A few days ago, one of my wonderful and brilliant friends (Jenna) put up a post on Facebook, that read, as follows:
"What did you do, create, or make last year that you're proud of? I want to hear some of your reflections from 2018! Perfect time to review before moving forward in the new year."
I thought about it for a minute, and started to write a quick response. Before I knew it, I had a whole list of things that I had certainly thought about seriously before, but hadn't ever really put together into a comprehensive list of just how much my life has changed, and how much *I* have changed, in the past 2-and-a-bit years.
I say two years, and not one, because, in truth, the foundations of much of what I achieved this year were laid in the previous year-and-a-bit. Moving back home to South Africa 27 months ago has been FUNDAMENTAL to my personal growth.
I never really knew why I was moving back. I didn't really have a plan (surprise, surprise. This IS me, after all. Ha!). I only knew that my time in Taiwan had reached a point where I was beginning to stagnate. The lessons that I had needed to learn, the experiences that I had needed to have, the people that I had needed to encounter... I felt like I had achieved all of the goals that were required of me in that phase of my life. And so it was time to move on.
But where to from there?
Instead of opting to head to a new and exciting location, instead of pursuing a job in an international school in an exotic location which I had not lived in before, I chose to go home. ("Home". Sigh. Where is "Home", anyway? I've always found that to be a terribly difficult question to answer, having been born in one place, then growing up in another, born to parents who were from two entirely different places to either of the ones I'd lived in, but whose identities were closely tied to their own countries of origin... What a mish-mash of identities to traverse... )
I chose to go to a place that I knew, a place that I was familiar with. So I returned to my African roots, to fulfil the next chapter that I was being drawn towards.
In retrospect, I now understand why I did it.
In a message recently, I wrote:
"I've really grown and learned SO MUCH in these last two years. I feel like THAT'S why I was driven to come home for a while: to focus on ME.
If I'd gone to a new country, I'd be expending all of my energy on getting to know how things work, making new friends, learning the language... all outer things.
But being home, I already knew all of that, and had all my networks and routines set, so I could turn my energy inwards, and actually start to learn about ME.
It hasn't always been good - in fact it was fucking awful for quite a while in the beginning! - but now that I'm on the other side of it all, WOW."
In the time since I moved back to South Africa, I've found ME again.
I say "again", but even that's not entirely accurate.
I discovered myself in ways that I was not aware of before. I didn't really KNOW the inner me. I'd spent my whole life perfecting the persona - as we all do. I'd worked so hard on the image of ME that I wanted to present to the world, that I dismissed the parts of me that didn't fit in neatly with the persona. The soft parts, the sad parts, the tender parts. The parts we bury deep down inside. The parts we wish weren't there.
But they ARE there. And the pressure to keep them buried is what creates so much turmoil and conflict within us... until we learn to forgive ourselves. Until we learn to embrace it ALL, to revel in the lessons that our soul has sought out, and to trust the path that we're on as being exactly the right path.
In answer to my friend's post, about the achievements of 2018, I wrote the following:
*I attended - and completed a diploma in - a year-long set of workshops on how to teach using the Reggio Emilio approach, which is INCREDIBLE. ❤
*I continued working on myself and healing myself with the help of a phenomenal therapist, and feel like a completely different person now - whole and calm and centred and truly at peace.
*I started immersing myself in the world of plant medicine, attended several retreats, went to an incredible series of chakra workshops, and am discovering my own spirituality and connecting with my soul in ways that I never even imagined I could do before.
*I'm in a healthy, positive, beautiful relationship, completely devoid of angst.
*I learnt how to be brave enough to let go of toxic people and relationships, which created a space for many new and beautiful and wholesome ones instead.
*I got to reconnect with my brother and build a friendship with him in a way that we never had before.
*I taught a class of beautiful children, and loved them, and sent them off into their educational futures with strength, knowledge, confidence, and a sense of awe and magic about the world around them.
*I learnt that what other people think of me is none of my business... it's THEIR stuff, THEIR ugliness, THEIR damage, theirs to heal - both in a professional and a social environment. As long as I live my life and conduct myself with kindness, honesty, and integrity - I'm on the right path. ❤"
As I prepare to say goodbye to South Africa exactly 9 days from now, and embark upon yet another adventure, I am filled with gratitude as I reflect on this most recent chapter of my life. It hasn't always been easy - in fact it was downright crushing at times! - but I am SO incredibly grateful for where I find myself today.
Again, the future is a great big mystery. (Isn't it ALWAYS, though?!) But I've been learning to live in the moment. To quiet the noise. To trust in the journey.
My soul's got this.
I am at peace. ❤
Wishing you all a big, beautiful, enriching and joyous 2019.
With ALL MY LOVE.
xxx
Monday, December 31, 2018
Monday, October 1, 2018
To love/ In Love/ On Love ❤
I didn't know it at the time, but exactly one year ago today, I did something that would change my life immeasurably:
I went out for sushi on a sunny Sunday in S.A...
...
I'd known Shaun for about 8 years, in passing.
In
my extended circle of party friends, he had always just been known to all of us girls as "Dean's hot younger brother", whom we'd bump into sometimes when we were out. Whenever I'd come home over the
years, for a visit from Asia, I'd come across him out on the town. And he
WAS hot, and charming, and incredibly sexy!
But he was also 10 years younger than me.
Which
- while he was in his twenties and I was in my thirties - was a
veritable lifetime of experiences and understandings apart.
So we'd say "Hi", smile, flirt-with-our-eyes, and then go our separate ways.
Then
two years ago, I moved back home to Africa, and realized that a lot of
my friends had settled down, and slowed down, and yet, here I was: still wanting to go out dancing. I missed the joy
and exuberance that only dancing can bring... the freedom and wild
abandon to an internal calling of the soul...
I needed a Party Buddy!
Thanks
to the magic of Facebook, I started to notice that Shaun was out often,
at music festivals, on a dancefloor somewhere - always smiling in the
sunshine, always looking like he was having the greatest time - THAT'S
the kind of energy I wanted to be around!
We
made plans to meet up at the Earthdance Festival, but I got sick that
weekend and had to bow out. A week later he messaged me about a
drum-'n-bass party in town, but I woke up from a delicious afternoon nap
at around 7 p.m that Saturday night to a gorgeous thunderstorm raging
outside, and decided that I'd much rather stay in bed and watch it exploding
outside my bedroom window - beautiful and wild and dramatic and
powerful...
To make up
for cancelling twice, though, I suggested we go out for lunch instead.
Shaun said he'd probably be ravenous after dancing all night long, so we
made loose plans to meet up the following day.
In truth, I was fully prepared to not hear from him at all on Sunday. I
knew that he'd been out on the town for a final Johannesburg hurrah with one
of his best mates who was moving overseas. I knew that he was an
irrepressible hooligan, I knew he'd have had a raucously good time at
the party, and I was half-ready for him to cancel on ME this time, and
for us to simply keep trying and meet up again sometime in the
indefinite future, on a dancefloor somewhere. No stress, no pressure,
no obligation. Casual.
