Happiness is driving through the sprinkler mist with your head out the window on a warm summer night

Summer, summer, summer! Summer is here and I can’t be happier; I irresponsibly dropped my only summer school class and I am fully prepared for the 10 days of mid-70′s weather that lie ahead. Yay.

Muddy butts ahhhhhh!!!

So much has happened since my last post of excess that I don’t think it would be very interesting to detail just how great this spring was, so I will try to summarize. I realize that doing so usually results in a mini novel about my life, but I promise, this time I will try to keep it short!

Jake Wright got married! I need to type out his full name because nobody that knows Jake would actually believe this is true unless they were present at the wedding. The bachelor party was a huge success, my wallet told me so. And while there are no pictures at all to prove it, we had an amazing time preparing Jake for his inevitable loss of virginity. The wedding was a completely different story, a prototype for what all weddings aspire to be. The bridesmaids, gorgeous and intelligent; the groomsmen, scholarly and handsome; the betrothed, drinking at the altar in love. Seriously, what an amazing union of two people who are clearly head over heels for each other. It was especially nice to see so many old friends together in one place and having such an amazing time.

“What did I say? No one listens, be careful”
-Dad, after I told him I was told not to attempt the peak due to snow and ice on the north face.

This is my happy face

The one other extremely mentionable thing that I have done was the 2011 mud run at Camp Pendelton. Victoria asked me to be her partner so that I could vault her lithe body over the muddy obstacles. Fortunately for her, her friend Devorah ran with her and I was left to crush the course in dum dum fashion with Shawn, Brendan, and Jennie. It was a strange mix of muddy underwear and beer, but we eventually conquered the 10K course just in time for a well deserved lunch and a closing shift at work.

Since then my life has been busy with work, beach, and brunch. I wouldn’t say it has been especially rough, but there are have been a few things on my mind lately. Number one of course is my brother. For some time now I have been worried about him. I think the Army might have laid a structure for him that he is unable to take advantage of in his new found civilian life. I know the training and regiment he became accustomed to while serving made a huge difference in his life. Unfortunately, it seems that he is unable to apply it to life outside of the Army, and I think he needs help. I try to reach out to him every chance that I get, offering him a place to stay for the week to get out of the poison that is Riverside. Unfortunately I think my attempts at help only come off as another source of criticism to an 18 year old thrust into the body of a war veteran who rightly believes that nobody can understand what he has been through.

Monkeys

I can only hope that he will turn the corner and accept our help to get through whatever pain or suffering he might be experiencing. I can only imagine what horrors war has brought upon him; and while I will never understand, I hope that he won’t hold that against us while we are trying to help him through these hard times.

Some people might find it strange that I would segue from the happiest times of Spring, to the grim reminder of the toll that war takes on our youth, and back to monkeys; but I am here to tell you that life isn’t fair… you can’t control what comes your way, but you can always smile.

I’ve got a lot of things to look forward to this summer: the weather is looking is amazing, that means pretty girls and lots of monies for school and traveling; champagne and good company with good friends, especially those willing to share their books; and plenty of growth, in school and with those I love. See you on the other side.

I stopped making pictures of Thailand my desktop background…

…because every time I look at them I get an overwhelming desire to quit my job.

Reason enough

“in every real man a child is hidden that wants to play.”

Todd and I have had a bit of a competition going on. It started when he mentioned that he came across a new eatery in Moreno Valley while participating in his once a month drill for the Army Reserve.

Do not look it in the eyes

He boasted that this new and improved breakfast sandwich trumped any offering from McDonald’s. Well, I have been known to make some good breakfast in my time so I immediately set out to overtake this Inland Empire trash. It started out innocently enough, I made a basic egg McMuffin with hasbrowns. Todd immediately took the offensive and responded with bacon and store-bought hash brown patties. Sure, this new offering worked, but when I brought the bacon weave I thought I had him beat. But when he told me he had something more to prove, I knew I had to stop this cook off, once and for all. If it went any further, one of use was going to end up in the emergency room.

And so it began.

Your tears fuel me

 

Starting with a recipe for 9 biscuits, I crafted 2 massive, pepper jack stuffed, breakfast biscuits. In between cooking the bacon and putting out grease fires in the oven, clearly set by lesser beings in an attempt to thwart my breakfast dominance, I cooked the gravy. Using equal parts butter and flour, nearly a pint of whole milk, and a half pound of breakfast sausage, I stewed the devil’s sauce to perfection.

