Lilly and Katie got on the overnight bus with me the following day to get to Khon Kaen, where my marathon was going to be on the 25th of January. We arrived at 7 am and dropped our bags off at a hotel before trying to find where I had to register. They decided they were going to get on a bus to Laos that day, so they went on their way and I checked into a dorm room on campus. When I arrived, no one was in the house, so I wondered around campus for a while and when I returned five Kenyans were sitting around the TV. Turns out, I’m the only American with about 30 Kenyan and Ethiopian professional runners. HA! I went for a training run with two Kenyans, Thomas and Robert and at the end they showed me their real pace. I could do it for about a minute…weak. It’s like a four minute mile!! I was talking to them about Kenya and they were telling me how difficult it is to travel. Not only do they struggle to obtain viasas, but when going through immigration it is common for them to have to pay off the officer to let then in. If they don’t have the money they will be sent back to Kenya for any fake reason the officer can come up with. One of their friends may not make it to the race because he was left at the border and they took off with him bags . I had no idea there was so much corruption like that.
The next day I woke up early because the kenyans tried to get me to go for an early show run with them. I was tempted, but had consumed some very spicy curry the night before so I told them I wanted to sleep....awkward. I took myself for a slow job a little while later and joined everyone for breakfast. Normally, on Carbo-loaing day, I eat everything that I normally don't such as cookies/brownies/pizza, etc, but for the first time I felt self conscious about my eating habits so I stayed a bit healthier. I spent the rest of the day wondering around with Thomas going to the expo for some energy gels, and the agricultural fair on campus. This reminded me of the Minnesota state fair due to the live stock exhibit and food stalls (however, the food was nothing like home...no cookie buckets or unlimited milk spouts). I basically sat around blogging and resting the rest of the day until it was time for dinner. I ate with all of the Kenyans; they made a traditional meal of Moogalli (sp?) where they make a camp fire and boila big pot of water, stirring in Maiz flour until it becomes the consistency between mashed potatoes and bread dough. It doesn't have much flavor, but it was paired with chicken (thought it could be vegetables or really anything) and all is eaten with your hands.
I went to bed at about 8 pm and at two am Margaret flipped on the lights and said it was time to get ready! So EARLY! The bus came at 3 in order to bring us all to the starting area. i met a woman, Cynthia, from California and we chatted for a while. It's funny how all the white English speakers flock right together in foreign counties where they cant speak the language. We chatted about previous travels and races; once deemed a traveler, everyone tends to become comfortable sharing intimate details you would normally only tell your doctor--she shared an unfortunate incident involving her race around Mt. Kilimanjaro involving a shrub, a sponge, and certain bodily functions (I'll leave it at that). On our way to the starting line, I saw a Thai racer dressed up as Spiderman and asked to take his photos; they, he jumped over to Cynthia and me and everyone starting taking pictures of us. HA! I wonder what website those will show up on.
The gun went off at 4:30 and Cynthia and I stayed together for a few K's until I lost her at a water station. It was actually extremely peaceful running the first half of the race. It was pitch black on the roads; there were very few street lamps so I was running by star and mood light. I ididn't even turn my ipod on until halfway when the sun came up.
The course was basically flat. We ran through villages, along the freeway, around lakes and temples and within the city limits. There weren't a whole lot of fans along the way, but the clusters that were there were so motivating--they either had music playing or had a live band. Everyone else was dancing and holding up sights that said "You are the Champion." Thought it was early, there were TONS of excited kids holding out water, fruit, or just their hands for a little high five. even thought this is only their sixth race, it was very organized, many water stations and first aid tents. The finish area had all sorts of food (sor I've been told) and a massage area. I didn't get to partake in any of this because when I crossed the finish line they handed me a badge with a "4" on it and it said to report to an official immediately; everything else was in Thai writing. I wasn't sure what it meant. There is no WAY this means fourth place, right? Finally, I found Jade, a sweet girl working for the race that spoke English well. She found out for me that I needed to go into the stadium. There, I ran into Jacky (my hero for this race, she was SO helpful every step of the way) who told me that I did indeed take 4th place in my age category. Haha...what??? Ii ended up going on stage to receive a trophy and then getting an envelope with 4500 Baht (130 US Dollars). NICE!
AKWARD MOMENT
The Thai Receptionist saw my marathon bag and this was our conversation;
Thai Receptoinist: You run marathon?
Kelly: Yes
TR: OH! How many kilo?
Kelly: You mean KiloMETERS? Like how far? 42; are you going to watch? Will you cheer for me?
TR: oh no no
Kelly; Umm ok…why not?
TR: Oh bc I think you too fat to run
ouch. I believe what she meant was that I’m not of the physical stature to win the race…which I’m really not; but still….
The Kenyan’s manager gave me a similar reaction
“you don’t have the body to run”
Ouch again. After a few minutes, he threw in,
I mean, you have the body of a model.
hahaha ok nice stretch but good recovery.
FOOD CORNER
Tamarind-
Looks like a giant peanut shell which you crack open and there is flesh around small seeds that taste like and have the consistency of a fruit rollup…mmmmm
Taste:4
Aftertaste 1
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Chang Mai Tri
My only full day to explore Chang Mai was pretty stunted. I woke up late (which was totally necessary) and daddled on the internet for a while. I came across an e mail from a good friend from home, Jason Matsch, which seemed a bit downtrodden. The intimate details of the email are unimportant, but he pointed out to me that my blog had become a bit superficial (which I, too, felt it was becoming), that it has basically turned into recap on what I’ve down and not why and my reactions/reflection. In my haste to continually play catch up, I have begun to leave out the most important part—no more, my friends; it will now be a healthy mix of the two. Hope you’re happy, Jason ☺
After my morning run, I attempted to find one of the orphanages I wanted to work at (or told I could volunteer short term services, rather). No such luck. I talked to two nice Thai men who drew me a little map to where the house really was, then they helped me get a taxi truck to the Doisuthep Temple which is located on top of the local Mountain This is where a white elephant died carrying a golden Buddha statue, thus making it the “chosen” place for the statue to eternally rest. Honestly, I wasn’t too impressed. Maybe the amazing temples in Bangkok and Kyoto jaded me; don’t get me wrong, it was beautiful, meticulously decorated shrines and hand painted murals with a large balcony view point looking out over the city. The temple itself was lined with bells to ring. My favorite part was an unnoticed shrine off to the side in the midst of constrution. Two men were sitting outside delicately painting the tiniest details on wooden panels in gold paint. Their patience and precision is outstanding. What they were slowly painting covered every crevace and wall of the temple area—the time and labor that must’ve taken! I rode back down the long windy mountain road in the back of the truck taxi with a family, whose mother held a bag to her mouth and was heaving due to car sickness (the road is not easy for those with a weak stomach) and an older man with a toung Thai girl who spoke no English. At first, I was disgusted and thought he should feel embarrassed or ashamed (this is a very common occurance in Thailand) but now I don’t know how to feel. It’s quite sad, that way of life that seems to start out with only desire, no communication or common understanding besides pleasure and the pleasure of money. I wonder what these men and women do feel, what it takes to buy and to be willing to sell yourself.
