Optimistic
Is how I feel.
After leaving the net cafe yesterday I was suddenly seized by a voracious hunger that made me committ a cardinal sin of travel when in a land of delicious foods...
I went to Mc Donald's.
I ordered a Mc Chicken and fries with a coke. It was delicious. It was the best burger (chicken) that I'd had since I last ate Mc Donald's (yes, I confess, in Dubai)...and since that the best in months...since I was home.
Of course, the last burger I ate left me near death. So I figured I owed myself a better memory. It was delicious, but I felt guilty.
So I went to the night market. So I could eat some Kao Soi (that's the proper spelling), and feel stuffed instead. I had two big cups of coconut ice cream, with real coconuts in them, some sweet corn kernels in a cup, pineapple juice, and then I went shopping.
I guess I had been preparing for my big shopping night since I got here, by not buying much of anything previously until I'd scoped it all out. I love everything I got, and I think I did well price-wise.
I got a green silk scarf with a bit of brown in it, some silk boxers for night-time pants (they're blue with lighter blue elephants on them), three types of perfume, an elephant jade pendant on a silver necklace, a shark's tooth necklace, a blown glass bracelet, some Thai candy, and I guess that's it. At these night markets different people sit in the middle and do their talent shows, singing, puppets, or what have you. It's sort of like Third Street Promenade, except, most of these people need to be told that they have bad voices, etc...It's more of the average person who decides to give it a go, see if they can make a bit of money on the side. You know, if you've ever fantasized about playing an instrument or singing on the Promenade for some pocket money, well students here actually do it.
I have some cool bandaids for my toe. Right now I'm wearing a white one white one with panda cartoons all over it. It makes being cut up not so bad.
Anyway, after the night market I met a group of five Israelis, well saw them again is more like it, on the taxi ride home. They were very typically Israeli. Israelis and Aussies are the travel standby sightings. But on this trip it's been more like Canadians and the French that you meet here. Very odd. But it's nice to be able to just jump in in French if you have a quick question. It also allows for better eavesdropping.
On the way back to my hotel I decided to stop at a British pub that had caught my eye because of its Belgian beers and grab a Duvel. I ordered the drink, took a sip and then wondered why it tasted so strange to me. I examined the label and the former seal, and then realized I'd forgotten to take my antibiotic after dinner. That thought was quickly followed by the realization that I shouldn't be drinking beer while on antibiotics. Dammit.
The beer was a pricey 180 baht, or roughly $6, which is cheap in the States for such a beer, but expensive as hell over here. I decide to give away my drink because I don't want to waste it. And a table of four guys except my offer. Three of them are Welsh, the fourth is a Californian (formerly from Seattle)--but another American nonetheless! They invite me to join them with my water and they order dessert and let me taste a bit. The Welsh guy who accepts my drink is named Andrew and he gives me 100 baht to compensate me for my loss of a drink. I was surprised and happy. He is a firefighter back home and on a five month trip with his two buddies. They've already been traveling for about a month and the three guys met up with Lee (the Californian who is a chef) in Koh Tao. Lee quit his job at a three-star Michelin restaurant in San Francisco called La Boheme to go travel until July. The other Welsh guy is Julian, who used to work for SBC global and quit his job to travel; it's his birthday that night and he's turning 23 (the baby of the group). The four Welsh guy is Matthew, he's a plasterer with a heavy brogue. The guys are funny and fun to talk to and after the pub closes down we head over to a Rasta bar nearby to enjoy some music.
The bar is packed, and it's one of the few places with Thais and tourists mingling together. I sit down on a bar stool with some pineapple juice and am immediately drawn to a girl who is dancing with a bald-headed Middle-Eastern looking man who seems a bit too aggressive. She is leaning away, using all the polite body language signs possible to get the man to stop touching her, he leans toward her, gyrating his hips sleezily, and brushes her left breast, grabs the crook of her arm, and grazes her face and hair with his lips. His buddy swerves slimily beside him, letting his hips dance to the music like an overly excited teenage boy. It's disgusting to watch. I mention the sight to Lee and Andrew beside me. Lee's take on the scene is one example why guys fail so often at reading women's body language/signals. He thinks the guy is a last resort hook up for her if she can't find anyone better. I tell him, no way, the girl is disgusted by the guy but feels like she can't push him away for some reason, either because she's indebted to him in some way (he bought her dinner, she feels guilty), she's embarrassed, or feels constrained by politeness, or is hoping he will go away.
A moment or two later, the guy swoops in while holding her right arm by the upper shoulder going for kiss on the lips. She twists and turns in his grasp, leveling herself closer and closer to the floor and pushing her face down. Lee says he's going to go deck the guy and his friend. I tell him to ask her first if she's okay and needs help. After all, women usually have a less violent way of handling such encounters and there's no need for a full out bar battle.
