based. I decide to find my way around the old fashioned way, "permisio, movie theater?" I am directed to one on the top floor of the new mall and buy a ticket for the movie Legion at 9 Ringgits (less than $3usd). The theater was nice, though the aircon could of been kicked up a notch. The movie was fair, but not one I would recommend wasting your money on.
After the show, they shove you out the doors behind the screen into concrete walled tunnels leading to sparse stairwells and steel double doors eventually landing you back into the mall. Kinda bizarre, but I'm sure it prevents people from popping into other movies. Now I'm curious about the rest of the mall and stumble upon this huge open oval balcony area decorated in Chinese red for the Chinese New Year. On the ground floor there stands a huge stage, large speakers, music blasting, and the featured guest of the stage is a 15 foot stuffed white feline waving his arm. Who are these people?
I continue on, cross a long corridor of smaller shops and run into movie theater number two, in the older mall. The tickets were 2 Ringgits cheaper than the other theater, so I give it a go and head into Tooth Fairy. The aircon was better but the atmosphere was not. A couple have brought their infants into the show, more specifically, very unhappy infants. More than once the one child screamed for over a minute, yet the parents did nothing, no bottle, no pacifier, no exit into the hall, just ignored it. That's great for them, what about everyone else? Clearly not a concern. Thankfully it was a kids movie and an average one at that, so the distraction was not something that detracted a whole lot.
It finishes, its only 6:30, and Ryan was not picking me up till 9, so I have some time to kill. Walk a good 3 miles in that mall, eat some A&W cheesburgers and fries, and finllly find the directories are back online. Utama One mall also has free wifi, but it has a filter that does not allow facebook access, so Houston, we have a problem. Earlier Ryan had informed me that all Starbucks locations in Malaysia had free wifi, so yep, I was gonna visit te Bucks again.
I look it up on the directory, but the map is difficult to read. It shows you "here we are" but not "you are here". It also shows two separate squares that are not linked with different letters infront of the numbered locations. If what I just said did not make any sense, welcome to my world. Does that mean they are different floors or different malls or different parts of parts of a smaller mall. I was near F323 and I needed to be at G53, which I figured meant either ground floor or the next level up. I went down a level to what I thought was G, it did not have a letter. Hmm, maybe they go up in letters as you go up floors, I proceeded up a floor above the F, it was an S floor. What? So then I proceeded to ask a security guard, who then sends me up 2 floors and to the right ... Uh, theres a ton to my right, as far as the eye can see, and it looks like mayhem with no Bucks in sight. 30 minutes later I find one, one of the apparently 3 Sbucks in this mall. I told you it was big! I proudly spend my last 17 Ringgits on a frappacino, my goal, because I am not planning on hitting Malaysia again on my travels.
9pm rolls up fairly quick and Ryan is waiting out front. Jump in and we wad home where Amy has just put down Jackson. For the next 4 hours we get into some pretty interesting conversations about theology, philosophy, and life. Some of it's catch up, some of it's about LA and ministry, some of it's just personal worldview, but all of it is amazing!
Alright, time to hit the hay, peace out, iPhone blogger.
I meet them downstairs and we take off to a friend's little girls birthday party. Yeah, on a Tuesday, starting at noon, while school is in and people are working. Strange, even for Malaysia. Also noteworthy, in Malaysia, any kind of event hosted at your home is a big deal. And when you invite one person, it is an open invite for them to bring friends. For example, Ryan and Amy had a birthday party for Jackson's 1st, and a single guy brought 6 of his friends to it, yeah 6. No such thing as being particular about your guest list, people are coming and bringing whoever they want with them - it's expected in their culture, regardless of your finances. So we arrive at the flat, which is in an area we would call "the projects", on the 16th floor of a building. A quarter of the buttons on the elevator panel are missing, some weird copper wire contraption streaks down the face of it, holding it together, outside pieces of concrete from the structure litter the place. It definitely takes a level of faith in the Malays ability to build quality buildings in the 80's.
