Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Hello from the future.

Sawat dee bee mai krap. (I think this means "Happy New Years")

  Tonight was a good night.  I spent the night with a few friends (including Mark from England, who thinks my name is Chris) at a BarBQ.  I spent the hour of midnight at Kata beach watching the fireworks display.  One km to the South is Kata-Noi beack, two km to the North is Karon beach, and all three beaches had firework displays visible from where I was (there were also a few displays inland that I could see).  All in all, a very good night.

  You would think that nearing the end of my of my three week holiday, I would have more to write, but I have little to add.  I have a new Thai nickname; it is "Moo Noi" meaning "Baby Pig."  I am not sure if this is a sign of acceptance or rejection.

  So, with nothing else to add, I wish you all a happy new years.  Bye bye.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Christmas Break Lists

My former roommate Mark taught me the importance of lists.  In his honor, I am going to tell about my break so far using them.

New Thai phrases I've learned:

- "Pom mai ben katoy krab" ("I am not a ladyboy")

- "Nam sapbarot" ("pineapple juice", literally "water pineapple")

- "Mai me arai krab" (meaning "nothing," in response to "what?")

- "Geow pan" ("talk pretty to the ladies" - I think this means I am a flirt, or maybe just polite, I'm not sure.)

Random experiences:

- Spending a few nights at a resort on the beach and falling asleep and waking up to the sound of waves.

- Hearing the song "popcorn" (the one that they used to make us dance to in elementary school) and having the strong urge to dance to it, luckily I resisted.

- Reading too much science fiction and waking up in the middle of the night honestly believing that Earth was under attack by aliens.

- Beginning to see the faces of friends from America in everyone I look at here (this is really weird, I am always double-taking and then realizing that it was not them).

- Being grateful that the baby gecko living in my room does his part to kill the baby ants slowly taking over my room, but wondering why he had to poop on my desk.

- Doing 4 loads of laundry in less than 1 week (as opposed to doing 1 load of laundry in less than 4 weeks).

Places I plan on eating:

- Kata Mama's (Check, I had cow pad moo sapbarot kei (pork fried rice with pineapple and eggs) and a shark steak.)

- Linda's

- The Yellow Room

- Anchor Inn (Check, I had a ham and cheese sandwich, a hawaiian burger with fries and a chocolate shake.)

- The market (Check, I have had plently of market foods, including sticky rice, spring rolls, beef jerky, banana pancakes and roast pork.

- AJ's Bar and Bistro (Check, the Canadian breakfast includes french toast, pineapple, American-style bacon, eggs and orange juice.)

- Blue Roof

- Meeting Place Number 5

- (Other possible restaurants to include a good steak diner, a Hawaiian pizza and something Mexican.)

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Two small things.

I went to a new market today.  I saw moniter lizard (meat) for sale.  It was right next to the skinned frogs and fried rats.  I've seen the frogs and rats before, so that wasn't that weird, but the moniter lizard threw me off a little.

Also, while I was riding home, I tree frog jumped on my sandle and then climbed up on my bike for a while as I rode.  It was interesting.

Anyways, things here are a lot of work but Christmas break is approaching.  Soon I will be able to sleep and relax.