I found the other orphanage but couldn’t help out because the kids were eating. They told me that I could come back any day at five pm in order to play with then for an hour or so. I, instead, tried to take myself to the night bazaar, but suddenly felt very hot and dehydrated so I decided to go to my room and upload pictures and relax for the rest of the evening.
The following day, I took a Thai cooking couse from 9:30 am to 3 pm which was phenomenal! I was picked up, along with an older couple from the UK and another couple from Holland and we were brought to the market to buy our ingredients for the menus we picked (we each got to choose six dishes). Thai’s rarely use supermarkets, all of their food is fresh. I haven’t even seen one, to be honest. She showed us around and explained different types of mushrooms and herbs and what they’re used for. We were then driven back to her home where she has an outdoor cooking school where we each had our own station. First, we each picked a curry and made the paste by hand—I chose green, currently my favorite though I’ve yet to really try any others. You get a morter and pestle to grind up the chilis, onions, and other such ingredients depending on your recipe, until they become a paste. It took forever! I have so much appreciation fo the work they put into their food. After, we went through four dishes we had chosen and then ate them all—Delicious! Everyone shared their dishes and by the end were were extremely full but still had two more dishes to prepare. After, I was so full I went back and took a nap. I woke up three hours later and went to the night bazaar for maybe an hour until I realized I was still too full to function. and went back to sleep.
The next morning I had to get up at 5:30 am to get ready to be picked up for my flight of the Gibbon trip! A group of eight of us went 45 minutes out of the city to do a 2km series of flying foxes over the tree tops of the jungle. The view was increidible! We were so high up you couldn’t even see the ground. They fed us a local cousine lunch of curry and vegetable and fruit before having us hike up a local waterfall (nothing like what I was looking at in New Zealand or Ecuador, but pretty nonetheless) and then brought us back to Chang Mai. There was a nice odler couple from Minneota in my group as well as a couple from Holland and three people from New Zealand who I got close with. Lilly gave me a lot of advice about India because she lived in Goa for 3 months. After I got back I went for a run which was ridiculously hot since it was two in the afternoon. I ran around a track where there was a group of older men wlkaing on as well; they kept giving me the thumbs up sign when I passed—so cute. I then met up with Kelly, she’s a friend of Dr. John who I had met during the Tokyo Santa Con Pub Crawl. She is living in Chang Mai studying Thai massage; we went to the nearby orpahanage Bahn Ging Kaow to play with the children for a couple of hours. There were between 16 and 20 kids from the ages of two to six. They were so happy and kept wanting to be held. I always had atleast one hanging on me. A little boy sat in my lap for probably twenty minutes—not doing anything but watching everyone else play. There aren’t as many adults as kids, obviously, so I don’t think they’re used to having extensive individual attention like average children in a nuclear home—they don’t always have a lap to sit on. I did learn that next time I should remove my jewelry because they kept trying to take it and play with my rings and necklaces. Also, no tube tops, it may be hot but they try and pull it down (There really aren’t that many busty Thai women). We went to the local food stall market across the street for some food after the kids were shuffled inside to free them from the mosquitoes and the met up with Lilly, Katie, and Quinn whom I had met during the flight of the Gibbon. They were at a Vegetarian Restaurant and bar called THC..a hippy place with Rastafarian flags and Bob Marley posters everywhere. We sat on the floor at a low table and drank beer and consumed vegetarian curry. Lilly and I got into a big Buddhist discussion because, though I understand the fundamentals of the religion, I can’t quite grasp the translation from Buddha’s findings and teaching into todays form of practice. The massive excessive temples seem, to me, to be the antithesis of his teachings. isn’t the point enlightenment, a mental goal for oneself and the bettering of humanity? Why th excessive displays, the offering of gifts to statues? This seems contradictory to me. I actually just purchased a book “What the Buddha Taught” that should ease my confusion.
Afterwards, we went to a few bars. Quinn purchased a round of drinks, which we were unaware of, so when they arrived on the bar we hightailed out of there because we thought they were forcing us to drink since we were using the pool table. Kelly ran back to get us and we got back in time to see Quinn getting yelled at by the Lady Boy bartender—she hated him for the rest of the night. We finished our drinks and went to another bar where I got into an argument first with an older Brittish ex cop because he was saying “Oh, now we know someone is getting high in the white house” I was livid. What does that mean? He argument was basically because Obama is black; how racist! He said that he was happy with the decision and excited to see him in the White House, but the fact that his intial compliment was a possible drug habit was appalling. Then, a US ex marine got into the conversation and it somehow turned into a quarrel concerning homosexuality in the army. He was trying to convice me that it was the law to transfer someone out of your squad if they’re gay soley because they are “a f*gg*t”—you’re KIDDING me!!!??? You mean to tell me, that if someone has been working next to you for maybe five years, the best person on your team, has even saved your life, and you find out he’s gay…you move him???
yep.
OMG. Quinn had to drag me away because I was getting so heated. By then it was 3 in the morning and time for bed.
FOOD CORNER
100 Year Egg—The outside is dyed pink to distinguish them from regular eggs and then inside is black and tastes and feels just like a hard boiled egg except the yold isn’t dry but quite creamy. The egg isn’t actually 100 years old; the nae has to do with the fermebtation process where it is buried with ashes for 100 days.
Taste:3
Aftertaste:1
Meal worms- Crunchy and VERY dry. These would make a fabulous bar snack.
