Tonsai is a hippie beach in the South of Thailand. The hippies come equipped with fisherman's pants, light draw string affairs that pillow from the waist in earth tones. The fishermen of Thailand prefer a poly-thorine/lycra blend for the fabrics quick drying or a simple high-cut speedo for optimum mobility in and out of the boat. I am saved from the cross cultural obligation of purchasing a pair of Thai "fisherman's" pants due to a friend years back gifting me with a pair. Thanks Hamish.
The hippies come equipped with beards much greater than mine. Long time followers will no doubt wince at my approach of this sore topic again. But why do theirs grow so proud and even and mine only find its legs under my chin, along my neck. Why Does the hair at my jawline radiate away from my face like rays from the sun? I will need to be granted strength to bring this beard all the way home to show you.
The hippies come equipped with rope and harness, with chalk in bag and tape for fingers. The hippies like to go up. They walk around the cliffs that cut this beach off from the mainland and make the peninsula a defacto island and study it at dusk. They put their hands above their head and imagine where they could put their fingers in the wall. I sit in an alcove with a tall Leo beer purchased at the corner store offering the cheapest drink and watch the water. I will be friendly the first chance I get. It is beautiful here sitting at the bottom of the rock and I would welcome their company. They are only here to become better acquainted with the rock wall though, not me.
The hippies come with money. The afford the most expensive drink prices at the nicest hippie bars at the edge of the water. Yes the pillows are free but the Leo's are almost double. Shouldn't they be in this alcove with me? Don't the two dozen pictures of Bob Marley feel a bit contrived to them? I can't help but feel like Bob would be embarrassed. Bob would be in the alcove with me I think.
Overnight bus to Bangkok in one hour. I'm going to go stock up on imitation Oreos.
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Friday, April 6, 2012
Air Minerals
I am in Kuala Lumpur and the Chinese kids at the far end of the internet cafe are yelling "FUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKOKOKOKOKOK WAY! WAY!"
Tonight we're on a bus to Penang which is great because I love to look out the window in the dark and watch the lights go-go-go past me as I move, forward!, to the next-what-comes-next. Also I like not paying for accommodation.
The day we got to Kuala Lumpur we played try-all-the-food-stalls and I lost. The last few days have been Kuala Dumpur, heavy on the ump. Sorry to get so graphic.
Kuala Lumpur is spoiling us. All the rooms have air conditioning and the taxi drivers don't use lariats in their attempts to get you into their cabs and there is India food. Praise Ram there is Indian food. The economy is strong with this one though, things cost more money. Lucky for us last night we had a financial backer, a young 30 English-Man who sat down at our table and, desiring our company for the evening, bought the drinks. He wanted all his money gone and we certainly helped him some. At 4 in the morning I gave him my watch. I hope he made his flight to Jakarta. Time's up.
Tonight we're on a bus to Penang which is great because I love to look out the window in the dark and watch the lights go-go-go past me as I move, forward!, to the next-what-comes-next. Also I like not paying for accommodation.
The day we got to Kuala Lumpur we played try-all-the-food-stalls and I lost. The last few days have been Kuala Dumpur, heavy on the ump. Sorry to get so graphic.
Kuala Lumpur is spoiling us. All the rooms have air conditioning and the taxi drivers don't use lariats in their attempts to get you into their cabs and there is India food. Praise Ram there is Indian food. The economy is strong with this one though, things cost more money. Lucky for us last night we had a financial backer, a young 30 English-Man who sat down at our table and, desiring our company for the evening, bought the drinks. He wanted all his money gone and we certainly helped him some. At 4 in the morning I gave him my watch. I hope he made his flight to Jakarta. Time's up.
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Oh Toto, we aren't in Korea any more
Medan is a largish city on the island of Sumatra, Indonesia. I am on that island, in that city. Right now the call to prayer calls. I do not necessarily respond, although it is stirring. Today we visited a mosque and I tried to remember the five pillars of Islam. I think they are:
1) Allah is the one true God
2) Mohammad was his Prophet
3) Pray five times a day
4) Something about charity?
5) ???
Today we also went to a Sultan's palace. The Sultan is the last sultan of Delhi, which I thought/think is in India and I'm not about to ruin that kind of potential ignorance with a google search. He's got a palace here in Medan but it's pretty crumby. (I hope The Sultan isn't reading this, I went back and capitalized all previous uses of the word 'Sultan' just in case to soften the blow.) - HA I JUST KILLED A MOSQUITO DIE YOU MOTHER - So the palace doesn't have any gems or moats or anything. The shiniest thing was The Sultan's ruby violin under a glass case. In the same glass case there was also The Sultan's drum and The Sultan's accordion. We walked on The Sultan's porch and admired The Sultan's wolf head bathmat that was drying on The Sultan's drying rack. There was another room in the back but we weren't allowed to go in because we aren't Muslim or Moslem which is what got me thinking about the five pillars. There's always a temptation to insta-convert just to flip some lids/prove a point/ generate a decent facebook status update.