Instead,
I found myself driving to a quaint little spot not far from my place to
meet someone for lunch whom I'd known for years, but barely really knew
AT ALL. I distinctly remember driving there and
thinking "What on EARTH are we going to talk about?! I barely know this
person! It's one thing to meet up on a loud and chaotic dancefloor and
share some laughs and good times, but to actually sit through a whole meal and make conversation?!
With a veritable stranger?! Uggggghhhhhh, what was I thinking?!"
(It
is relevant to note here that I was COMPLETELY disinterested in the
whole world of dating at this stage. Relationships were not even a blip on my future horizon, superfluous to the happiness of My Future Self.
After a series of heartbreaks over the past 20 years - each one more
dramatic and devastating and destructive than the one before - I
finally got myself the help that I needed. I began to see the
patterns... to recognize my mistakes... to understand the choices that I'd
been making, and the reasons for why I'd been making them, and how to
stop making them... and began to work on fixing the "hole in my soul",
as my therapist called it.
So by the time I went
out for that lunch, I was feeling WHOLE, and happy, and centred. For
several months now, I'd been celebrating the power of Me. I was excited
about my OWN future, about the path that lay before ME, about all of the
adventures that I was going to take MYSELF on.)
But
my concerns were quickly allayed. Lunch was easy. We chatted, we
laughed. We enjoyed each other's company, and conversation flowed
effortlessly. Before we knew it, almost 4 hours had passed, and the
restaurant was closing for Sunday evening. Shaun
walked me to my car, and in true swoon-worthy fashion, gave me a kiss
that I could not stop thinking about all the way home! Yum!!!
And it all started from there, really...
For
the next few months, we began to date "casually". We'd see each other
once a week, laugh and enjoy each other's company, and then go back to
our regular lives.
Early on, I gave him the "I'm
not interested in any kind of relationship" speech, and he expressed
relief, because neither was he. We both had plans for ourselves for the
year ahead, we both had things we wanted to do, and we both did not want
the pressure of any kind of commitment to cloud the horizon.
But life's funny like that.
Before
we knew it, our weekly meet-ups became the highlight of the whole week.
Seeing each other was the best part of any week, and the time we spent
together became more and more magical and sparkly and beautiful! We
recognized what was happening, spoke about it openly, and just agreed to
let things unfold as they will. No stress, no pressure, whatever
happens, happens. Easy-breezy.
It's been a year now. I can't remember ever being happier than I am in this very moment.
Don't
get me wrong: outside of me, it's all still completely topsy-turvy. My
life is wildly uncertain, I've no idea what I'll even be doing next
year, or where I'll be living, but none of that scares me anymore. I
have no control over anything. And I'm okay with that.
What
I DO have is an incredible amount of joy in my life, and a magical
human being who reciprocates and mirrors and returns that joy tenfold.
I
find myself in a relationship unlike any other that I've ever been in
before. There is no stress, no anxiety, no doubt, or confusion, or
feelings of insecurity or unease. We talk
honestly about whatever comes up. We recognize our own mistakes, and
apologize for them. We work on being better people, better lovers,
better friends - constantly. We laugh A LOT. We appreciate each other.
We have never had a fight. We don't raise our voices. We don't need to.
This
is all still very new for BOTH of us. We are remarkably similar in many
ways - not least of which, in how we love. This new absence of
volatility in a relationship, this lack of emotional turmoil - it's
still something which we're both quite stunned by.
We are kind to each other. We respect and value and esteem each other.
He
really is my best friend. I know I'm his. I've never had that in a
relationship before. I never even knew it could be like this.
So here's to this past year!
Here's to all of the love and joy and goodness that came at me from out of NOWHERE!
Here's to love!
To MY love:
Happy Anniversary, FavouritePersonEver!!!
Oct 2017: It all started one Sunday... Our very first date. :)
Jan 2018: New Year's Day at the Revolution Music Festival
Jan 2018: Sunset Sessions @ Movida
Feb 2018: Sunday lunch with friends
March 2018: Dinner at Shaun's brother and sister-in-law's
Apr 2018: 6-month Anniversary at the same place (and same table!) where we'd had our 1st date
Apr 2018: Passover at my brother and sister-in-law's
May 2018: Mother's Day at Shaun's parents' farm
June 2018: A quiet Saturday night in
July 2018: My birthday weekend away, in the Magaliesberg
Aug 2018: Flying down to Durban for the weekend
Sept 2018: Charles and Kym's wedding
Sunday, September 24, 2017
One Year, and Yet So Far...
September 22nd, 2017
Today marks a year.
A year since I left the continent which I called home for
over a decade.
(Asia? I mean – Asia?! Who woulda thunk?! Certainly not me!)
(Asia? I mean – Asia?! Who woulda thunk?! Certainly not me!)
A year since I returned home, to Africa.
(Home. What a strange concept that is. “Home”. What is home, really?! I wasn’t born here, my family doesn’t live here, I feel as comfortable here as I have in several other places in my life… Hmmm. Philosophical ramblings for another time.)
(Home. What a strange concept that is. “Home”. What is home, really?! I wasn’t born here, my family doesn’t live here, I feel as comfortable here as I have in several other places in my life… Hmmm. Philosophical ramblings for another time.)
But here we are. Back in South Africa. And what a wild and
wonderful roller-coaster it’s been!!! I came back without any idea of what I
was going to do. I was jobless, homeless, directionless… I simply believed that it
was the next step for me to take in my life. That I had enjoyed all of the goodness
that my Asian Adventure had had to offer, and that it was, once again, time to leap towards the next chapter. So I leapt! And that brought me here.
For now...
For now...
Who knows where the next step will lead?!
I was SO fortunate (once again). I moved in with my brother
and soon-to-be sister-in-law for a few months, so I had a home base. I applied
for a fair amount of jobs in my first month here, and after about a month, got
3 offers in a week (2 teaching jobs, and one with the film production company I had
worked for briefly before I left the country.) I found a car, I found a place,
I met someone lovely, with whom I shared many magical moments (and some
not-so-magical ones), until we parted ways – realizing that it was exactly what we
both needed and craved at a certain time in our lives, but that life goes on,
and relationships evolve, and paths diverge…
And suddenly I was living in my very own little house, driving my
very own little car, to my very own little kindergarten teaching job, and falling
into patterns of life that were so new to me, and yet all-too familiar.
I love being back here. It feels SO right – for right now.
It hasn’t always been easy.
In fact, it was devastatingly,
soul-crushingly, agonisingly difficult for a long time in the beginning. The sheer JOY of
the warmth of being back with old friends who’ve known me for such a long time,
was juxtaposed against the dawning realization that my life seems to have been
placed on 'Pause' for a long while. It felt (feels) a bit like I just stepped out
of a cryogenic freeze, and everyone’s lives have gone on, whereas mine is not
all that different from when I left 12 years ago. I still live on my own, do as I please, eat whatever and whenever it suits me, hang out with friends a lot, spend days holed
up in bed if that’s what I feel like doing… I don't have a partner, I don't have children, I don't really have any formal obligations towards other people (as one does when part of a household), I'm free of debt, and still remarkably untethered to anything - unlike just about everyone else is, here.
It’s difficult to connect on a
fundamental level with those who haven’t shared the experience of being away
for a long time. It often feels more like being an observer of life, always on the
outside, looking in through a glass pane… there, but not quite there.