Taste:2
Aftertaste:1
After my morning run, I attempted to find one of the orphanages I wanted to work at (or told I could volunteer short term services, rather). No such luck. I talked to two nice Thai men who drew me a little map to where the house really was, then they helped me get a taxi truck to the Doisuthep Temple which is located on top of the local Mountain This is where a white elephant died carrying a golden Buddha statue, thus making it the “chosen” place for the statue to eternally rest. Honestly, I wasn’t too impressed. Maybe the amazing temples in Bangkok and Kyoto jaded me; don’t get me wrong, it was beautiful, meticulously decorated shrines and hand painted murals with a large balcony view point looking out over the city. The temple itself was lined with bells to ring. My favorite part was an unnoticed shrine off to the side in the midst of constrution. Two men were sitting outside delicately painting the tiniest details on wooden panels in gold paint. Their patience and precision is outstanding. What they were slowly painting covered every crevace and wall of the temple area—the time and labor that must’ve taken! I rode back down the long windy mountain road in the back of the truck taxi with a family, whose mother held a bag to her mouth and was heaving due to car sickness (the road is not easy for those with a weak stomach) and an older man with a toung Thai girl who spoke no English. At first, I was disgusted and thought he should feel embarrassed or ashamed (this is a very common occurance in Thailand) but now I don’t know how to feel. It’s quite sad, that way of life that seems to start out with only desire, no communication or common understanding besides pleasure and the pleasure of money. I wonder what these men and women do feel, what it takes to buy and to be willing to sell yourself.
I found the other orphanage but couldn’t help out because the kids were eating. They told me that I could come back any day at five pm in order to play with then for an hour or so. I, instead, tried to take myself to the night bazaar, but suddenly felt very hot and dehydrated so I decided to go to my room and upload pictures and relax for the rest of the evening.
The following day, I took a Thai cooking couse from 9:30 am to 3 pm which was phenomenal! I was picked up, along with an older couple from the UK and another couple from Holland and we were brought to the market to buy our ingredients for the menus we picked (we each got to choose six dishes). Thai’s rarely use supermarkets, all of their food is fresh. I haven’t even seen one, to be honest. She showed us around and explained different types of mushrooms and herbs and what they’re used for. We were then driven back to her home where she has an outdoor cooking school where we each had our own station. First, we each picked a curry and made the paste by hand—I chose green, currently my favorite though I’ve yet to really try any others. You get a morter and pestle to grind up the chilis, onions, and other such ingredients depending on your recipe, until they become a paste. It took forever! I have so much appreciation fo the work they put into their food. After, we went through four dishes we had chosen and then ate them all—Delicious! Everyone shared their dishes and by the end were were extremely full but still had two more dishes to prepare. After, I was so full I went back and took a nap. I woke up three hours later and went to the night bazaar for maybe an hour until I realized I was still too full to function. and went back to sleep.
The next morning I had to get up at 5:30 am to get ready to be picked up for my flight of the Gibbon trip! A group of eight of us went 45 minutes out of the city to do a 2km series of flying foxes over the tree tops of the jungle. The view was increidible! We were so high up you couldn’t even see the ground. They fed us a local cousine lunch of curry and vegetable and fruit before having us hike up a local waterfall (nothing like what I was looking at in New Zealand or Ecuador, but pretty nonetheless) and then brought us back to Chang Mai. There was a nice odler couple from Minneota in my group as well as a couple from Holland and three people from New Zealand who I got close with. Lilly gave me a lot of advice about India because she lived in Goa for 3 months. After I got back I went for a run which was ridiculously hot since it was two in the afternoon. I ran around a track where there was a group of older men wlkaing on as well; they kept giving me the thumbs up sign when I passed—so cute. I then met up with Kelly, she’s a friend of Dr. John who I had met during the Tokyo Santa Con Pub Crawl. She is living in Chang Mai studying Thai massage; we went to the nearby orpahanage Bahn Ging Kaow to play with the children for a couple of hours. There were between 16 and 20 kids from the ages of two to six. They were so happy and kept wanting to be held. I always had atleast one hanging on me. A little boy sat in my lap for probably twenty minutes—not doing anything but watching everyone else play. There aren’t as many adults as kids, obviously, so I don’t think they’re used to having extensive individual attention like average children in a nuclear home—they don’t always have a lap to sit on. I did learn that next time I should remove my jewelry because they kept trying to take it and play with my rings and necklaces. Also, no tube tops, it may be hot but they try and pull it down (There really aren’t that many busty Thai women). We went to the local food stall market across the street for some food after the kids were shuffled inside to free them from the mosquitoes and the met up with Lilly, Katie, and Quinn whom I had met during the flight of the Gibbon. They were at a Vegetarian Restaurant and bar called THC..a hippy place with Rastafarian flags and Bob Marley posters everywhere. We sat on the floor at a low table and drank beer and consumed vegetarian curry. Lilly and I got into a big Buddhist discussion because, though I understand the fundamentals of the religion, I can’t quite grasp the translation from Buddha’s findings and teaching into todays form of practice. The massive excessive temples seem, to me, to be the antithesis of his teachings. isn’t the point enlightenment, a mental goal for oneself and the bettering of humanity? Why th excessive displays, the offering of gifts to statues? This seems contradictory to me. I actually just purchased a book “What the Buddha Taught” that should ease my confusion.
Afterwards, we went to a few bars. Quinn purchased a round of drinks, which we were unaware of, so when they arrived on the bar we hightailed out of there because we thought they were forcing us to drink since we were using the pool table. Kelly ran back to get us and we got back in time to see Quinn getting yelled at by the Lady Boy bartender—she hated him for the rest of the night. We finished our drinks and went to another bar where I got into an argument first with an older Brittish ex cop because he was saying “Oh, now we know someone is getting high in the white house” I was livid. What does that mean? He argument was basically because Obama is black; how racist! He said that he was happy with the decision and excited to see him in the White House, but the fact that his intial compliment was a possible drug habit was appalling. Then, a US ex marine got into the conversation and it somehow turned into a quarrel concerning homosexuality in the army. He was trying to convice me that it was the law to transfer someone out of your squad if they’re gay soley because they are “a f*gg*t”—you’re KIDDING me!!!??? You mean to tell me, that if someone has been working next to you for maybe five years, the best person on your team, has even saved your life, and you find out he’s gay…you move him???
yep.
OMG. Quinn had to drag me away because I was getting so heated. By then it was 3 in the morning and time for bed.
FOOD CORNER
100 Year Egg—The outside is dyed pink to distinguish them from regular eggs and then inside is black and tastes and feels just like a hard boiled egg except the yold isn’t dry but quite creamy. The egg isn’t actually 100 years old; the nae has to do with the fermebtation process where it is buried with ashes for 100 days.
Taste:3
Aftertaste:1
Meal worms- Crunchy and VERY dry. These would make a fabulous bar snack.
