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Published: January 29th 2007
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Duncan
I met Duncan in Tonsai, and we instantly hit it off. We are eloping to Vegas in May, and rock climbing as our honeymoon. (Only believe the part about us rock climbing) Unless you saw it, you would never know what goes into making coconut shreds. It takes hours (at least here, with no machinery and fancy equipment). First, the ladies take off the brown hair around the coconut, then they crack it. They will straddle a stool that has a blade at the very end. By sitting on this stool, they are keeping this round blade there. There is a metal bowl underneath that will catch the coconut shreds as she grinds the coconut against the blade, turns the coconut and then continues to use the blade to grind the coconuts. It looked quite hard, and I am reminded that I can simply get a can of coconut milk for .99 cents or buy it already shredded with no problem.
Mathew and I are still in Tonsai, and why not? We are so happy here, there's no reason to want to be anywhere else. Mathew says, "
Don't trade wind for wind
meaning,
When you find a place that works, stop looking elsewhere and settle down. But I felt our time was soon coming to an end, with the coming of Christmas, I didn't want to be around Merry Thai people in the heat.
Besides, we
Goat
This goat was always here. It was tied up to a tree with a long rope and was always happily eating. had spent almost two weeks in Tonsai, and I had only a total of 4 weeks for my vacation before going back to America.
We had a few more fun-filled days planned thre in Tonsai. We went on a day-long boat trip with the three Kiwis and an Australian family we were all friendly with.
On another day, Mathew and I went "Deep Water Soloing" which is where you climb up a rock with no rope and water underneath. At some point, you will have to jump, or if you lose your grip, you will accidentally fall into the ocean below. I have to admit, even forty feet up will seem quite scary and made me wonder what the hell I was doing there in the first place. I waited as long as I could and with whatever courage I could muster, I reminded myself that I certainly could not climb back down. I asked everyone to count, and then I juuuuuuuuumped into the water, and - swearing I would never do that again - I climbed up on another rock. After a couple of rocks and a couple of jumps, and a lot of adrenaline, I resorted to
broom, sweep sweep
This is how people sweep up in Tonsai. Having cleaned many a house in my day, I can say this was much easier to use than our fancy American versions. But I do like our dustpan invention. putting on my scuba mask and snorkeling with Mathew. My dive-master brother seemed to know all the fish in the deep blue sea, and I was enjoying his knowledge.
On our way out, the boatman got his anchor stuck on the ocean floor under a rock. Right. You would think that this doesn't happen to a veteran boatsman, but it did. We were stuck. The boatsman gave us a sheepish look, and since he didn't speak a lick of English just kept tugging, and tugging on the rope. Luckily, we had a handsome young man on board who saved the day! Mathew threw on his mask and dove in. It seemed like he was in the water for a while, and soon he emerged. Mathew pulled the anchor free, and we could move! He got a loud applause from the passengers as he was the hero of the hour. The anchor had been stuck at around 8-9 meters deep.
Mark took Mat and me on one last climb. Climbing, I find, is very psychological. It's mostly getting over the thought, "I can't" so that you do. Both of the guys were very patient at letting me know how
Mathew
At Andaman Restaurant: There were quite a few little creatures. This one took to Mat like bears to honey. safe I was. Once I realized that, it got easier. Then it got fun. Mat just goes for it. "You have to trust the gear" as he says. he doesn't stop to think
I can't. For that reason, Mark says, "he's a natural." On our way back 'home' the tide was up, and we had to wade through water waist high.
Mathew's girlfriend joined us from India. Well, she's originally from California, but she's been studying Yoga and Meditation for the last two months in India. Kendra has a smile that can light the darkest day, and is a good friend. Plus, she's always willing to have a good time. It's no wonder they get along so well!
And so: I felt like it was time to move on - on my own. I had my own adventures to create, and only two weeks left. I went over to Mathew and said, "Hey bro, I'm leaving tomorrow," Meaning that I'm leaving
alone.
"Okay, where do you want us to go?"
"I don't know, but I'm leaving tomorrow," again, meaning alone.
"That's fine, we can all leave tomorrow, is there someplace in particular you want us to go?"
So in
The Cave
This is where they put all the bad people; Deep inside the cave. It takes people months to find their way out. the grand scheme of things, if my brother wants to go on having adventures with his big sister, well ... okay.
The next day, Mathew, Kendra and I went off into the sunset together.
Well, it was really in the morning, so the sunrise...
While waiting for Mathew and Kendra to meet me the next morning, I chatted with an English bloke - Duncan Child - whose ex-wife created the movie, "The Secret" with her sister, and who a good buddy of mine does their public relations. It's funny how the world can circle around so quickly sometimes. Duncan lives in Houston, Texas where I was born and raised. We kept in touch, and are going to Vegas in May with some other climbers from Texas and climbing
Red Rock, or this:
Dankat in Vegas.
Keeping the adventures alive, that's what it is all about!!
Where are we going next? It's so easy to follow a man who seems like he knows what he's doing... So, let's follow Mathew - for just a few more days.
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