When we find her flat, it's a small and cold, 2 tiny bedrooms, a living room with no furniture other than a folding table, a few folding chairs, an outdated tv box, and A few bamboo mats on the floor for sitting. She is the mother of 5 little girls ranging from age 6 months to 9 years old. We walk in and she is still bathing the littlest one, no other guests are there. Turns out that in light of the size of her place, she has spaced out the timing of her guests, we are the first and only ones until two o'clock. She serves us some really d-lish chicken and noodles dish with red koolaide on the side. I finish my first plate only to find a second pushed on me. It's rude not to finish what is given, so I polish off the second helping and quickly dispose of my paper bowl before a 3rd helping could be allocated. I down some weird bland orange dessert topped with salty coconut shreds, all the time eyeing a delicious chocolate sprinkled cake. She can sense my angst and cuts the cake up, serving me the first slice. She does not bake her cakes, she actually steams them, leaving them moist and warm. This one was completed 4 hours before, yet still was warm and moist on the inside once cut. By far my favorite dessert to date on my trip. I pulled out my camera, took some shots of Jackson and her adorable daughters, and then we headed on our way.
Ryan and Amy had a packed day of meetings and such, so I asked them to drop mr off at their local mall so I could catch a show and chill at a coffee shop. So at 2:00pm, they dropped me off at One Utama, the same mall I originally was dropped off by the bus from Singapore. To say this mall is a mammoth is an understatement. Orchard Road in Singapore is a number of malls connected together stretching for almost 2 miles. This mall was not that large, but close, and combines an original 4 story mall from the 90's with an additional 6 story mall from the last few years. It is connected above and below a major road via a skywalk and underground passageway, resulting in 6 floors of shops galore, 2 theaters, multiple food courts, a minature rainforest with coy ponds, and a really confusing layout.
I enter, and wander aimlessly, not being able to find a working digital directory. The touch screen just reads computer error ... Must be windows based. I decide to find my way around the old fashioned way, "permisio, movie theater?" I am directed to one on the top floor of the new mall and buy a ticket for the movie Legion at 9 Ringgits (less than $3usd). The theater was nice, though the aircon could of been kicked up a notch. The movie was fair, but not one I would recommend wasting your money on.
After the show, they shove you out the doors behind the screen into concrete walled tunnels leading to sparse stairwells and steel double doors eventually landing you back into the mall. Kinda bizarre, but I'm sure it prevents people from popping into other movies. Now I'm curious about the rest of the mall and stumble upon this huge open oval balcony area decorated in Chinese red for the Chinese New Year. On the ground floor there stands a huge stage, large speakers, music blasting, and the featured guest of the stage is a 15 foot stuffed white feline waving his arm. Who are these people?
I continue on, cross a long corridor of smaller shops and run into movie theater number two, in the older mall. The tickets were 2 Ringgits cheaper than the other theater, so I give it a go and head into Tooth Fairy. The aircon was better but the atmosphere was not. A couple have brought their infants into the show, more specifically, very unhappy infants. More than once the one child screamed for over a minute, yet the parents did nothing, no bottle, no pacifier, no exit into the hall, just ignored it. That's great for them, what about everyone else? Clearly not a concern. Thankfully it was a kids movie and an average one at that, so the distraction was not something that detracted a whole lot.
It finishes, its only 6:30, and Ryan was not picking me up till 9, so I have some time to kill. Walk a good 3 miles in that mall, eat some A&W cheesburgers and fries, and finllly find the directories are back online. Utama One mall also has free wifi, but it has a filter that does not allow facebook access, so Houston, we have a problem. Earlier Ryan had informed me that all Starbucks locations in Malaysia had free wifi, so yep, I was gonna visit te Bucks again.