While everyone here has been really busy growing up – buying houses, building up careers and/or companies, starting families, setting up mortgages/ pension plans/ provident funds, “achieving!”, “succeeding!”… I’ve been living in Never Land with all the other Lost Boys and Lost Girls.
Except – we aren’t lost. We never were! We just chose to
forge a different path. One free of the shackles of everyday stresses and
strains, devoid of the constant tension and anxiety that the rat-race forces
one into. I like to think that this mentality still informs how I live my
life here, back in the “Real World”.
(Let me be clear here: life as an expat is most certainly
not without stress and anxiety. Particularly in a country which one is so
obviously not from, where it is impossible to physically "blend in". You’re a stranger in a strange land. It feels like home,
but never Home. Your friends are your family. You cling fiercely to your traditions, holidays, customs, to maintain a semblance of connectivity with those whom you’ve left
far away. You spend a lot of time feeling so free and liberated! The rest of
the time, you feel lost, adrift, aimless… )
I adore being back in a country where people celebrate things like National Braai Day, where I engage intellectually with the crazy political climate because it touches me on an emotional level, where I can watch rugby and cricket games in bars with my mates drinking beers and enjoying the sunshine no matter what time of year it is, where I can (and do!) often strike up a warm conversation with just about everyone whom I come across in my everyday life and have a lovely exchange which leaves me smiling on the inside long after it's over, where I can read the labels on different shampoo brands and understand them and determine which one I really need, where clothes actually fit my body size and shape, where I feel somehow connected to the pulse of this vibrant and exciting and dangerous and seductive place - the raw-ness and the real-ness of this city is breathtaking for me, still. I imagine it always will be.
There is a great deal that I miss about Taiwan. Most of all, I miss my Tribe.
There's something about being an expat that drew us all together and tied us inextricably in bonds of family and familiarity. We were a mass - a living, breathing unit of love and oneness.
It's different in S.A. I have phenomenal friends here too, from different times in my life. Many, and varied, and all unique and fascinating and wonderful. But I don't have a "clan", so to speak. And I think that THAT'S what all of us miss when we leave Taiwan.
You go back to being on your own, where once you were part of a protective collective.
You go back to being on your own, where once you were part of a protective collective.
Coming back in the year that I turned 40 was also a big deal. I
had goals in my head that I thought I would have lived up to by now. I thought
I would have had the TV-sitcom family life by now. Settled, with a loving and
lovely husband, beautiful and adorable kids, a puppy, a station-wagon, a big
sunny kitchen in which we all ate breakfast together… Hashtag: life goals.
It has taken me several months of processing and working
through things, reading a lot, speaking to loving and wise and accepting and
inspiring people, challenging and questioning myself; to come to a point where
I can truly say that I am CONTENT. I am grateful. For it all. I accept my path.
Not in a quiet sort of acquiescence or resignation – no! I embrace it. I
cherish it. I SEE the magical life that I have lived, and continue to live. I
love the path that I have trodden to get to where I am now. I’m no longer stuck
in a loop in my head of worrying and trying to control or direct my life. I
surrender to the flow.
This has been such a fundamental year. So important, in so
many ways.
I did it MY way. And I shall continue to do so.
Peace and love, beautiful friends. Always. xxx
Last night out in Taipei, dinner at the Yi Bai Kwai on Le Li Lu
My surprise Farewell Party. Because My TaiwanTribe is magical.
My surprise Farewell Party. Because My TaiwanTribe is magical.
Asia, to Africa. BOOM.
This is how it feels to be HOME.
Only in Africa. My soul is nourished in this place. It glows, it is warm, it pulses and radiates.
Saturday, January 18, 2014
Thailand Holiday Diaries: Day 6 (Final)
(Friday, January 17th, 2014)
Sawadee kah! Hello from Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport! Soon to be “Ni hau!”
I’m comin’ HOME, baybeh!
So, as half-expected, the simple hotel->boat->bus->hotel transfer guaranteed the day before, was neither simple nor a transfer. BIG surprise. Yesterday consisted of trudging down the hill to the shore (past the stationary tractor-with-carriage which I had so optimistically assumed might actually drive us to the boat), laden with bags and packs – through the muddy swamps, into knee-high water, and gracelessly plopping into the longtail boat. As I watched the island receding in the distance, I was once again stunned by the sheer beauty of it all. I could wax poetic for pages and pages about the colour of the water, the streaked limestone cliffs, overgrown in parts with lush green thick trees, but I’ll let these pictures speak for themselves.
View of Railay from the boat
View of Railay from the boat
Thailand is BEAUTIFUL. Even with all of the over-tourism and craziness that exists. But I’d be lying if I didn’t say that the level of commercial tourism is both disturbing and saddening. I watched it happen in Boracay before my very eyes, and it’s well on its way in this South East Asian island nation too. Huge resorts are going up all over the place, obscuring the tree-line, diluting the cultural uniqueness, and destroying the lush beauty. The shoreline is littered with cigarette butts and plastic wrappers – there’s even a bloody shooting range in Railay! WHAT. THE $%^ ??? WHY?!?! Le sigh.
We humans seriously need to wake up.
...
Anyway, so there I was, 20 minutes later, trying to manoeuvre my way back off the boat again, down the little ladder on the side, backpack-sidebag-frontpack ON! On the shore, several Thai people waited, all in different uniforms, clearly having been sent by various hotels, tour companies, and so forth. I showed my ticket to someone, and waited and watched the confusion mount as they all passed it back and forth amongst themselves, yelling things in Thai, pointing, correcting each other on the name of the hostel as printed on the ticket, gesticulating, looking around. None of this neither surprised nor perturbed me. Anyone who has ever travelled in the developing world will know: par for the course. Eventually a man directed me towards his minivan (with another couple) and started FLYING down the road like a lunatic. Again – pretty standard. Only two driving speeds exist in Asia: either speeding like a maniac, or driving slowly enough to drive Miss Daisy.
Turns out the other couple in the van were headed to the airport, so when the driver got to town and randomly stopped, depositing me on the side of the main road and telling me we were there, I was on my own. He pointed down a side-street and shouted “Guesthouse! Guesthouse!”, then hustled me out of his van before speeding off again. So I walked down the side-street…
… and found myself nowhere where I needed to be. Turns out (again – no surprises) that there is more than one guesthouse with that name. FARKING HELL. The woman behind the counter at this rumbledown, nasty-green hovel told me in thickly accented shrieks as I walked towards her “Me no English! Me no English!” Of COURSE not! We communicated through a series of grunts, gesticulations and speaking to each other in our own languages - which meant absolutely nothing to the other, smiles, and embarrassed-yet-somehow-we're-in-this-together laughter. She really wanted to help me, sweet thing. She pointed to her phone and tried to give it to me, saying “You call! You call!” but as I mentioned yesterday, I don’t have a number for my hostel because Agoda doesn’t provide it, lest you book it directly with the hostel and screw them out of their commission, no doubt. Eventually she called her friend, who spoke a bit of English, and him and I worked out where I should be but wasn’t, and he spoke to her again, got her to call me a taxi, and I was duly deposited at my rightful spot.