Taste:2
Aftertaste:1
Chang Mai Jungle Trek
The rest of Phi Phi island wasn’t too eventful; I sunbathed on the beach, read my book (Life of Pi), walked around, nothing too spectacular. I left Phi Phi in order to take a 2 hour ferry to Krabi, a 12 hour bus ride to Bangkok, and another 10 hour ride to Chang Mai. Long day! Luckily, I got in in the late afternoon because when I tried to go to the hostel I wanted to stay in (without a reservation, as I do) they were booked! This is the first time this has happened to me; in fact, most of the guest houses were full. Luckily, a woman (Tee) stopped me and said she had a room for 150 baht (less than 4 dollars)—SOLD! I could even book a three day jungle trek with them for cheaper than I thought. I met two guys from New Zealand there and another girl from Seattle, Tegre. We sat outside chatting when T came out with tequila shots—uh oh. We all went out to eat at a nice Thai restaurant called “Good View” on the Ping river where I met one of the New Zealand boy’s mother who works in Chang Mai. She told me about some orphanages I could work at around the city, since I was looking for somewhere to do charity work.
The next morning, I got a motorbike ride to start my jungle trek. We got on the back of a truck bed that had benches and a covered back to go to a market for supplies. After, we drove to a temple basically in the middle of nowhere (the name of which, unfortunately, escapes me because we have gone to so many) with a ridiculous amount of stairs lined with a large dragon as the handrail. At the top there is a massive golden Buddha sitting overlooking the city. We trekked for a few hours to a waterfall and then to our campsite which consisted of three huts and a campfire between the jungle and farmland. The guides cooked a traditional meal for us of curry, rice, and fruit. Afterwards we drank and sang along while the guides played the guitar.
The next morning, we got up early and split off from the two day group in order to do a total of five hours of trekking, stopping along the way at a few waterfalls and a local village. The women wear brightly colored clothes to signify that they are married and they all have reddish black teeth because they chew a concoction daily of red tree bark and tobacco, amongst other things. The men won't marry a woman without this—black teeth are beautiful in their village; I wonder what they think of all of these tourists visiting that have paid for Crest White Strips and professional whitening. A group of children sell necklaces and bracelets; they hold up a handful and look at you with a sad facial expression in hopes that you will spend 20 baht on a few beads on a string. I went up to a small girl in back that had been pushed aside by the others and bought a tiny bracelet from her; she even let me take her picture and when I showed her the results she finally smiled. The children are very shy at first; they stop and stare at us more than we do at them. After a while, though, they start jumping around and open up, as children do. I have difficulty figuring out if what we are doing is disrespectful, parading around their villages, looking into their homes, taking pictures of their children—are we crossing boundaries? We went into a home and some people were taking pictures of a mother with her 15 day old baby; it just seems like a line is being crossed. I almost feel like we’re treating them like they’re in the zoo. Personally, I just want to see how other people live around the world, but I think there is a fine line between learning/documenting and exploiting.
We didn’t really see any interesting animals along the way, lots of trees and dirt and bugs. We did, however, see a plant which looks like grass with small red flowers. It has tiny leaves which move when touched like the legs on a millipede so that the water buffalo won’t eat it—genius.
The final day was absolutely amazing. We got up pretty late, around nine am or so. I didn’t sleep well, again. The first night it was because it was freezing and I’m a bit temperature sensitive, the second night was a bit different. I kept having a reoccurring dream that I was on an island and it was flooding and I had to keep dodging massive objects such as ships and trucks while trying not to drown. Also, my teeth were chipping away and falling out. I’ve also been having a lot of dreams about tornadoes and having to dodge them, as well. GUH! So stressful! Anyway, we went to the nearby village to buy some more souvenirs and play with the local kids. The night before a few little boys came to us while we were playing cards and started Muay Thai fighting—throwing each other around and kicking and giggling. Two dogs almost started fighting so the four of them picked up one and dragged it back to the village. It was absolutely hilarious. These kids really live basically in the middle of no where and are so happy! The dog’s aggression made no negative impact on them, whatsoever, they kept playing and defending each other. One little boy cut his foot open and it was gushing blood. He was so strong, he didn’t scream or cry or anything, just sat down and looked at it until we got his father over and he scooped him up to play doctor. These children are all so content and happy; Book, our guide, tells us that the people in the villages don’t care about money and material things; health and family are important; they are content with what they have, not greedy in desiring more. It really puts your life in perspective when you see a child with only a string and a rock who couldn’t be happier.
These same kids were helping sell in the local market, like kids will do, try and play grown up and haggle prices with us. After a while it was time to say goodbye. Richard, Maggie (the Canadian couple) and I went “white water rafting” which was more like slow stream paddling, down the river for about an hour to meet up with the rest of the group for bamboo rafting. WWR was a good time; it was relaxing and we got to see some water buffalo and local people eating and doing washing along the river. The bamboo rafting was much better; it is a flat raft made of bamboo poles roped together. Two people stand up and paddle by pushing a bamboo pole off of the riverbed or nearby rocks. The guide kept rocking the boat and making me run into the bank and rocks because I was in the back, so I almost fell off.
Our last adventure was elephant riding. I sat on it’s neck while Eliana (from Greece) sat on the chair on its back. It’s difficult to hold your balance because its back arches left and right with every step while it’s flapping its ears against your legs and blowing snot on your feet. The skin is so rough and wrinkly while it’s hair is like steel wool. However, despite its exterior, the animal is very slow and gentle, and mostly concerned with eating grass and bananas. After the elephant ride we had to say goodbye to the village Thais and headed back into the city. I slept like a baby that night in my 4 dollar queen sized bed private room ☺
The next morning, I got a motorbike ride to start my jungle trek. We got on the back of a truck bed that had benches and a covered back to go to a market for supplies. After, we drove to a temple basically in the middle of nowhere (the name of which, unfortunately, escapes me because we have gone to so many) with a ridiculous amount of stairs lined with a large dragon as the handrail. At the top there is a massive golden Buddha sitting overlooking the city. We trekked for a few hours to a waterfall and then to our campsite which consisted of three huts and a campfire between the jungle and farmland. The guides cooked a traditional meal for us of curry, rice, and fruit. Afterwards we drank and sang along while the guides played the guitar.