I look it up on the directory, but the map is difficult to read. It shows you "here we are" but not "you are here". It also shows two separate squares that are not linked with different letters infront of the numbered locations. If what I just said did not make any sense, welcome to my world. Does that mean they are different floors or different malls or different parts of parts of a smaller mall. I was near F323 and I needed to be at G53, which I figured meant either ground floor or the next level up. I went down a level to what I thought was G, it did not have a letter. Hmm, maybe they go up in letters as you go up floors, I proceeded up a floor above the F, it was an S floor. What? So then I proceeded to ask a security guard, who then sends me up 2 floors and to the right ... Uh, theres a ton to my right, as far as the eye can see, and it looks like mayhem with no Bucks in sight. 30 minutes later I find one, one of the apparently 3 Sbucks in this mall. I told you it was big! I proudly spend my last 17 Ringgits on a frappacino, my goal, because I am not planning on hitting Malaysia again on my travels.
9pm rolls up fairly quick and Ryan is waiting out front. Jump in and we wad home where Amy has just put down Jackson. For the next 4 hours we get into some pretty interesting conversations about theology, philosophy, and life. Some of it's catch up, some of it's about LA and ministry, some of it's just personal worldview, but all of it is amazing!
Alright, time to hit the hay, peace out, iPhone blogger.
Day 32: Twin towers and Petaling Night Market
I awake at a reasonable time, 10:00am I believe. Head downstairs where Amy has left me a note, found in the hands of sweet Jackson, about a bagel and fresh cut fruit in the fridge, thanks Amy! She returns and Ryan and I head to the gym ... that's right ... I went to the gym, what? Their gym is at a resort with swimming pool, tennis courts, and an English Primary school to boot. My wrist guard holds up reasonably well, but none of the free weights go above 20kg (45lbs) so I am not worried about over-extending.
After a quick 45 minutes, we head back to the house, I jump in the shower, which, fortunate for me, the heating element is not working, nor the pressure, so really I just hung out under a dripping shower head, and waited for the soap to wash off. Head down to the first floor for homemade enchiladas, cranberry salad and mint tea. Eat way too much, converse not nearly enough, and solidify plans for the day.
A little background, Ryan went to college with me and was in my fraternity. We shared many friends and acqauintances as well as were invited together to a formal by 2 girls in Phi Lamb. We actually have pictures of that event on my facebook album about A&M Date Parties. Anyhow, I had not seen him since shortly after I graduated in fall of '99, so it's been about 10 years. I had heard he got married but had never had the privilege of meeting young Amy. They met on a trip for The Company. She was an Aggie and it was an Aggie led trip in need of an experienced "trip" person. At this point Ryan had done some trips with The Company, and as an Aggie, was a great fit. They met, hit it off, but at the time he was in Michigan working in the engineering field and she was still in school. They became friends, she graduates and takes a job with The Company in Dallas, around the time he moved there as well. And y'all know how the classic love story goes: She falls for him, he's not in the same boat though his actions speak differently, he leaves to be on a trip in Afghanistan for 2 years, tells her he does not want to date her, her heart is broken, she moves on, he returns, decides he likes her, they meet, he fumbles his words and says he's still not attracted to her, she's crushed, he pursues, she's confused yet breaks up with a guy in GA, she deflects, he pursues, they date and get married, and now are full time with The Company in Malaysia with their 1 year old son Jackson. Classic story I tell ya! So when I meet Amy, she's warm and bubbly, and definitely has my same gift of gab, so we become quick friends.
Back to today, they want to show me two things, #1, the twin towers in KL, & #2 the famous Petaling Night Market. The towers at one time were the tallest buildings in the world, but now are just the tallest twin towers in the world. They are connected about 40 floors up by a skywalk as well as at the base by a mall ... Yeah, much like Singapore, Malaysia loves their malls. So we had coffee at a cafe outside the mall by the fountains and greenbelt. Inside they are doing a ceremonious dance because of the Chinese New Year and I capture a bit of it on video. We tried to visit the skywalk, but of course, they are not open on Mondays. So off it was to dinner and Petaling Night Market.