Anyway, the new place was LOVELY, and clean, and felt like my own bedroom. I showered, had some lunch, and after verifying with the hostel owner that there weren’t really any not-to-be-missed sights in town, I was more than happy to go lie down on my new soft, super comfy, bed and watch some TV for the rest of the day. Which was really quite a rare treat as well, seeing as the last time I watched TV was… I don’t even remember when.
In the evening I walked down along the river’s edge to the local Krabi Night Market, and was absolutely THRILLED to catch my first moonrise in YEARS!!! Moonrises are AMAZING!!! I didn’t even know they existed until about 5 years ago! (Don’t judge me, I’m a city girl.) Anyway, no sooner had I set out on my walk than lo and behold: a bright orange orb rising up above the water, just on the other side of the river! (I remember the first time I ever saw the phenomenon. I was watching the sun set on Koh Samui, and it had just gone down – the sky dark and full – when suddenly it started to come back up again!!! Whaaaaaaaaaat was happening?! I thought it was the end of days for a second! Until the guy sitting next to me on the beach, who’d probably heard me gasp audibly, told me what it was. And then I thought it was the best thing I’d ever seen!)
I love watching the moon go from a huge orange ball on the horizon, to a smaller yellow one as it rises, and then even smaller white as it keeps rising in the sky. It’s SUCH a beautiful sight to behold.
Holiday: MADE. This was the bright, shiny, glorious cherry on top!
Full moon over the river. Moonlight and magic. Ah!
So yup, that’s it.
Woke up early this morning to get on a domestic flight to Bangkok, caught the shuttle bus to the bigger international airport, and am now entertaining myself on my 7 hour layover thanks to my iPod that sends sweet sounds into my ears. Have been thinking about this year ahead and am feeling VERY motivated for it - which is a GREAT sign. WHOOP WHOOP!!!
I am absolutely determined to learn conversational Mandarin this year. The fact that I bumble along as I do after all of these years is, quite frankly: bullshit. No more, no less. I also have an apartment-hunt to kick off, as the manfriend and I will be moving in together once my lease runs out in March. So – YAY! Then I want to look into the Masters programme which I intended to start last year but postponed due to my dad’s illness. I also want to travel more within Taiwan – research the options and explore the country more, spend my weekends more wisely. (Not all of them. A lot of them will still be spent doing delicious NOTHING. Ha!) And more exercise. And just generally being a happier, nicer, more patient person. I’m excited. It looks to be a big, beautiful, rose-coloured year ahead!!!
See you soon, Taiwan!!! :) xxxxx
Sawadee kah! Hello from Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport! Soon to be “Ni hau!”
I’m comin’ HOME, baybeh!
So, as half-expected, the simple hotel->boat->bus->hotel transfer guaranteed the day before, was neither simple nor a transfer. BIG surprise. Yesterday consisted of trudging down the hill to the shore (past the stationary tractor-with-carriage which I had so optimistically assumed might actually drive us to the boat), laden with bags and packs – through the muddy swamps, into knee-high water, and gracelessly plopping into the longtail boat. As I watched the island receding in the distance, I was once again stunned by the sheer beauty of it all. I could wax poetic for pages and pages about the colour of the water, the streaked limestone cliffs, overgrown in parts with lush green thick trees, but I’ll let these pictures speak for themselves.
Thailand is BEAUTIFUL. Even with all of the over-tourism and craziness that exists. But I’d be lying if I didn’t say that the level of commercial tourism is both disturbing and saddening. I watched it happen in Boracay before my very eyes, and it’s well on its way in this South East Asian island nation too. Huge resorts are going up all over the place, obscuring the tree-line, diluting the cultural uniqueness, and destroying the lush beauty. The shoreline is littered with cigarette butts and plastic wrappers – there’s even a bloody shooting range in Railay! WHAT. THE $%^ ??? WHY?!?! Le sigh.
We humans seriously need to wake up.
...
Anyway, so there I was, 20 minutes later, trying to manoeuvre my way back off the boat again, down the little ladder on the side, backpack-sidebag-frontpack ON! On the shore, several Thai people waited, all in different uniforms, clearly having been sent by various hotels, tour companies, and so forth. I showed my ticket to someone, and waited and watched the confusion mount as they all passed it back and forth amongst themselves, yelling things in Thai, pointing, correcting each other on the name of the hostel as printed on the ticket, gesticulating, looking around. None of this neither surprised nor perturbed me. Anyone who has ever travelled in the developing world will know: par for the course. Eventually a man directed me towards his minivan (with another couple) and started FLYING down the road like a lunatic. Again – pretty standard. Only two driving speeds exist in Asia: either speeding like a maniac, or driving slowly enough to drive Miss Daisy.
Turns out the other couple in the van were headed to the airport, so when the driver got to town and randomly stopped, depositing me on the side of the main road and telling me we were there, I was on my own. He pointed down a side-street and shouted “Guesthouse! Guesthouse!”, then hustled me out of his van before speeding off again. So I walked down the side-street…
… and found myself nowhere where I needed to be. Turns out (again – no surprises) that there is more than one guesthouse with that name. FARKING HELL. The woman behind the counter at this rumbledown, nasty-green hovel told me in thickly accented shrieks as I walked towards her “Me no English! Me no English!” Of COURSE not! We communicated through a series of grunts, gesticulations and speaking to each other in our own languages - which meant absolutely nothing to the other, smiles, and embarrassed-yet-somehow-we're-in-this-together laughter. She really wanted to help me, sweet thing. She pointed to her phone and tried to give it to me, saying “You call! You call!” but as I mentioned yesterday, I don’t have a number for my hostel because Agoda doesn’t provide it, lest you book it directly with the hostel and screw them out of their commission, no doubt. Eventually she called her friend, who spoke a bit of English, and him and I worked out where I should be but wasn’t, and he spoke to her again, got her to call me a taxi, and I was duly deposited at my rightful spot.
Anyway, the new place was LOVELY, and clean, and felt like my own bedroom. I showered, had some lunch, and after verifying with the hostel owner that there weren’t really any not-to-be-missed sights in town, I was more than happy to go lie down on my new soft, super comfy, bed and watch some TV for the rest of the day. Which was really quite a rare treat as well, seeing as the last time I watched TV was… I don’t even remember when.
In the evening I walked down along the river’s edge to the local Krabi Night Market, and was absolutely THRILLED to catch my first moonrise in YEARS!!! Moonrises are AMAZING!!! I didn’t even know they existed until about 5 years ago! (Don’t judge me, I’m a city girl.) Anyway, no sooner had I set out on my walk than lo and behold: a bright orange orb rising up above the water, just on the other side of the river! (I remember the first time I ever saw the phenomenon. I was watching the sun set on Koh Samui, and it had just gone down – the sky dark and full – when suddenly it started to come back up again!!! Whaaaaaaaaaat was happening?! I thought it was the end of days for a second! Until the guy sitting next to me on the beach, who’d probably heard me gasp audibly, told me what it was. And then I thought it was the best thing I’d ever seen!)
I love watching the moon go from a huge orange ball on the horizon, to a smaller yellow one as it rises, and then even smaller white as it keeps rising in the sky. It’s SUCH a beautiful sight to behold.
Holiday: MADE. This was the bright, shiny, glorious cherry on top!