On The Sultan's grass I kicked a soccer ball around for about twenty minutes with three boys, ages ranging from six to twelve, roughly. They referred to me as 'Mister' and I showed them how to do a waterfall. (The waterfall is such an easy trick that I can't find a youtube video of it. The ball starts behind me then goes up over my head, imagine it.)
At the Grand Mosque afterwards a man came and greeted us outside. He wanted to be our paid guide and he went about applying for this position by following us around and telling us random things and not talking about the money he wanted. Eli told him we weren't looking for a guide, (Eli also sent me this video of a slow loris just now. Maybe you've seen a slow loris with an umbrella but I hadn't) The man got kind of upset. He said that everyone needs guides for the jungle but no one thinks they need guides for buildings. He said it was discrimination. On the one hand he does not ask to be our guide, he just assumes the position and hopes that we feel awkward to the point of paying him - on the other hand he's probably looking for a dollar or two - on the other hand there are a lot of people who would like to hire themselves to you and receive a dollar or two - on the you get the picture. These things always make me feel like an asshole.
I'm going to admit now that the only thing that rousted me from blog-torpor is my friend Eric/ka who changed her name on facebook to
Eric/ka's blog is this one.
She likes yoga and her private parts and keeping her spine undamaged. She wrote a self help book called I Let Go. It's an ebook
I haven't read this book yet. My visa is hidden in a bag of condoms in my hiking backpack so that if I am thieved of my day-bag I will have money for consolatory beers, so I can't order it off amazon right now. I will though and even though most of you won't/don't have kindles you damn well should because I don't know anyone who is putting more effort into figuring out how to live intentionally. Also she's a little bit nuts, so there's bound to be some insight into one side of the human condition or the other.
Tomorrow we fly to Kuala Lumpur. This post cost me four mosquito bites. I'm going for a vanilla shake.
1) Allah is the one true God
2) Mohammad was his Prophet
3) Pray five times a day
4) Something about charity?
5) ???
Today we also went to a Sultan's palace. The Sultan is the last sultan of Delhi, which I thought/think is in India and I'm not about to ruin that kind of potential ignorance with a google search. He's got a palace here in Medan but it's pretty crumby. (I hope The Sultan isn't reading this, I went back and capitalized all previous uses of the word 'Sultan' just in case to soften the blow.) - HA I JUST KILLED A MOSQUITO DIE YOU MOTHER - So the palace doesn't have any gems or moats or anything. The shiniest thing was The Sultan's ruby violin under a glass case. In the same glass case there was also The Sultan's drum and The Sultan's accordion. We walked on The Sultan's porch and admired The Sultan's wolf head bathmat that was drying on The Sultan's drying rack. There was another room in the back but we weren't allowed to go in because we aren't Muslim or Moslem which is what got me thinking about the five pillars. There's always a temptation to insta-convert just to flip some lids/prove a point/ generate a decent facebook status update.
On The Sultan's grass I kicked a soccer ball around for about twenty minutes with three boys, ages ranging from six to twelve, roughly. They referred to me as 'Mister' and I showed them how to do a waterfall. (The waterfall is such an easy trick that I can't find a youtube video of it. The ball starts behind me then goes up over my head, imagine it.)
At the Grand Mosque afterwards a man came and greeted us outside. He wanted to be our paid guide and he went about applying for this position by following us around and telling us random things and not talking about the money he wanted. Eli told him we weren't looking for a guide, (Eli also sent me this video of a slow loris just now. Maybe you've seen a slow loris with an umbrella but I hadn't) The man got kind of upset. He said that everyone needs guides for the jungle but no one thinks they need guides for buildings. He said it was discrimination. On the one hand he does not ask to be our guide, he just assumes the position and hopes that we feel awkward to the point of paying him - on the other hand he's probably looking for a dollar or two - on the other hand there are a lot of people who would like to hire themselves to you and receive a dollar or two - on the you get the picture. These things always make me feel like an asshole.
I'm going to admit now that the only thing that rousted me from blog-torpor is my friend Eric/ka who changed her name on facebook to
Exuberant J. Bodhisattva
and now I have to be embarrassed that I can't remember if she spells it with a 'c' or a 'k'. She gave me some kind of shout out, a liebster - I don't know what it is - but I worried that I wouldn't live up to it none the less.Eric/ka's blog is this one.
She likes yoga and her private parts and keeping her spine undamaged. She wrote a self help book called I Let Go. It's an ebook
I haven't read this book yet. My visa is hidden in a bag of condoms in my hiking backpack so that if I am thieved of my day-bag I will have money for consolatory beers, so I can't order it off amazon right now. I will though and even though most of you won't/don't have kindles you damn well should because I don't know anyone who is putting more effort into figuring out how to live intentionally. Also she's a little bit nuts, so there's bound to be some insight into one side of the human condition or the other.
Tomorrow we fly to Kuala Lumpur. This post cost me four mosquito bites. I'm going for a vanilla shake.
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