The market was less than 2km from the towers but traffic is in full swing. 30 minutes later we locate reasonable parking and head to Onando's for dinner. It's apparenly a South African Restaurant chain with a variety of options, most involving chicken. Jackson was being adorable, as always, so I reach in my pocket to pull out my camera and that's when I discover it's gone. Panic sets in a touch and I retrace my steps, convinced I left it on the seat in the car. I was more disheartened by the idea of not capturing the mayhem of the night market than reallly thinking it was lost. We departed dinner and headed into the chaos. It's pretty much a flea market with a ton of knock-offs for cheap cheap and wild food options. We walked through it in about 20 minutes, made a couple attempts at a bargain, fail, and took off for the car. I knew all of the stuff would be the same as in Thailand, but Thailand would be half the price.
So we jumped in the car and headed back to the house. The internet was finally working so it was time to catch up on emails and facebook and all that good stuff. We hit the hay by midnight knowing tomorrow would lead to another adventure.
Nite nite via the iPhone blogger.
After a quick 45 minutes, we head back to the house, I jump in the shower, which, fortunate for me, the heating element is not working, nor the pressure, so really I just hung out under a dripping shower head, and waited for the soap to wash off. Head down to the first floor for homemade enchiladas, cranberry salad and mint tea. Eat way too much, converse not nearly enough, and solidify plans for the day.
A little background, Ryan went to college with me and was in my fraternity. We shared many friends and acqauintances as well as were invited together to a formal by 2 girls in Phi Lamb. We actually have pictures of that event on my facebook album about A&M Date Parties. Anyhow, I had not seen him since shortly after I graduated in fall of '99, so it's been about 10 years. I had heard he got married but had never had the privilege of meeting young Amy. They met on a trip for The Company. She was an Aggie and it was an Aggie led trip in need of an experienced "trip" person. At this point Ryan had done some trips with The Company, and as an Aggie, was a great fit. They met, hit it off, but at the time he was in Michigan working in the engineering field and she was still in school. They became friends, she graduates and takes a job with The Company in Dallas, around the time he moved there as well. And y'all know how the classic love story goes: She falls for him, he's not in the same boat though his actions speak differently, he leaves to be on a trip in Afghanistan for 2 years, tells her he does not want to date her, her heart is broken, she moves on, he returns, decides he likes her, they meet, he fumbles his words and says he's still not attracted to her, she's crushed, he pursues, she's confused yet breaks up with a guy in GA, she deflects, he pursues, they date and get married, and now are full time with The Company in Malaysia with their 1 year old son Jackson. Classic story I tell ya! So when I meet Amy, she's warm and bubbly, and definitely has my same gift of gab, so we become quick friends.
Back to today, they want to show me two things, #1, the twin towers in KL, & #2 the famous Petaling Night Market. The towers at one time were the tallest buildings in the world, but now are just the tallest twin towers in the world. They are connected about 40 floors up by a skywalk as well as at the base by a mall ... Yeah, much like Singapore, Malaysia loves their malls. So we had coffee at a cafe outside the mall by the fountains and greenbelt. Inside they are doing a ceremonious dance because of the Chinese New Year and I capture a bit of it on video. We tried to visit the skywalk, but of course, they are not open on Mondays. So off it was to dinner and Petaling Night Market.
The market was less than 2km from the towers but traffic is in full swing. 30 minutes later we locate reasonable parking and head to Onando's for dinner. It's apparenly a South African Restaurant chain with a variety of options, most involving chicken. Jackson was being adorable, as always, so I reach in my pocket to pull out my camera and that's when I discover it's gone. Panic sets in a touch and I retrace my steps, convinced I left it on the seat in the car. I was more disheartened by the idea of not capturing the mayhem of the night market than reallly thinking it was lost. We departed dinner and headed into the chaos. It's pretty much a flea market with a ton of knock-offs for cheap cheap and wild food options. We walked through it in about 20 minutes, made a couple attempts at a bargain, fail, and took off for the car. I knew all of the stuff would be the same as in Thailand, but Thailand would be half the price.
So we jumped in the car and headed back to the house. The internet was finally working so it was time to catch up on emails and facebook and all that good stuff. We hit the hay by midnight knowing tomorrow would lead to another adventure.