So yup, that’s it.
Woke up early this morning to get on a domestic flight to Bangkok, caught the shuttle bus to the bigger international airport, and am now entertaining myself on my 7 hour layover thanks to my iPod that sends sweet sounds into my ears. Have been thinking about this year ahead and am feeling VERY motivated for it - which is a GREAT sign. WHOOP WHOOP!!!
I am absolutely determined to learn conversational Mandarin this year. The fact that I bumble along as I do after all of these years is, quite frankly: bullshit. No more, no less. I also have an apartment-hunt to kick off, as the manfriend and I will be moving in together once my lease runs out in March. So – YAY! Then I want to look into the Masters programme which I intended to start last year but postponed due to my dad’s illness. I also want to travel more within Taiwan – research the options and explore the country more, spend my weekends more wisely. (Not all of them. A lot of them will still be spent doing delicious NOTHING. Ha!) And more exercise. And just generally being a happier, nicer, more patient person. I’m excited. It looks to be a big, beautiful, rose-coloured year ahead!!!
See you soon, Taiwan!!! :) xxxxx
Friday, January 17, 2014
Thailand Holiday Diaries: Day 5
(Wednesday, January 15th, 2014)
That's it!!! My last day in Railay! And thanks to the banging and clanging coming from the staff quarters of the hotel across the way (which is about 10 metres from my room, apparently) preparing for their morning shift at daybreak - I was up in time!
I rushed down to the water's edge to a still-dark sky, a thin line of light barely visible on the horizon. As the sky started to get gradually lighter, I actually thought I'd missed the sunrise again, and that it had gone behind the clouds already. So I just waited, and watched the world light up around me instead. It seems absurd to describe it in colours like "pinks", "oranges", "yellows". It's so much more nuanced than than, soft glows, in different hues, melding into and out of each other...
To my sheer delight, after breathing in the new day for a few minutes, I suddenly saw a bright orange orb begin to escape the line of candy-pastel hues on the horizon! HELLO SUN!!!
Daybreak behind the mangrove trees
I stared until the sun had risen and was floating free, and then crossed over to the other beach to really enjoy some time on it before it filled up with tourists. The colours are so spectacular in the early morning light - the blues are startling shades of turquoise and sapphire and aquamarine, the greens are all bright and bold and rich and somehow... glowing. I found a plastic bag again, and went about collecting the trash left on the beach from the previous day once again. This time I was on my own, except for a few joggers who ran past me in the early morning coolness. (I will never understand jogging. How is that "fun" for anyone?! So bizarre. Bless their crazy little hearts!)
After walking the entire length of the cove, I came back to my hotel, feasted on fresh watermelon and pineapple and set about planning my departure the next day. I fly from Krabi to Bangkok the day after tomorrow, early in the morning. So I need to spend the night in Krabi tomorrow in order to get to the airport on time for my flight. I found a guest house which I booked online, but because I booked it through a website I have no contact email or phone number for them, so I can't just call them and say "Hi! I'm coming! Please come get me!". Things are a little more complicated in Thailand. Although the longtail boats run basically every hour, that will only get me as far as the pier. And then what? Will there be taxis there? Will there be a bus? How do I even tell them where to take me, if I DO find someone? I've learned that having addresses written down in English is almost of no help at all in Asia - this is true for any place that uses a different writing system. Soooooo... the tour booking agent in my hotel says she can help me. "Be here at 9 a.m," she said, pointing to a big tractor with a long wagon attached. I am DELIGHTED. I hope this means that I don't have to wade through nasty mangrove-swamp mudwater with my 20kg backpack, my 5 kg frontpack and my 7 kg shoulderbag tomorrow - and that the tractor will take me all the way out to the boat instead, as I've seen them do. BUT - this is Asia. And you NEVER KNOW. So we'll see. She also wrote down the name of my hostel on the ticket which she sold me, and said there'd be a bus waiting at the pier to take me to my hostel as soon as we get to Krabi. I wait with bated breath.
Once again, I hung out on the beach for most of the day. I'm reading "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" by John Beredt right now, which is a GORGEOUS book, and one I've been meaning to read for ages. But I found it hard to focus today, my thoughts invariably wandering to the fact that it's my last day in Railay.
It certainly hasn't been long enough, let me be perfectly honest about that right now.
Now: I KNOW how lucky I am to even get this time. And I have been soaking it in in its entirety, I assure you. But I feel like holidays run a natural course, usually: The first few days you're still very much stuck in your "real life" mindset - aware of time, planning ahead, go-go-going, not quite at ease. Then as time wears on, people fall into that delicious space which we call "holiday mode". You stop caring about eating regularly, and just feed yourself when you're hungry, you forget about time and just wake up when you like, go to the beach when you like, sleep when you like, do whatever-whenever-however you like. Which is LOVELY. People think it's the peak of the trip, the apex - but it isn't. Once you've been in this zone for a few days, you start to come back down to reality again. You're still in holiday-mode, but you have time to reflect on your life - on all of its facets and nuances and questions and challenges - without it stressing you out. Your mind is clear, you see the angles differently. And then finally you get to that point where my brother and his girlfriend were at when I met them in Bangkok just before the Job Fair. We had 3 days together at the tail-end of their Thailand getaway. After two and a half weeks on the islands, they were both happy, relaxed, and excited to go back home again and kickstart their new year plans into action. And I think THAT'S the best place to be. When you are EXCITED to leave behind the beautiful beaches and get back to your everyday life. THAT'S the ideal.
I feel like I ALMOST got there. I am certainly happier than I was when I left, certainly more relaxed, and certainly grateful that I got to take this time off at all. But I also feel like I fast-forwarded through it all a bit, and if I had the choice, I'd easily spend another week doing nothing but reading on the beach, eating, sleeping, watching sunrises and sunsets...
Then again - I could probably spend another MONTH doing this, really. Or even a year. Sooooooo... NEVERMIND. ;)
OOH! I can tell time using only the sun now! TA DA!!!!!! Of course, so far this special gift has only revealed itself to be true for Railay... but ya never kno-how! I know where the sun is in the sky at different hours in the day. I remember some of my friends in Boracay could do this (I'm looking at you here, Tito Pablito and Chef De Partay!) and I always thought it was amazing. Now I realize that the reason it amazed me was because I was always indoors teaching and didn't take enough time to just watch the sun move through the sky. You live, you learn. I certainly do. There's so much I don't know. I find it thrilling. And exciting. What an INCREDIBLE world we live in!!!!!!!
Speaking of our incredible world, another thing I've really loved is being "in nature" again. Big City Livin' in Taipei has so many benefits that there's no point even starting to list them all here - it's no secret that I ADORE the city, and am so grateful for the life of ease and calm which I lead there. But I grew up a small-town girl in Southern Africa. I love hearing the birds chirping early in the morning, and the cacophany of different insects in the evening. I get excited by seeing spiders and geckos in my room, squirrels running across the walkway in front of me, monkeys jumping from tree to tree above my head, bats swooping low in the fading twilight. Those little moments have all been huge highlights of my trip, really. There are these tiny little sand-coloured crabs that dig around at the water's edge all day. They make little balls of sand into the most spectacular patterns. I've spent ages just staring at them work industriously. You have to be really still though, as they obviously feel the vibrations of movement, and dart into their little holes in the sand when someone approaches. I even took a video of it, so fascinated was I !
