Derek's got a new Thai girlfriend

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Well, now that I've got all you your attention... haha! OK, Derek doesn't actually have a new Thai girlfriend, but he got quite an offer for a good one night relationship =) We were just walking down this strip of outdoor bars at party central, Chaweng Beach, when this Thai prostitute started singing along (very VERY badly) to whatever song was coming out of the nearest bar. We tried to ignore her (or him??? you can never quite be sure here) and keep walking, but she grabbed on to Derek's arm and wouldn't let go, moaning in a whiny voice things like "Ohhhh, please won't you let me be my girlfriend?" She stuck on him for so long I almost had to jump in and say "I'M his girlfriend (I'm not). Now get your hands off!" But she let go on her own accord. The other prostitute in that area had already fully flashed Mark earlier and very graphically motioned that she wanted some of the icecream he was eating at the time.

Good times! But don't worry, parents out there. They're all harmless. We met a Canadian and a couple of Brits yesterday who had spent the previous evening playing games like Jenga and Connect 4 with some of the "girls of the night." I don't think we would go that far... but they're just people, after all!

Hmm.... what else happened today. It was a pretty chill day. We got up around about 8:30 and had a tasty breakfast of french toast. They deep fry it or something. It's really good, but I think I carve a fair bit of my life expectancy off every time I have (which is every morning!) Derek and Mark had some tasty watermelon, pinapple, and banana with there's, as well, but I opted for fruit free-ness. Then we went for a swim/exploration for a bit and everyone had showers. There was a storm last night and it was really overcast when we woke up, but the air temp was still super warm, as was the water, so as far as we were concerned it was still beach weather. After we were all clean and cool (if you can ever be cool outdoors here) we walked up to an internet cafe on the main stretch, where we changed the flight to Kuala Lampur we'd been forced to book earlier at the Sydney airport to please Emirates. We changed it for Dec. 15th, which is the date when Mark S., Erich, and Troy are going to be there, and I think that's when Angus, Warren, and Randy arrive, too (those are all friends of ours from Victoria). Should be quite the adventure. The change fee was pretty rough, though, and essentially doubled the cost of our tickets. Luckily it was a really cheap ticket to begin with, so in the end it will cost us about $100CAN each. There was no way it could have been avoided (aside from booking something ahead of time from Victoria), so we'll just have to deal.

After lunch and an afternoon chill time we took a songthaew into Chaweng Beach again and BOUGHT SNORKEL GEAR!!!! We were really on the fence about it, but we went to a dive shop we'd stopped in before that was run by a really nice British guy who was super helpful. He let us try some of the gear on, and it all fit really well and seemed to be of really good quality. Mark was able to talk him in to giving us a 15% discount, so in the end we got good fins, mask, and snorkel for 2200B each (about $66CAN). I'm really excited about trying it out for the first time. It comes in a nice mesh carry bag and everything, so transport shouldn't be toooo much of a problem. Yeaaaa snorkel stuff! Oh, and we stopped at the actual beach which is so famous here. It was pretty nice, but there were lots of people despite it being such a grey, ugly day. There's never anyone on our section of the beach where our bungalow is. It was totally worth checking out though, because we saw TWO water tornados!!!! They were soooo cool! When we first got there, a man from California pointed the first one out to us. Then, after we watched for a bit, a second one formed. Wow. Really cool. Glad they stayed out to sea, though. It looks like we could be in for a downpour at any time, but we'll just have to wait and see.

Right now we're kind of wasting time in this English Sportsman's Pub. We want to go to this Reggae Bar that is super famous on the island, but the band doesn't start until 9pm so we have an hour and a half to kill. This place has free internet if you buy beer, so we came here =) We're super cheap, and avoid buying drinks at all cost, but there were too many mosquitos to stay outside on the street (Derek gets unbelievable numbers of bites and reacts really badly to them) so we had to suck it up and pay for beer in order to have an indoor table. I'm really excited for the reggae pub. Should be good! Although we'll have to pass Derek's "girlfriend" again to get there... maybe she'll have found someone new and special by then.

Thanks to everyone for your recent blog comments! I'm glad so many of you are enjoying the updates. I'm sorry I don't ever have pictures to post these days, but I'll try to keep the text updates coming. I really like getting the days events typed out, too.

Oh! One more thing! I met a scout leader today! Scouting is really big here in Thailand. I believe it might be taught in schools, in fact. This guy was in his FULL uniform including stetson and socks with garter tabs. I asked him if he was a scout (he didn't have a world scouting emblem so I couldn't be sure) and he said he was. I said I was a Scout in Canada, and we talked for a little bit. In Thailand there are boy scouts and girl scouts. I told him I was a beaver leader and explained what that was, and he laughed. I think he thought it was cute that I worked with such little kids. I wanted to give him a badge from Canada since we were so close to my room, but Mark had the key and he wasn't with us so I couldn't. Oh well! Scouting--bringing people together all over the world! =)

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Photos

The McRice
OK this picture was actually taken in Bangkok but I ate from McDonalds this day so I stuck it in here. I love trying the local specialties at McDonalds in different countries, and the specialty here seems to be the "McRice" which is a pork burger with kind of a soy sauce marinade, sandwhiched between two rice paddies. It's not bad (better than the McOz) but it's super messy to eat.

Comments

[laurel]

pineapple express
so.. it turns out you guys in your thailand heat are sending the pineapple express our way, giving us downpours of rain!!! so thanks!! :) haha i just like the term. at least you guys are getting the better part of it! still sounds like you're having a blast. good you got you switch your tickets - but aren't you guys only supposed to be in thailand for 30 days??!! anyways, keep having fun! ps tell those prostitutes to leave my boyfriend alone!!! :P

[Scouter Charles]

A Thai one on Girlfriend?
Jess, Yes the title got my attention. I enjoy reading your blog of daily adventures. I am certain that you will enjoy your exploration below the waves with your new gear. Keep us posted on your journey.