Nite nite via the iPhone blogger.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Day 31: Kuala Lumpur
I went to sleep in the early morning, 7:30am to be exact. Texas A&M had a big game against a ranked Baylor team, which I observed on ESPN Gamecast starting at 5am. It looked bleak in the beginning and the Ags were living up to their "worst 3 point team in Big 12" reputation. At one point we were down by 12. But we scraped and clawed our way back to within 3 by half. The second half started slow as well, but with about 4 minutes to go, BJ Holmes started hitting his 3's and our free throws were spot on (84%). The end score, 78-71 Aggies ... Whoop!
So I awoke at noon, took a shower, and packed my bags. It was nearing 1:30pm, so I grabbed Steve (England) and headed to lunch on the River Clarke Quay. We ate at an English Pub, where the waitress seemed annoyed we did not order beer, but we focused on the view and the commraderie. Somewhere between eating part of my burger and drinking the water, my stomach started to let me know I need to drop some kids off at the pool, but I figured I woul wait until I got back to the hostel. Well 2:15 rolled around quite quick, which meant i was running late, so we booked it back to the hostel. I turned in my key, picked up my luggage, took a gander at the crapper knowing i did not have time, said my farewells and headed to the MRT. It was 30 after and I was supposed to be at Harbour Centre at 2:45 for my 3pm departure. I knew the subway would only take 12 minutes, and I was fortunate enough to walk down the escalator as it was pulling up. Jumped on, jumped off and headed to the ticket machine to collect my refund for my card. After watching a number of people fumble at the machines, taking up precious minutes, I get my turn, enter my card - denied. Enter it again, denied. A MRT helper comes over and tells me the news, my kind of refund, can only be handled by clerk, then points me to the line ... Blurgh! So I look at the time, 2:49pm, look at the line, decide to cut my losses and take off for the bus. Of course to get there I have to trek through yet another mall, the Harbour Centre Mall, bathrooms teasing me all the way. I arrive at 59 after, they load my luggage, and I quickly find my seat on the double decker as they close the doors. Whew, close call, and just as I think I should be able to use the toilet on the bus, there's a big sign saying for light use only ...
The drive was rather beautiful and surprisingly comfortable. We stopped 3 times, once for immigration out of Sinapore, then on the other side of the big bridge to get in to Malaysia, then once at a rest stop. The Singapore Immigration building was clean and technologically advanced, thus quick and efficient. Since I was traveling via road on a Sunday, there were no lines at either. The Malaysian immigration office was a bit older and less kept, but still ran rather smoothly. Though when I got to the immigration officer, he did ask me how much money I had in my bank account ... Uh what? It always makes me nervous in developing or 3rd world countries when they ask things like this because I'm wondering, are they going to ask me for some? Anyhow, he did not, but did tell me I have too much and should spend it in Malaysia, which I could appreciate. The rest stop was a keen idea considering I needed to drop that deuce, but when we got there I noticed they were all squatty potties with a hose. So I took a "number 1" and decided to hold it until Ryan and Amy picked me up. The whole bus ride was just at 5 hours and I would recommend it to anyone. Cheaper than flying and near the same amount of time considering customs, immigration, arriving 2 hours early for a 1 hour international flight, etc.
So I left on the Aeroline bus from a large mall and I dropped of at one outside KL, One Utama. Ryan and Amy pick me up with little Jackson shortly after 8 and inform me we are not going to their home. We have been invited to their friends home in a neighborhood 5 minutes from theirs. Now remember, I've been holding this load since lunch, but of course I agree, I am their guests.
We arrive at this gated four-plex in nice neighborhood and are greeted by their friends. It also turns out they have 2 additional couples over as well as kids and a grandmother. She is actually the matriarch of the family as well as the cook and man could she cook. There was rice cubes and veggies and pulled chicken soup as well as hot tea and orange soda.