Crab-Art!
So yes - the final Railay sunset tonight, and it was gorgeous. Bright pinks and fuscias - the whole sea was aglow, not just the sky, you could even see the colours bouncing off the rocks of the limestone cliffs! Too stunning! Just a few metres away from me these two young Swedish girls started doing what I later found out is called AcroYoga, which was just spectacular to watch - very uplifting and beautiful! My very own Cirque show, right on the beach! :)
Front-row seats at the most gorgeous open-air theatre in the world. ;)
I think I shall take myself out for another langoustines-and-sweetcorn-on-the-cob BBQ tonight, before I pack my bags and get ready to head on out tomorrow morning.
Adieu, Railay!
My last Railay sunset. What a send-off!
That's it!!! My last day in Railay! And thanks to the banging and clanging coming from the staff quarters of the hotel across the way (which is about 10 metres from my room, apparently) preparing for their morning shift at daybreak - I was up in time!
I rushed down to the water's edge to a still-dark sky, a thin line of light barely visible on the horizon. As the sky started to get gradually lighter, I actually thought I'd missed the sunrise again, and that it had gone behind the clouds already. So I just waited, and watched the world light up around me instead. It seems absurd to describe it in colours like "pinks", "oranges", "yellows". It's so much more nuanced than than, soft glows, in different hues, melding into and out of each other...
To my sheer delight, after breathing in the new day for a few minutes, I suddenly saw a bright orange orb begin to escape the line of candy-pastel hues on the horizon! HELLO SUN!!!
I stared until the sun had risen and was floating free, and then crossed over to the other beach to really enjoy some time on it before it filled up with tourists. The colours are so spectacular in the early morning light - the blues are startling shades of turquoise and sapphire and aquamarine, the greens are all bright and bold and rich and somehow... glowing. I found a plastic bag again, and went about collecting the trash left on the beach from the previous day once again. This time I was on my own, except for a few joggers who ran past me in the early morning coolness. (I will never understand jogging. How is that "fun" for anyone?! So bizarre. Bless their crazy little hearts!)
After walking the entire length of the cove, I came back to my hotel, feasted on fresh watermelon and pineapple and set about planning my departure the next day. I fly from Krabi to Bangkok the day after tomorrow, early in the morning. So I need to spend the night in Krabi tomorrow in order to get to the airport on time for my flight. I found a guest house which I booked online, but because I booked it through a website I have no contact email or phone number for them, so I can't just call them and say "Hi! I'm coming! Please come get me!". Things are a little more complicated in Thailand. Although the longtail boats run basically every hour, that will only get me as far as the pier. And then what? Will there be taxis there? Will there be a bus? How do I even tell them where to take me, if I DO find someone? I've learned that having addresses written down in English is almost of no help at all in Asia - this is true for any place that uses a different writing system. Soooooo... the tour booking agent in my hotel says she can help me. "Be here at 9 a.m," she said, pointing to a big tractor with a long wagon attached. I am DELIGHTED. I hope this means that I don't have to wade through nasty mangrove-swamp mudwater with my 20kg backpack, my 5 kg frontpack and my 7 kg shoulderbag tomorrow - and that the tractor will take me all the way out to the boat instead, as I've seen them do. BUT - this is Asia. And you NEVER KNOW. So we'll see. She also wrote down the name of my hostel on the ticket which she sold me, and said there'd be a bus waiting at the pier to take me to my hostel as soon as we get to Krabi. I wait with bated breath.
Once again, I hung out on the beach for most of the day. I'm reading "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" by John Beredt right now, which is a GORGEOUS book, and one I've been meaning to read for ages. But I found it hard to focus today, my thoughts invariably wandering to the fact that it's my last day in Railay.
It certainly hasn't been long enough, let me be perfectly honest about that right now.
Now: I KNOW how lucky I am to even get this time. And I have been soaking it in in its entirety, I assure you. But I feel like holidays run a natural course, usually: The first few days you're still very much stuck in your "real life" mindset - aware of time, planning ahead, go-go-going, not quite at ease. Then as time wears on, people fall into that delicious space which we call "holiday mode". You stop caring about eating regularly, and just feed yourself when you're hungry, you forget about time and just wake up when you like, go to the beach when you like, sleep when you like, do whatever-whenever-however you like. Which is LOVELY. People think it's the peak of the trip, the apex - but it isn't. Once you've been in this zone for a few days, you start to come back down to reality again. You're still in holiday-mode, but you have time to reflect on your life - on all of its facets and nuances and questions and challenges - without it stressing you out. Your mind is clear, you see the angles differently. And then finally you get to that point where my brother and his girlfriend were at when I met them in Bangkok just before the Job Fair. We had 3 days together at the tail-end of their Thailand getaway. After two and a half weeks on the islands, they were both happy, relaxed, and excited to go back home again and kickstart their new year plans into action. And I think THAT'S the best place to be. When you are EXCITED to leave behind the beautiful beaches and get back to your everyday life. THAT'S the ideal.
I feel like I ALMOST got there. I am certainly happier than I was when I left, certainly more relaxed, and certainly grateful that I got to take this time off at all. But I also feel like I fast-forwarded through it all a bit, and if I had the choice, I'd easily spend another week doing nothing but reading on the beach, eating, sleeping, watching sunrises and sunsets...
Then again - I could probably spend another MONTH doing this, really. Or even a year. Sooooooo... NEVERMIND. ;)
OOH! I can tell time using only the sun now! TA DA!!!!!! Of course, so far this special gift has only revealed itself to be true for Railay... but ya never kno-how! I know where the sun is in the sky at different hours in the day. I remember some of my friends in Boracay could do this (I'm looking at you here, Tito Pablito and Chef De Partay!) and I always thought it was amazing. Now I realize that the reason it amazed me was because I was always indoors teaching and didn't take enough time to just watch the sun move through the sky. You live, you learn. I certainly do. There's so much I don't know. I find it thrilling. And exciting. What an INCREDIBLE world we live in!!!!!!!
Speaking of our incredible world, another thing I've really loved is being "in nature" again. Big City Livin' in Taipei has so many benefits that there's no point even starting to list them all here - it's no secret that I ADORE the city, and am so grateful for the life of ease and calm which I lead there. But I grew up a small-town girl in Southern Africa. I love hearing the birds chirping early in the morning, and the cacophany of different insects in the evening. I get excited by seeing spiders and geckos in my room, squirrels running across the walkway in front of me, monkeys jumping from tree to tree above my head, bats swooping low in the fading twilight. Those little moments have all been huge highlights of my trip, really. There are these tiny little sand-coloured crabs that dig around at the water's edge all day. They make little balls of sand into the most spectacular patterns. I've spent ages just staring at them work industriously. You have to be really still though, as they obviously feel the vibrations of movement, and dart into their little holes in the sand when someone approaches. I even took a video of it, so fascinated was I !