The next morning, we got up early and split off from the two day group in order to do a total of five hours of trekking, stopping along the way at a few waterfalls and a local village. The women wear brightly colored clothes to signify that they are married and they all have reddish black teeth because they chew a concoction daily of red tree bark and tobacco, amongst other things. The men won't marry a woman without this—black teeth are beautiful in their village; I wonder what they think of all of these tourists visiting that have paid for Crest White Strips and professional whitening. A group of children sell necklaces and bracelets; they hold up a handful and look at you with a sad facial expression in hopes that you will spend 20 baht on a few beads on a string. I went up to a small girl in back that had been pushed aside by the others and bought a tiny bracelet from her; she even let me take her picture and when I showed her the results she finally smiled. The children are very shy at first; they stop and stare at us more than we do at them. After a while, though, they start jumping around and open up, as children do. I have difficulty figuring out if what we are doing is disrespectful, parading around their villages, looking into their homes, taking pictures of their children—are we crossing boundaries? We went into a home and some people were taking pictures of a mother with her 15 day old baby; it just seems like a line is being crossed. I almost feel like we’re treating them like they’re in the zoo. Personally, I just want to see how other people live around the world, but I think there is a fine line between learning/documenting and exploiting.
We didn’t really see any interesting animals along the way, lots of trees and dirt and bugs. We did, however, see a plant which looks like grass with small red flowers. It has tiny leaves which move when touched like the legs on a millipede so that the water buffalo won’t eat it—genius.
The final day was absolutely amazing. We got up pretty late, around nine am or so. I didn’t sleep well, again. The first night it was because it was freezing and I’m a bit temperature sensitive, the second night was a bit different. I kept having a reoccurring dream that I was on an island and it was flooding and I had to keep dodging massive objects such as ships and trucks while trying not to drown. Also, my teeth were chipping away and falling out. I’ve also been having a lot of dreams about tornadoes and having to dodge them, as well. GUH! So stressful! Anyway, we went to the nearby village to buy some more souvenirs and play with the local kids. The night before a few little boys came to us while we were playing cards and started Muay Thai fighting—throwing each other around and kicking and giggling. Two dogs almost started fighting so the four of them picked up one and dragged it back to the village. It was absolutely hilarious. These kids really live basically in the middle of no where and are so happy! The dog’s aggression made no negative impact on them, whatsoever, they kept playing and defending each other. One little boy cut his foot open and it was gushing blood. He was so strong, he didn’t scream or cry or anything, just sat down and looked at it until we got his father over and he scooped him up to play doctor. These children are all so content and happy; Book, our guide, tells us that the people in the villages don’t care about money and material things; health and family are important; they are content with what they have, not greedy in desiring more. It really puts your life in perspective when you see a child with only a string and a rock who couldn’t be happier.
These same kids were helping sell in the local market, like kids will do, try and play grown up and haggle prices with us. After a while it was time to say goodbye. Richard, Maggie (the Canadian couple) and I went “white water rafting” which was more like slow stream paddling, down the river for about an hour to meet up with the rest of the group for bamboo rafting. WWR was a good time; it was relaxing and we got to see some water buffalo and local people eating and doing washing along the river. The bamboo rafting was much better; it is a flat raft made of bamboo poles roped together. Two people stand up and paddle by pushing a bamboo pole off of the riverbed or nearby rocks. The guide kept rocking the boat and making me run into the bank and rocks because I was in the back, so I almost fell off.
Our last adventure was elephant riding. I sat on it’s neck while Eliana (from Greece) sat on the chair on its back. It’s difficult to hold your balance because its back arches left and right with every step while it’s flapping its ears against your legs and blowing snot on your feet. The skin is so rough and wrinkly while it’s hair is like steel wool. However, despite its exterior, the animal is very slow and gentle, and mostly concerned with eating grass and bananas. After the elephant ride we had to say goodbye to the village Thais and headed back into the city. I slept like a baby that night in my 4 dollar queen sized bed private room ☺
Sunday, January 11, 2009
To Krabi to Bangkok
Camillo, originally from Chile but living in Sweden, went with me to buy bus tickets to Krabi in the morning. It took us about an hour and a half each way via the Skytrain and a cab because the traffic is insane! We decided the following afternoon to take the local bus. Luckily, we left extremely early because it took us two and a half hours and we had five minutes to spare before the bus left! A Thai man on the bus helped us get there in time by basically running us to the gate. We got on the 12 hour ride, no problem, and slept most of the way. A movie dubbed in Thai was playing when we started the trip and when I woke up a few hours later, there was Thai music video karaoke—if only I could read it! We arrived at 5:30 in the morning on January 8th and we sat in the tourist office /restaurant until his bus came for Ko Lanta and Mine for Phi Phi (pronounced pee pee) island. I took an hour and a half long ferry ride to paradise. Every day here feels like a beach day—clear sunny skies and 90 degree weather! The beaches are filled with soft white sand and have gorgeous clear blue water.
I wasn’t quite sure where the hostel was, but I heard a British guy behind me say something about the last time he was here, so I asked if he knew where the Rock Hostel was being that I had no clue and every travel agent I talked to pretended they had no idea what it was and tried to book me into a resort. They were heading to the same place, so I followed and we got the last four dorm beds. We immediately went to the beach and sat there soaking up the sun and Singha beer for the rest of the day. After a while I looked down to see bright red arms—ugh. Everyone back at the hostel commented on my new hue. I ended up just going out to eat with a small group then chatting and going to bed even thought everyone was going out because this is a big party island. Today, I sat in the shade reading all day. I sat with a Norweigen guy, Andrew, for about two hours that morning for breakfast chatting about our lives. That night I worked at an Irish bar handing out a few fliers for free drinks and 300 Baht (maybe 8 dollars). I met a group of New Zealanders and ended up staying out with them until 4 in the morning. The next day, I got up early and Andrew and I went on an all day snorkeling trip around the island. We went to Monkey bay where there are a bunch of small friendly monkeys that people feed them bananas. I got a really good close up of one right before he lunged to try and steal my camera. I screamed and ran away like a girl and from then on out kept my distance. The water is so warm and the fish swim all around you. They have brilliant colors, some of which are neon like the Atomic Skis from the 90’s. We went to Maya Bay, which is where “the Beach” was filmed, and had lunch on the beach. We saw a few more sights before heading back during sunset. That night there was a full moon and a party on the beach to celebrate. I bar hopped with a few guys from the hostel for a while before we went there. Some big English guy was trying to tell me that he could shake his chest and butt better than me…umm no…do you see the size of these? I win by default ☺