We left around 11:45 pm and made it to their home by midnight. Jackson was zonked as were the rest of us. I ws zonked and cramping, and when they showed me my guestroom with toilet, a tear cam to my eye. Now I had not told them that I had need of a restroom this entire time & the conversation was so good, that they came in and hung out on my bed. I was conflicted, on the one hand my bowels were beginning to rebel so I needed to release some pressure, but on the other hand, I knew the great conversation would end for the night if I made my departure for the bathroom. So after about another 30 minutes, they were visably tired, so I told them it was time for bed & they concurred. I made a B-Line for the toilet, things went well, and after a bit of sweating, I cleaned up for the night. Brushed my teeth, washed my face, and hit the hay.
Nite nite from the iPhone blogger
So I awoke at noon, took a shower, and packed my bags. It was nearing 1:30pm, so I grabbed Steve (England) and headed to lunch on the River Clarke Quay. We ate at an English Pub, where the waitress seemed annoyed we did not order beer, but we focused on the view and the commraderie. Somewhere between eating part of my burger and drinking the water, my stomach started to let me know I need to drop some kids off at the pool, but I figured I woul wait until I got back to the hostel. Well 2:15 rolled around quite quick, which meant i was running late, so we booked it back to the hostel. I turned in my key, picked up my luggage, took a gander at the crapper knowing i did not have time, said my farewells and headed to the MRT. It was 30 after and I was supposed to be at Harbour Centre at 2:45 for my 3pm departure. I knew the subway would only take 12 minutes, and I was fortunate enough to walk down the escalator as it was pulling up. Jumped on, jumped off and headed to the ticket machine to collect my refund for my card. After watching a number of people fumble at the machines, taking up precious minutes, I get my turn, enter my card - denied. Enter it again, denied. A MRT helper comes over and tells me the news, my kind of refund, can only be handled by clerk, then points me to the line ... Blurgh! So I look at the time, 2:49pm, look at the line, decide to cut my losses and take off for the bus. Of course to get there I have to trek through yet another mall, the Harbour Centre Mall, bathrooms teasing me all the way. I arrive at 59 after, they load my luggage, and I quickly find my seat on the double decker as they close the doors. Whew, close call, and just as I think I should be able to use the toilet on the bus, there's a big sign saying for light use only ...
The drive was rather beautiful and surprisingly comfortable. We stopped 3 times, once for immigration out of Sinapore, then on the other side of the big bridge to get in to Malaysia, then once at a rest stop. The Singapore Immigration building was clean and technologically advanced, thus quick and efficient. Since I was traveling via road on a Sunday, there were no lines at either. The Malaysian immigration office was a bit older and less kept, but still ran rather smoothly. Though when I got to the immigration officer, he did ask me how much money I had in my bank account ... Uh what? It always makes me nervous in developing or 3rd world countries when they ask things like this because I'm wondering, are they going to ask me for some? Anyhow, he did not, but did tell me I have too much and should spend it in Malaysia, which I could appreciate. The rest stop was a keen idea considering I needed to drop that deuce, but when we got there I noticed they were all squatty potties with a hose. So I took a "number 1" and decided to hold it until Ryan and Amy picked me up. The whole bus ride was just at 5 hours and I would recommend it to anyone. Cheaper than flying and near the same amount of time considering customs, immigration, arriving 2 hours early for a 1 hour international flight, etc.
So I left on the Aeroline bus from a large mall and I dropped of at one outside KL, One Utama. Ryan and Amy pick me up with little Jackson shortly after 8 and inform me we are not going to their home. We have been invited to their friends home in a neighborhood 5 minutes from theirs. Now remember, I've been holding this load since lunch, but of course I agree, I am their guests.
We arrive at this gated four-plex in nice neighborhood and are greeted by their friends. It also turns out they have 2 additional couples over as well as kids and a grandmother. She is actually the matriarch of the family as well as the cook and man could she cook. There was rice cubes and veggies and pulled chicken soup as well as hot tea and orange soda.