Lee goes and asks if she's okay, and then helps her back toward us, pushing the other guys away. I talk with her when she comes over and tell her I was keeping an eye on her. Turns out she's another American from Rhode Island, here with two other friends. I wonder where her friends have been while she was being molested on the dance floor.
The guys come up to Lee to shake his hand, but he pushes them away, telling them to "F*ck off" repeatedly. He's very belligerent, but he's apparently had lots of experience in fights and knows what he's doing...The guy comes back to the girl on the dance floor again, grabbing at her as if she's some piece of meat. Lee jumps up again in front of her now and pushes the guys away. They leave. And then, when the girl is back near the door of the bar about 10 minutes later, they return. The one guy grabs the girl now from behind, pulling her out the door. I jump out of my bar stool and run over and grab her firmly by the shoulder nearest to the guy and the door, and pull her away, telling the man to stop. Lee is behind me now and shoves the guy away. About 20 minutes later the guys come back in and are kicked out by the restaurant staff who kicks one of the guys in the a$s and tells him to f*ck off.
We hang out there for most of the rest of the night, relaxing a bit more. The girl ends up going back to her hotel (very very drunk) with Julian, the birthday boy. I look over at her a bit worried, Lee says to her friends nearby that Julian's a good boy and that, after all, she's an adult and can make her own excuses. I wonder about her friends, who just let her go. And I wonder about that excuse that people, especially guys, use to allow things to happen. After all, adults make mistakes too.
Andrew walks me back to my place shortly after that and I decide to go to bed. It's nearly 4 a.m. and I want to be up at a reasonable hour the next day (today). I read a bit more of my book and then fall asleep. Today has been a relatively low-key day. I treated myself to a delicious brunch feast for nearly $4 (that's a lot here), and then went back to the blind masseuse for another massage. I wandered around a bit, bought a couple books at a used book store, and read a bit more before heading out to the net cafe. I am about to head out to the night bazaar. Then it's back to the hotel to pack up and be ready to go at 8 a.m. tomorrow. I've got the Elephant Nature Park and then a flight down to Bangkok. I'm not sure where I'll be staying yet there, but I'll figure it out when I get there, or on the (long) ride into town. I'm starved now, so adios til next time.
IJW
After leaving the net cafe yesterday I was suddenly seized by a voracious hunger that made me committ a cardinal sin of travel when in a land of delicious foods...
I went to Mc Donald's.
I ordered a Mc Chicken and fries with a coke. It was delicious. It was the best burger (chicken) that I'd had since I last ate Mc Donald's (yes, I confess, in Dubai)...and since that the best in months...since I was home.
Of course, the last burger I ate left me near death. So I figured I owed myself a better memory. It was delicious, but I felt guilty.
So I went to the night market. So I could eat some Kao Soi (that's the proper spelling), and feel stuffed instead. I had two big cups of coconut ice cream, with real coconuts in them, some sweet corn kernels in a cup, pineapple juice, and then I went shopping.
I guess I had been preparing for my big shopping night since I got here, by not buying much of anything previously until I'd scoped it all out. I love everything I got, and I think I did well price-wise.
I got a green silk scarf with a bit of brown in it, some silk boxers for night-time pants (they're blue with lighter blue elephants on them), three types of perfume, an elephant jade pendant on a silver necklace, a shark's tooth necklace, a blown glass bracelet, some Thai candy, and I guess that's it. At these night markets different people sit in the middle and do their talent shows, singing, puppets, or what have you. It's sort of like Third Street Promenade, except, most of these people need to be told that they have bad voices, etc...It's more of the average person who decides to give it a go, see if they can make a bit of money on the side. You know, if you've ever fantasized about playing an instrument or singing on the Promenade for some pocket money, well students here actually do it.
I have some cool bandaids for my toe. Right now I'm wearing a white one white one with panda cartoons all over it. It makes being cut up not so bad.
Anyway, after the night market I met a group of five Israelis, well saw them again is more like it, on the taxi ride home. They were very typically Israeli. Israelis and Aussies are the travel standby sightings. But on this trip it's been more like Canadians and the French that you meet here. Very odd. But it's nice to be able to just jump in in French if you have a quick question. It also allows for better eavesdropping.
On the way back to my hotel I decided to stop at a British pub that had caught my eye because of its Belgian beers and grab a Duvel. I ordered the drink, took a sip and then wondered why it tasted so strange to me. I examined the label and the former seal, and then realized I'd forgotten to take my antibiotic after dinner. That thought was quickly followed by the realization that I shouldn't be drinking beer while on antibiotics. Dammit.