The next day I was so hung-over (sorry Mom, it happens). I didn’t get out of bed until 1 and ended up blogging all day. This is why I don’t go out too much when I’m traveling. I like to do things with my day and not feel like a waste of painful space ☺
I wasn’t quite sure where the hostel was, but I heard a British guy behind me say something about the last time he was here, so I asked if he knew where the Rock Hostel was being that I had no clue and every travel agent I talked to pretended they had no idea what it was and tried to book me into a resort. They were heading to the same place, so I followed and we got the last four dorm beds. We immediately went to the beach and sat there soaking up the sun and Singha beer for the rest of the day. After a while I looked down to see bright red arms—ugh. Everyone back at the hostel commented on my new hue. I ended up just going out to eat with a small group then chatting and going to bed even thought everyone was going out because this is a big party island. Today, I sat in the shade reading all day. I sat with a Norweigen guy, Andrew, for about two hours that morning for breakfast chatting about our lives. That night I worked at an Irish bar handing out a few fliers for free drinks and 300 Baht (maybe 8 dollars). I met a group of New Zealanders and ended up staying out with them until 4 in the morning. The next day, I got up early and Andrew and I went on an all day snorkeling trip around the island. We went to Monkey bay where there are a bunch of small friendly monkeys that people feed them bananas. I got a really good close up of one right before he lunged to try and steal my camera. I screamed and ran away like a girl and from then on out kept my distance. The water is so warm and the fish swim all around you. They have brilliant colors, some of which are neon like the Atomic Skis from the 90’s. We went to Maya Bay, which is where “the Beach” was filmed, and had lunch on the beach. We saw a few more sights before heading back during sunset. That night there was a full moon and a party on the beach to celebrate. I bar hopped with a few guys from the hostel for a while before we went there. Some big English guy was trying to tell me that he could shake his chest and butt better than me…umm no…do you see the size of these? I win by default ☺
The next day I was so hung-over (sorry Mom, it happens). I didn’t get out of bed until 1 and ended up blogging all day. This is why I don’t go out too much when I’m traveling. I like to do things with my day and not feel like a waste of painful space ☺
One night in Bangkok I went On Nut and saw the Super P*ssy
I arrived in Bangkok, Thailand at about 4 in the afternoon on January 2nd. I was sweating the moment I stepped off of the plane—quite the shock to the body to be living in 20 degree weather and then flip to 90 degrees and humid! I walked into a hostel in the center of the city that was really cheap (about 6 dollars a night). When I checked online, Hostelworld said that there were vacancies so I figured I wouldn’t have a problem. When I got there, however, the man at the front desk told me there were no rooms. I informed him that online said otherwise, he stopped and then said oh, yes, I think we have one bed and let me in. That first night I stayed in a room with one other girl in a tiny room that basically only had room for our bunk beds and our bags. This is also the only room without air conditioning and is on the 5th floor--hot, hot, hot. I dropped my stuff off and wondered over to a side street to find some food since I hadn’t eaten much all day. All down the street, there are little, local, outdoor restaurants with Thai women shoving menus at everyone walking by. I took a seat on a picnic table and pointed to a picture that looked good. I ended up with a lot of rice and noodles. Afterwards, I ran into a girl that I was on the airport transfer bus with (Trina from Germany), and we wondered around a nearby night market where you can purchase any “name brand” good your heart delsires—Ed Hardy t-shits, Gucci bags, Prada shades, Diesel jeans, rolex watches, whatever. The sides of the street are lined with bars and “ping pong” shows. I haven’t seen one yet, but apparently women do ridiculous things involving ANYTHING and their lady parts. There’s even a place called the “Super Pussy,” I’ll find out what that entails later. I was feeling pretty awful after all the food I ate, so I left and headed back to my hostel.
The next day I went for a run in Limphini park which was absolutely gorgeous. There are all sorts of groups of people doing dance, yoga, and martial arts throughout the park. After, I went to the Chatachak market which is only open on the weekends and is MASSIVE. I was lost inside for nearly four hours. Everything is there; food, bags, furniture, nick knacks, clothes, art, pet supplies—even puppies! Those poor things looked so hot and miserable; everyone was trying to touch them; it was so sad. I ate a bunch of street food including these waffle cone-like cups with some sort of custard, coconut ice cream in a cocunut shell, and balls of some sort of meat on a stick—a little spicy but I have no clue what it was. After, I took the skytrain back to the hostel and I walked around the night market again, and people watched while eating at a restaurant on the side. Thai men and women were heckling everyone to come to strip shows and bargaining over the price of bags and pashminas. I actually had an air conditioned room that night, and I met two people from Oklahoma traveling for a few weeks. We bonded over the idiocy of Sarah Palin during the recent election and traveling until we went to sleep.
The next night I had nowhere to stay because my hostel was booked, so I moved to another one randomly in hopes of vacancy. As soon as I walked in the door I heard a girl say my nme. I turn to find Corinne Rossignol who I went to Boston University with—Small world, again! She and I caught up for a while and she showed me a gym down the road that I didn’t have to pay for—horray! I worked out for a bit and then took the sky train to the pier in order to catch a river ferry to see some temples. I arrived a little late in the day so a few were closed, but I did get to go to Wat Po which is where the world’s largest reclining Buddha lies (his moment of enlightenment)--it’s 15 meters high and 46 meters long and is constructed with brick and wood and is plated in gold. The feet have designs in them in Mother of pearl. The next day I went back to the river ferry and they were trying to charge me more for the ticket—luckily I knew better and didn’t get scammed. I took the boat back to the Grand Palace and Wat Phraw Kaew where the Emerald Buddha sits (it actually is constructed from Jade). All the temples here are gold/glittering monstrocities with hand painted murals, colored glass, gold coating, and ceramic flowers. The view is awe inspiring to see all the work people go to for their faith.
FOOD CORNER
On my way back to the river ferry, I walked through a small food market. Nothing jumped out at me as too unusual until I decided to go down a random side aisle where I found COCKROACHES. I stood there in front of the bowl, staring at the deceased bugs coated in salt and, after much contemplation, purchased one. She ripped the wings off and put it into a plastic bag. Once I got back to the hostel, I found some moral support to witness my meal. Dave was ready with my camera while I munched on a cockroach as long as my pointer finger and twice as wide. It was awful. The body is similar to a peanut shell; mildly metallic tasting and difficult to break down. I was probably chewing for over a solid minute before I could swallow. The insides were gooey (which you would expect from a bug) but tasted like Jaeger, oddly enough, which is not one of my preferred alcoholic beverages. Yuck.