So yes - the final Railay sunset tonight, and it was gorgeous. Bright pinks and fuscias - the whole sea was aglow, not just the sky, you could even see the colours bouncing off the rocks of the limestone cliffs! Too stunning! Just a few metres away from me these two young Swedish girls started doing what I later found out is called AcroYoga, which was just spectacular to watch - very uplifting and beautiful! My very own Cirque show, right on the beach! :)
I think I shall take myself out for another langoustines-and-sweetcorn-on-the-cob BBQ tonight, before I pack my bags and get ready to head on out tomorrow morning.
Adieu, Railay!
Thursday, January 16, 2014
Thailand Holiday Diaries: Day 4
(Wednesday, January 15th, 2014)
I believe in signs. I believe that there are both big and small things that we see if we only open our eyes. I love living in a world where some things are inexplicable, where magic exists, where things are both what they appear to be – and more than they appear to be.
Today I had a visitor in my room. I found an itty-bitty little scorpion on the floor. It's amazing that I saw him at all - he was literally the size of my fingernail! So cute!
He didn’t move when I gently nudged him, so I carefully picked him up with a tissue, placed him on the bed, and took loads of photos of him until I got just the right angle, gently manoeuvring him this way and that. When I was done, I put him on a tissue on the counter in order to put him outside. No sooner had I turned around to put down my camera, than my little visitor had disappeared! He’d been pretending all along! I found him not far from the tissue, carefully caught him under a glass, stared with fascination for a few seconds at the movements of his little claws and legs, and his beautiful markings, and then released him into the gardens outside.
The reason for my excitement and sheer DELIGHT at this discovery, other than the fun of being so close to nature again, is simple: my father’s zodiac sign was Scorpio – something of which he was very always very proud. He collected all manner of scorpion memorabilia: key-chains, belt-buckles, necklaces. He got a scorpion henna tattoo on more than one occasion on holiday, and even had a picture of a scorpion on his bedroom door (small wonder I turned out the way I did, with two wildly eccentric parents like I have, come to think of it… )
I like to think it was my dad's way of saying “Hi!”. It made me really happy.
The world is so beautiful if we just remove the layer of cynicism which we’re conditioned to place over it. I think that's why I love teaching preschool so much too – children have such a sense of wonder and awe, they believe in light and magic and goodness. How perfect!
My little telegram from beyond :)
What’s been really interesting for me this holiday is how much I have been dreaming. I almost never remember my dreams in everyday life. I sleep deeply and peacefully, my mind calm (or so I think). Here in Thailand, I have been having incredibly vivid dreams every night. And it’s about things that are realistic, and current. I dream about work, and about changing jobs, I dream about my life and my relationship and my friendships. For the first time in a very, very long, I am being allowed a glimpse into the machinations of my subconscious mind, and it’s quite startling. For one, it’s becoming increasingly apparent to me that I am not completely at peace, even though I dearly wish to be. I need to sort through the gunk and get to a serene space. I am at odds with how I wish to be, and only I can change that. I lack physical stimulation in my life. I need to go back to dancing, perhaps join some yoga classes, or maybe even pick up martial arts again. I miss feeling strong and powerful, I miss feeling like an invincible machine. This will be the year of regaining power – physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually.
IT’S TIME.
Luckily, yesterday’s food poisoning incident seems well and truly behind me, but I was still really careful today and all but skipped both breakfast and lunch (except for some watermelon and pineapple slices in the morning). Today was a GORGEOUS sunny day, and I literally did not move from the beach all day. Finished my second book and started on my third, and spent a lot of time in the water, just staring at the greens and browns and blues around me. I remember when I was little and we’d go on holiday I would always stay in the sea for a-a-a-a-a-a-ges. It was my favourite thing. I used to think that I was a mermaid, and that I’d grown legs because I had been out of the sea for too long, and if I just stayed in the water for long enough... then I’d grow my mermaid tail back again...
My attempt at a selfie.
I finally made a new friend today while waiting for the sunset, which is why I have some pictures of me in Railay, eventually! (My attempts at a selfie had me either cutting out the background, or half of my face. Not ideal.) Caridad is Nicaraguan but she lives in the States, and is celebrating her 1st year anniversary to her Indian husband in Thailand. They were with two Korean girls whom they’d met on the boat coming over, and we started chatting because they were sitting on the sand next to me, and her laugh was so infectious that it made me start laughing too! We had some drinks as we all watched the sunset together, and then I politely declined when they invited me to join them for dinner. I’d had a burger earlier (avoiding Thai food for a day seemed wise) and I’m quite enjoying my solace and solitude, to be perfectly honest.
Tomorrow’s my last day here! I think I may try to catch the sunrise again…
I believe in signs. I believe that there are both big and small things that we see if we only open our eyes. I love living in a world where some things are inexplicable, where magic exists, where things are both what they appear to be – and more than they appear to be.
Today I had a visitor in my room. I found an itty-bitty little scorpion on the floor. It's amazing that I saw him at all - he was literally the size of my fingernail! So cute!
He didn’t move when I gently nudged him, so I carefully picked him up with a tissue, placed him on the bed, and took loads of photos of him until I got just the right angle, gently manoeuvring him this way and that. When I was done, I put him on a tissue on the counter in order to put him outside. No sooner had I turned around to put down my camera, than my little visitor had disappeared! He’d been pretending all along! I found him not far from the tissue, carefully caught him under a glass, stared with fascination for a few seconds at the movements of his little claws and legs, and his beautiful markings, and then released him into the gardens outside.
The reason for my excitement and sheer DELIGHT at this discovery, other than the fun of being so close to nature again, is simple: my father’s zodiac sign was Scorpio – something of which he was very always very proud. He collected all manner of scorpion memorabilia: key-chains, belt-buckles, necklaces. He got a scorpion henna tattoo on more than one occasion on holiday, and even had a picture of a scorpion on his bedroom door (small wonder I turned out the way I did, with two wildly eccentric parents like I have, come to think of it… )
I like to think it was my dad's way of saying “Hi!”. It made me really happy.
The world is so beautiful if we just remove the layer of cynicism which we’re conditioned to place over it. I think that's why I love teaching preschool so much too – children have such a sense of wonder and awe, they believe in light and magic and goodness. How perfect!
What’s been really interesting for me this holiday is how much I have been dreaming. I almost never remember my dreams in everyday life. I sleep deeply and peacefully, my mind calm (or so I think). Here in Thailand, I have been having incredibly vivid dreams every night. And it’s about things that are realistic, and current. I dream about work, and about changing jobs, I dream about my life and my relationship and my friendships. For the first time in a very, very long, I am being allowed a glimpse into the machinations of my subconscious mind, and it’s quite startling. For one, it’s becoming increasingly apparent to me that I am not completely at peace, even though I dearly wish to be. I need to sort through the gunk and get to a serene space. I am at odds with how I wish to be, and only I can change that. I lack physical stimulation in my life. I need to go back to dancing, perhaps join some yoga classes, or maybe even pick up martial arts again. I miss feeling strong and powerful, I miss feeling like an invincible machine. This will be the year of regaining power – physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually.
IT’S TIME.