The beer was a pricey 180 baht, or roughly $6, which is cheap in the States for such a beer, but expensive as hell over here. I decide to give away my drink because I don't want to waste it. And a table of four guys except my offer. Three of them are Welsh, the fourth is a Californian (formerly from Seattle)--but another American nonetheless! They invite me to join them with my water and they order dessert and let me taste a bit. The Welsh guy who accepts my drink is named Andrew and he gives me 100 baht to compensate me for my loss of a drink. I was surprised and happy. He is a firefighter back home and on a five month trip with his two buddies. They've already been traveling for about a month and the three guys met up with Lee (the Californian who is a chef) in Koh Tao. Lee quit his job at a three-star Michelin restaurant in San Francisco called La Boheme to go travel until July. The other Welsh guy is Julian, who used to work for SBC global and quit his job to travel; it's his birthday that night and he's turning 23 (the baby of the group). The four Welsh guy is Matthew, he's a plasterer with a heavy brogue. The guys are funny and fun to talk to and after the pub closes down we head over to a Rasta bar nearby to enjoy some music.
The bar is packed, and it's one of the few places with Thais and tourists mingling together. I sit down on a bar stool with some pineapple juice and am immediately drawn to a girl who is dancing with a bald-headed Middle-Eastern looking man who seems a bit too aggressive. She is leaning away, using all the polite body language signs possible to get the man to stop touching her, he leans toward her, gyrating his hips sleezily, and brushes her left breast, grabs the crook of her arm, and grazes her face and hair with his lips. His buddy swerves slimily beside him, letting his hips dance to the music like an overly excited teenage boy. It's disgusting to watch. I mention the sight to Lee and Andrew beside me. Lee's take on the scene is one example why guys fail so often at reading women's body language/signals. He thinks the guy is a last resort hook up for her if she can't find anyone better. I tell him, no way, the girl is disgusted by the guy but feels like she can't push him away for some reason, either because she's indebted to him in some way (he bought her dinner, she feels guilty), she's embarrassed, or feels constrained by politeness, or is hoping he will go away.
A moment or two later, the guy swoops in while holding her right arm by the upper shoulder going for kiss on the lips. She twists and turns in his grasp, leveling herself closer and closer to the floor and pushing her face down. Lee says he's going to go deck the guy and his friend. I tell him to ask her first if she's okay and needs help. After all, women usually have a less violent way of handling such encounters and there's no need for a full out bar battle.
Lee goes and asks if she's okay, and then helps her back toward us, pushing the other guys away. I talk with her when she comes over and tell her I was keeping an eye on her. Turns out she's another American from Rhode Island, here with two other friends. I wonder where her friends have been while she was being molested on the dance floor.
The guys come up to Lee to shake his hand, but he pushes them away, telling them to "F*ck off" repeatedly. He's very belligerent, but he's apparently had lots of experience in fights and knows what he's doing...The guy comes back to the girl on the dance floor again, grabbing at her as if she's some piece of meat. Lee jumps up again in front of her now and pushes the guys away. They leave. And then, when the girl is back near the door of the bar about 10 minutes later, they return. The one guy grabs the girl now from behind, pulling her out the door. I jump out of my bar stool and run over and grab her firmly by the shoulder nearest to the guy and the door, and pull her away, telling the man to stop. Lee is behind me now and shoves the guy away. About 20 minutes later the guys come back in and are kicked out by the restaurant staff who kicks one of the guys in the a$s and tells him to f*ck off.
We hang out there for most of the rest of the night, relaxing a bit more. The girl ends up going back to her hotel (very very drunk) with Julian, the birthday boy. I look over at her a bit worried, Lee says to her friends nearby that Julian's a good boy and that, after all, she's an adult and can make her own excuses. I wonder about her friends, who just let her go. And I wonder about that excuse that people, especially guys, use to allow things to happen. After all, adults make mistakes too.
Andrew walks me back to my place shortly after that and I decide to go to bed. It's nearly 4 a.m. and I want to be up at a reasonable hour the next day (today). I read a bit more of my book and then fall asleep. Today has been a relatively low-key day. I treated myself to a delicious brunch feast for nearly $4 (that's a lot here), and then went back to the blind masseuse for another massage. I wandered around a bit, bought a couple books at a used book store, and read a bit more before heading out to the net cafe. I am about to head out to the night bazaar. Then it's back to the hotel to pack up and be ready to go at 8 a.m. tomorrow. I've got the Elephant Nature Park and then a flight down to Bangkok. I'm not sure where I'll be staying yet there, but I'll figure it out when I get there, or on the (long) ride into town. I'm starved now, so adios til next time.
IJW
posted by IJW at 5:26 PM
2 Comments:
Have fun at the elephant nature park, it sounds like a lot of fun. Take lots of pictures if you can. Sounds like you had a better day and night than you have recently; glad you are on the mend... --Nino
Be very careful about the bar fight - do NOT get involved; you never know what it is going to end with. I am happy that you were lucky with getting out with no harm.. Also, the girl herself obviously has some issues. She will do it again next time when you were not there. So, enjoy your vacation and stay out of trouble if you can.
I am glad that you seem to have a good time now.
Love, ...mom
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