Taste: 1
Aftertaste:1
The next day I went for a run in Limphini park which was absolutely gorgeous. There are all sorts of groups of people doing dance, yoga, and martial arts throughout the park. After, I went to the Chatachak market which is only open on the weekends and is MASSIVE. I was lost inside for nearly four hours. Everything is there; food, bags, furniture, nick knacks, clothes, art, pet supplies—even puppies! Those poor things looked so hot and miserable; everyone was trying to touch them; it was so sad. I ate a bunch of street food including these waffle cone-like cups with some sort of custard, coconut ice cream in a cocunut shell, and balls of some sort of meat on a stick—a little spicy but I have no clue what it was. After, I took the skytrain back to the hostel and I walked around the night market again, and people watched while eating at a restaurant on the side. Thai men and women were heckling everyone to come to strip shows and bargaining over the price of bags and pashminas. I actually had an air conditioned room that night, and I met two people from Oklahoma traveling for a few weeks. We bonded over the idiocy of Sarah Palin during the recent election and traveling until we went to sleep.
The next night I had nowhere to stay because my hostel was booked, so I moved to another one randomly in hopes of vacancy. As soon as I walked in the door I heard a girl say my nme. I turn to find Corinne Rossignol who I went to Boston University with—Small world, again! She and I caught up for a while and she showed me a gym down the road that I didn’t have to pay for—horray! I worked out for a bit and then took the sky train to the pier in order to catch a river ferry to see some temples. I arrived a little late in the day so a few were closed, but I did get to go to Wat Po which is where the world’s largest reclining Buddha lies (his moment of enlightenment)--it’s 15 meters high and 46 meters long and is constructed with brick and wood and is plated in gold. The feet have designs in them in Mother of pearl. The next day I went back to the river ferry and they were trying to charge me more for the ticket—luckily I knew better and didn’t get scammed. I took the boat back to the Grand Palace and Wat Phraw Kaew where the Emerald Buddha sits (it actually is constructed from Jade). All the temples here are gold/glittering monstrocities with hand painted murals, colored glass, gold coating, and ceramic flowers. The view is awe inspiring to see all the work people go to for their faith.
FOOD CORNER
On my way back to the river ferry, I walked through a small food market. Nothing jumped out at me as too unusual until I decided to go down a random side aisle where I found COCKROACHES. I stood there in front of the bowl, staring at the deceased bugs coated in salt and, after much contemplation, purchased one. She ripped the wings off and put it into a plastic bag. Once I got back to the hostel, I found some moral support to witness my meal. Dave was ready with my camera while I munched on a cockroach as long as my pointer finger and twice as wide. It was awful. The body is similar to a peanut shell; mildly metallic tasting and difficult to break down. I was probably chewing for over a solid minute before I could swallow. The insides were gooey (which you would expect from a bug) but tasted like Jaeger, oddly enough, which is not one of my preferred alcoholic beverages. Yuck.
Taste: 1
Aftertaste:1
Tokyo Two
I finally arrived in Tokyo, after a long restless bus ride, at about 6 am. I disembarked to frigid air that I haven't felt in at least a year. I half walked/half ran to the subway station and went back to the Asakusa hostel. I was exhausted and freezing, but I couldn't check into my room until the afternoon; I sat in Starbucks reading for half the day and then snuck back in and fell asleep on the couch in the common room--hah. The next day, I ventured around the city and went to purchase a new camera at the store, Yodobashi, which is known for good and cheap electronics, since mine decided to die on Christmas day. I got a new Cannon w/ a free 2 gig card for around $185--not bad. I was supposed to go out to a club called "Pop It" with some Japanese women that I met on the Santa pub crawl, but I found out about the death of a friend of mine, Eric Rego, so, needless to say, I didn't really feel like partying. I went to bed at 6pm and stayed there for a very very long time.
I wanted to lie around all day, but I had to leave at 11 am because I didn't have that night booked due to no vacancy. I walked around Omatesando and through Yoyogi park before meeting up with Bradon and Garret, whom I had met in Auckland. It was nice to see some familiar faces! I met them at the hostel, along with two of their friends from California, Matt and Todd, and we wondered around Shinjuku and into a few bars before going back to their hostel. The boys snuck me into their place because I actually didn't have any accommodation for the evening and was probably going to end up sleeping in a McDonalds. They were in a capsule hostel, which is basically beds in pods on top of each other. They are pretty big, though, there was enough room for two of us to lie down comfortably without even touching. The next day I checked back in to my hostel and met back up with the boys and another one of their friends from high school who is studying Japanese in Tokyo, Jen, and went to do some karaoke! We rented a room with neon and black lights and sang our sober hearts out for a few hours. Karaoke is huge here; however, I find it interesting that everyone rents out a room and sings with their friends rather than in an open room on stage like what I'm used to seeing. I think I just like public humiliation :) After Karaoke we wondered around the brightly lit area of Shinjuku for a little while watching people and I won a little carton of Haagen Daaz in a vending machine before heading home.
The next day I met up with the boys and we took a day trip to Hakone where you can see Mt. Fuji. It's basically a full day of public transportation with phenomenal views. We took the subway, bus, pirate ship (seriously) through lake Ashi, three cable cars, and then back. When we got back to Tokyo we were all starving and craving sushi so we asked a random local security guard if he could point us in the right direction. We went to a Kaiten sushi restaurant which is extremely popular and pretty cheap. We had to stand outside in a line for over a half hour before we could get seats. Well worth the wait, though. Each plate is color coded, representing the price, and you can take whatever you want or ask the chefs, who are on the other side of the conveyor belt, to make whichever roll you wish. Some of the highlights were flying fish, whale, and live prawn. I had a massive stack of plates and spent about 30 dollars on the entire meal--not bad for sushi in Japan! Afterwards, we headed to Jen's place where she was graciously letting us stay for a few nights. We got there around one in the morning and I passed out on the floor while they reminisced about hight school. She lives with a host family but has her own apartment. They made us lunch the next day of tuna and tofu sushi before I had to run out and grab my belongings, as well as my Visa for India! I met back up with everyone around 10:30 pm in order to celebrate New Year's eve. We planned on going to a club but en-route, Bradon and I ended up talking to some random people and lost everyone else. We spent a while trying to find them and when we finally did, half of the group was in the club, but one of the guys couldn't get in because he was too drunk. We ended up taking turns sitting with him in Starbucks until everyone was done partying--I spent my new years drinking a hot cocoa :(. The next day we went to the Park Hyatt Hotel bar, which was in Lost in Translation, in order to have a few cocktails and see the ridiculous view of Tokyo it has to offer. Afterwards, Garrett and I ended up going back to Jen's place while everyone else went out. I gathered all of my belongings and headed towards the airport since my flight was going to leave in the morning. I figured I'd just sleep there and save myself the hassle of traveling on a timeline in the morning. The train was two stops from the airport when I hear "final destination" over the intercom and everyone gets out. I tell the workers that I need to get to the airport and they tell me to take a cab. What??? Grr. I go to the cab and he holds his arms up in a big "X" and tells me it's closed. Closed? I didn't know airports closed! I ended up having to sleep in McDonalds for six hours until the subway started back up again and I could head out for my flight. What an ending to my stay in Japan!