Luckily, yesterday’s food poisoning incident seems well and truly behind me, but I was still really careful today and all but skipped both breakfast and lunch (except for some watermelon and pineapple slices in the morning). Today was a GORGEOUS sunny day, and I literally did not move from the beach all day. Finished my second book and started on my third, and spent a lot of time in the water, just staring at the greens and browns and blues around me. I remember when I was little and we’d go on holiday I would always stay in the sea for a-a-a-a-a-a-ges. It was my favourite thing. I used to think that I was a mermaid, and that I’d grown legs because I had been out of the sea for too long, and if I just stayed in the water for long enough... then I’d grow my mermaid tail back again...
I finally made a new friend today while waiting for the sunset, which is why I have some pictures of me in Railay, eventually! (My attempts at a selfie had me either cutting out the background, or half of my face. Not ideal.) Caridad is Nicaraguan but she lives in the States, and is celebrating her 1st year anniversary to her Indian husband in Thailand. They were with two Korean girls whom they’d met on the boat coming over, and we started chatting because they were sitting on the sand next to me, and her laugh was so infectious that it made me start laughing too! We had some drinks as we all watched the sunset together, and then I politely declined when they invited me to join them for dinner. I’d had a burger earlier (avoiding Thai food for a day seemed wise) and I’m quite enjoying my solace and solitude, to be perfectly honest.
Tomorrow’s my last day here! I think I may try to catch the sunrise again…
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
Thailand Holiday Diaries: Day 3
(Tuesday, January 15th, 2014)
Lemon-shake. Delicious!
One of my favourite things about holidaying in Thailand is undoubtedly the food. Everything fresh and spicy and lemon-grassy and delicious. I love the crispy salads, the coconut-based curries, the flavoursome soups – just allllllll of it. I find myself having prawn EVERYTHING whenever I’m here. Yum yum yum!
Yesterday I broke with tradition though, and ordered a chicken and coconut soup. And then had my favourite desert ever afterwards: sweet sticky (condensed-milk drenched) rice with mango. Now, I don’t know which of the two it was that didn’t agree with me – but MAN, was yesterday evening not fun.
The scene of the crime: sticky rice with mango and condensed milk
To be fair, the whole day started off lousy. I woke up in a foul mood after being woken up in the middle of the night by about 20 minutes of screaming and shouting of the just-post-teenage-female variety. When I went outside to growl at somebody, I ran into 3 Swedish girls on their way to reception because “There’s a [insert Swedish word for cockroach/ cricket/ centipede/ I have no idea what they were saying, here] in our room!” Ah, Thailand.
Anyway, so I woke up late and headed down to the beach. Given the mood I was already in, when a tiny little Thai lady approached me for a massage on the beach, it was like a gift from the heavens. She guided me to a big sheet laid out in the sand, under the shade of a nearby tree, and started her magic. The yellowtree oil which they use is a great muscle-relaxant, and just generally having a massage while facing the ocean is so blissful, really. Turned my whole morning around.
It was a completely overcast day today, barely any blue in the sky, which is actually ideal for lying on the beach and reading all day. You don’t get too hot and sweaty, and it’s easy to relax. I finished my first book today, and started on my second. The first one was something I found in the hostel reception when I checked in, Ellen Degeneres’s “Seriously… I’m Kidding.” It’s light fluff, to be fair, but perfect beach-reading – and I do think she’s really funny, and astute. I’ve now moved onto a fascinating book called “Running with Scissors” by Augusten Burroughs. It’s bizarre and gripping, and such a great read.
This is exactly what I wanted for this holiday. I realize that this is probably the most anti-social I have ever been in my life, but that’s okay. Normally, I’d be hitting the bars every evening, making friends and hanging out. I’d be going on all manner of snorkeling tour, rock-climbing tour, island-hopping tour – but not this time. Right now I just want some down-time. My plan before this holiday was to “eat, sleep, read, repeat.” So far, so good.
The sunset last night was AMAZING, even though it was so overcast. Crazy pinks coloured the sky, the clouds, the sea. It was just so beautiful. I wish I’d watched more sunsets when I was living in Boracay. Sometimes you get so lost in your life that you don’t literally stop and just look around you. I aim to focus more on that this year: Live in the NOW. Enjoy every little thing!
After the sunset I beat a hasty retreat to my room, and spent the rest of the night hanging over the toilet-bowl. I’ll spare you all the gory details, but clearly something at lunch did NOT agree with me.
I’m writing this the next morning though, and I’ve already had breakfast – all systems back to functioning again.
The beach beckons!!!
Another beautiful Railay sunset
One of my favourite things about holidaying in Thailand is undoubtedly the food. Everything fresh and spicy and lemon-grassy and delicious. I love the crispy salads, the coconut-based curries, the flavoursome soups – just allllllll of it. I find myself having prawn EVERYTHING whenever I’m here. Yum yum yum!
Yesterday I broke with tradition though, and ordered a chicken and coconut soup. And then had my favourite desert ever afterwards: sweet sticky (condensed-milk drenched) rice with mango. Now, I don’t know which of the two it was that didn’t agree with me – but MAN, was yesterday evening not fun.
To be fair, the whole day started off lousy. I woke up in a foul mood after being woken up in the middle of the night by about 20 minutes of screaming and shouting of the just-post-teenage-female variety. When I went outside to growl at somebody, I ran into 3 Swedish girls on their way to reception because “There’s a [insert Swedish word for cockroach/ cricket/ centipede/ I have no idea what they were saying, here] in our room!” Ah, Thailand.
Anyway, so I woke up late and headed down to the beach. Given the mood I was already in, when a tiny little Thai lady approached me for a massage on the beach, it was like a gift from the heavens. She guided me to a big sheet laid out in the sand, under the shade of a nearby tree, and started her magic. The yellowtree oil which they use is a great muscle-relaxant, and just generally having a massage while facing the ocean is so blissful, really. Turned my whole morning around.
It was a completely overcast day today, barely any blue in the sky, which is actually ideal for lying on the beach and reading all day. You don’t get too hot and sweaty, and it’s easy to relax. I finished my first book today, and started on my second. The first one was something I found in the hostel reception when I checked in, Ellen Degeneres’s “Seriously… I’m Kidding.” It’s light fluff, to be fair, but perfect beach-reading – and I do think she’s really funny, and astute. I’ve now moved onto a fascinating book called “Running with Scissors” by Augusten Burroughs. It’s bizarre and gripping, and such a great read.
This is exactly what I wanted for this holiday. I realize that this is probably the most anti-social I have ever been in my life, but that’s okay. Normally, I’d be hitting the bars every evening, making friends and hanging out. I’d be going on all manner of snorkeling tour, rock-climbing tour, island-hopping tour – but not this time. Right now I just want some down-time. My plan before this holiday was to “eat, sleep, read, repeat.” So far, so good.
The sunset last night was AMAZING, even though it was so overcast. Crazy pinks coloured the sky, the clouds, the sea. It was just so beautiful. I wish I’d watched more sunsets when I was living in Boracay. Sometimes you get so lost in your life that you don’t literally stop and just look around you. I aim to focus more on that this year: Live in the NOW. Enjoy every little thing!
After the sunset I beat a hasty retreat to my room, and spent the rest of the night hanging over the toilet-bowl. I’ll spare you all the gory details, but clearly something at lunch did NOT agree with me.
I’m writing this the next morning though, and I’ve already had breakfast – all systems back to functioning again.
The beach beckons!!!
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