We left around 11:45 pm and made it to their home by midnight. Jackson was zonked as were the rest of us. I ws zonked and cramping, and when they showed me my guestroom with toilet, a tear cam to my eye. Now I had not told them that I had need of a restroom this entire time & the conversation was so good, that they came in and hung out on my bed. I was conflicted, on the one hand my bowels were beginning to rebel so I needed to release some pressure, but on the other hand, I knew the great conversation would end for the night if I made my departure for the bathroom. So after about another 30 minutes, they were visably tired, so I told them it was time for bed & they concurred. I made a B-Line for the toilet, things went well, and after a bit of sweating, I cleaned up for the night. Brushed my teeth, washed my face, and hit the hay.
Nite nite from the iPhone blogger
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Day 30: Singapore Zoo and Asian Girl Karaoke?
So Steve (London), Chris (Philippines), and I wake up and head off to the Singapore Zoo. We grab grub first thing and then stop by the Bucks to grab me a drink to take on the MRT (Subway). So with my full drink, we start for the escalators down and Chris stops me, points to a sign ... Apparently you can't take any food or drinks down there, if caught, it's a $500 fine. Are you kidding me? But I bought it for the long ride. These stinking Singaporeans and their darn cleanliness rules ... Guess it's why I've never seen any trash, spills, or food down there. In fact, now that I think of it, I don't think I've seen a homeless person anywhere either, which the tube would seem like a sensible place for them. Was wondering what was in my meat for lunch ...
So, a transfer, a bus, and an hour later, we end up at The Singapore Zoo - woo hoo!
We wandered everywhere, paying no attention to the map. After about 2 hours, we realize we have not taken the boat ride or seen giraffes or Rhinos or butterflies or swinging chimpanzees ... Uh, what had we seen? So opposed to our nature as men, we took out the map and set a plan. First stop, the boat dock. However, on our way to the boats, we stumble upon this random orchid garden. It was actually kind of magical, as if I had stepped out of the zoo and into a fantasy world of sorts.
After the orchid garden, we found the boat, hit up multiple other attractions like white tigers, rhino's, kangaroos, snakes, cool wood arches, baboons, turtles, penguins, leopards, etc. At every stop, Steve was sure to pull out Sheila and Roo for their photo ops. You see Steve is on his way to Australia, but unfortunately after setting up his trip, he met his girlfriend. She knew this was a trip he needed to take, but it's a bit heartbreaking for both. So she gave him this stuffed Kangaroo, Sheila, with kid in pouch, Roo. And everywhere he goes, he takes pictures with it to upload for his girlfriend to follow (insert sigh from the lady followers of my blog here). He's taken ladies. We leave as the sun is setting and they are chasing people out some 3 hours and miles and miles of walking later. We take an express bus to Orchard Road so we could grab some grub at Orchard Ion Food Court. It is just what the doctor ordered. Suppling us with a second wind, we decide to explore this shopping mecca a bit. We start by going up 6 levels of escalators to arrive at ground level, where I had been two nights before. I did not know the intersection originally, but took this chance too look. It's the corner of Patterson and Orchard, a parade of lights on both walls and the jumping water feature.
We head east up Orchard and 10 minutes into the walk, we stumble upon a talent show of sorts, right there on the sidewalk. Not sure if they are selling their "talent search/management" packages or just showcasing their current talent, but Asian + karaoke = brilliant.
Steve and Chris have not seen the Fountain of Wealth at all, and I have yet to see the large fountain show, so we make a b-line for the Suntec City Mall complex. We arrive, only to find out, they only run the large fountain twice a day, and of course, they are done. Blurgh! But since I do not have a good video of the Fountain, I ain't wasting this opportunity.
What's next guys? It's off to the Esplanade and Merlion on our way back home. The Cityscape is ridiculous.
About 30 pics later, I am confident that I have a few acceptable ones and since Chris was thirsty, we hit up my favorite ... Coffee Bean! I forget to order decaf, which explains why I am still up at 5am, but that just means I can catch the the Aggie/Baylor game on gamecast before I drift off. Gig'em Aggies!
Nite nite from the iPhone Blogger.
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