FOOD CORNER
At the sushi restaurant Garret and I decided to be little daredevils and try live prawn. The chef shows us the crawly creatures so we can take a few photos before chopping off and frying up their heads for us to munch on. He then takes the tail meat and puts it on a chunk of sticky rice and hands it over to us. The tail is STILL MOVING. The waitress then tells us to pour a little soy sauce on it. After doing so the meet starts twitching, and I don't mean a little slight movement; the tail was having intense spasms to the point that I was wondering if it was going to roll itself off of the rice. The tail was expanding and contracting and flicking from left to right. It took about five minutes to finally put the piece in my mouth, but I'm so glad I did it! I was so fresh (obviously) and flavorful; like nothing I've ever tasted.
Taste: 5
Aftertaste:1
AKWARD MOMENT
Jen ran to McDonalds to grab us some food on New Year's Eve while sitting in Starbucks with our too-drunk friend. We couldn't bring the food inside so I came out a stood outside munching on some fries while she went back in to babysit. While standing outside I started getting random high fives from drunk tourists celebrating. A group of guys stopped and started talking to me, mostly with slightly vulgar complements concerning my looks and my bum. I tried to eat as quickly as I could so I could get away while Jen and Bradon just observed, laughing, from inside...
I wanted to lie around all day, but I had to leave at 11 am because I didn't have that night booked due to no vacancy. I walked around Omatesando and through Yoyogi park before meeting up with Bradon and Garret, whom I had met in Auckland. It was nice to see some familiar faces! I met them at the hostel, along with two of their friends from California, Matt and Todd, and we wondered around Shinjuku and into a few bars before going back to their hostel. The boys snuck me into their place because I actually didn't have any accommodation for the evening and was probably going to end up sleeping in a McDonalds. They were in a capsule hostel, which is basically beds in pods on top of each other. They are pretty big, though, there was enough room for two of us to lie down comfortably without even touching. The next day I checked back in to my hostel and met back up with the boys and another one of their friends from high school who is studying Japanese in Tokyo, Jen, and went to do some karaoke! We rented a room with neon and black lights and sang our sober hearts out for a few hours. Karaoke is huge here; however, I find it interesting that everyone rents out a room and sings with their friends rather than in an open room on stage like what I'm used to seeing. I think I just like public humiliation :) After Karaoke we wondered around the brightly lit area of Shinjuku for a little while watching people and I won a little carton of Haagen Daaz in a vending machine before heading home.
The next day I met up with the boys and we took a day trip to Hakone where you can see Mt. Fuji. It's basically a full day of public transportation with phenomenal views. We took the subway, bus, pirate ship (seriously) through lake Ashi, three cable cars, and then back. When we got back to Tokyo we were all starving and craving sushi so we asked a random local security guard if he could point us in the right direction. We went to a Kaiten sushi restaurant which is extremely popular and pretty cheap. We had to stand outside in a line for over a half hour before we could get seats. Well worth the wait, though. Each plate is color coded, representing the price, and you can take whatever you want or ask the chefs, who are on the other side of the conveyor belt, to make whichever roll you wish. Some of the highlights were flying fish, whale, and live prawn. I had a massive stack of plates and spent about 30 dollars on the entire meal--not bad for sushi in Japan! Afterwards, we headed to Jen's place where she was graciously letting us stay for a few nights. We got there around one in the morning and I passed out on the floor while they reminisced about hight school. She lives with a host family but has her own apartment. They made us lunch the next day of tuna and tofu sushi before I had to run out and grab my belongings, as well as my Visa for India! I met back up with everyone around 10:30 pm in order to celebrate New Year's eve. We planned on going to a club but en-route, Bradon and I ended up talking to some random people and lost everyone else. We spent a while trying to find them and when we finally did, half of the group was in the club, but one of the guys couldn't get in because he was too drunk. We ended up taking turns sitting with him in Starbucks until everyone was done partying--I spent my new years drinking a hot cocoa :(. The next day we went to the Park Hyatt Hotel bar, which was in Lost in Translation, in order to have a few cocktails and see the ridiculous view of Tokyo it has to offer. Afterwards, Garrett and I ended up going back to Jen's place while everyone else went out. I gathered all of my belongings and headed towards the airport since my flight was going to leave in the morning. I figured I'd just sleep there and save myself the hassle of traveling on a timeline in the morning. The train was two stops from the airport when I hear "final destination" over the intercom and everyone gets out. I tell the workers that I need to get to the airport and they tell me to take a cab. What??? Grr. I go to the cab and he holds his arms up in a big "X" and tells me it's closed. Closed? I didn't know airports closed! I ended up having to sleep in McDonalds for six hours until the subway started back up again and I could head out for my flight. What an ending to my stay in Japan!
FOOD CORNER
At the sushi restaurant Garret and I decided to be little daredevils and try live prawn. The chef shows us the crawly creatures so we can take a few photos before chopping off and frying up their heads for us to munch on. He then takes the tail meat and puts it on a chunk of sticky rice and hands it over to us. The tail is STILL MOVING. The waitress then tells us to pour a little soy sauce on it. After doing so the meet starts twitching, and I don't mean a little slight movement; the tail was having intense spasms to the point that I was wondering if it was going to roll itself off of the rice. The tail was expanding and contracting and flicking from left to right. It took about five minutes to finally put the piece in my mouth, but I'm so glad I did it! I was so fresh (obviously) and flavorful; like nothing I've ever tasted.
Taste: 5
Aftertaste:1
AKWARD MOMENT
Jen ran to McDonalds to grab us some food on New Year's Eve while sitting in Starbucks with our too-drunk friend. We couldn't bring the food inside so I came out a stood outside munching on some fries while she went back in to babysit. While standing outside I started getting random high fives from drunk tourists celebrating. A group of guys stopped and started talking to me, mostly with slightly vulgar complements concerning my looks and my bum. I tried to eat as quickly as I could so I could get away while Jen and Bradon just observed, laughing, from inside...
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Merry Christmas Mom and Dad
A little belated, but I thought everyone would like to see the Christmas card I made and sent to my family :)
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