Oh yes, there was butter.

Each sandwich consisted of a homemade roll, 3 slices of American, 4 slices of pepper bacon, 2 eggs, a hash brown patty, a spicy sausage patty, and enough sausage gravy to kill a horse. The results were immediate, Todd went from singing the praises of the cursed sandwich, to crying in agony as his insides were ripped apart. My victory was complete.

Todd recently purchased some “whole wheat English muffins”, apparently in an attempt to usurp my position as the Breakfast King. Clearly that was an April fool’s joke. I can only hope that my utter domination on Wednesday has solidified my championship, and not my arteries. I don’t know if either of our circulatory systems can handle another round of this cook-off.

Abandon all hope

Hrmmpphh

Well, let’s see what else is happening.

Todd and I just popped open our first home-brew beers. Bitch’s Brew was unceremoniously named after its benefactor in part because I unknowingly purchased a kit that produces a 3% ABV beer that looks like a pale ale but tastes like Coors Light. Hah!

But worry not, two more beers are on the way and this time I don’t plan on investing a bunch of energy and emotion into something that ends up being compared to Coors Light. The process of beer making was a lot of fun though. Similar to raising a child in 4 weeks, I’m sure. Unfortunately we learned the hard way that you can’t use Stella bottles with our particular bottle capper, and had to throw out about 18 beers worth of the brew.

This is my favorite time of the year, it is starting to warm up and you can see the seasons change, not just with the weather, but with the people. I’m sure that in the wintry regions, the change is more noticeable, but when southern California emerges from the frigid winter you can really see the smiles.  It’s the smiles that are contagious. Waking up, and walking around town, you can really see the optimism and happiness of people in the spring, even as they are paying $4 a gallon for gas. So smile!

School is always going good, I can’t wait for it to be over but I am moving slowly, grabbin’ those A’s.

Llahaina sunset

Opening Day finally came. The long dark winter between the Super Bowl(which I tolerate) and baseball season is filled with the muck of basketball. I hate basketball. But,  basketball is a good reminder of what we are missing in life, good weather, hot dogs, baseball, and good times. Opening day this year was especially nice. The weather was amazing and the company better than ever.

Unfortunately I haven’t had much time for anything else. I am working or going to school 6 or 7 days a week so free time has been limited. The good thing is it is really easy to save my money, and the end of the year can’t come soon enough. There might very well be a change in scenery coming soon and New Zealand has been calling my name. Though I just watched some Bizarre Foods. Andrew was in Chengdu, in the Szechuan region of China. Oh man! I have never seen anything like that. The street vendors were selling spicy rabbit’s heads and the late night restaurants had boiling cauldrons of chile oil used to cook your choice of tens and hundreds of choices of stick meat. Amazing! If i can find someone with a passport and nothing to lose, I might be quitting my job again as soon as school is over. Apply within.

Oh yeah, Vegas, see ya soon.

The captain of the awesome boat, all aboard.

the funny thing is…

I can’t sleep at night.

Dozey Butt

Have you ever had a big event coming up and you just can’t wait for it, you can’t sleep because of it? Maybe it is a trip to Hawaii, or your first time skydiving; perhaps you are like me, and Halloweenie gets you giddy and ripe with excitement.

But no, in the end, I’m in it for something else.

Doing well in school? Merp, school is a means. Making good money at a job that you enjoy?  The word “job” should point you in the right direction. Content with life and looking forward to your next day off? Well, somebody has to pay the bills.

A few times a week I have a dream. Not a specific dream, though I do have those, but a dream about a person. I wake up from the dream and my mind starts racing, like a photon towards the singularity. And at 3 in the morning all I can do is to tell myself to think of nothing, to imagine a void, and let my mind slowly slip into it, away from her. Sometimes this works, but more often than not, I lie awake for an hour or so until I figure it out.

Life explained

The dream doesn’t matter.

It is only my mind’s eye trying to point me in the right direction.

Inevitably it does, and I think of a happy time. Of course I am happy now, just a different kind.

A time when I did what I wanted, when I wanted to, because I wanted to. I think of Korea, the overwhelming sight of Korean characters and squid burgers. I can remember hiking in New Zealand, eyes full of rain… rain, rain, rain, a little bit of green, and a lot of smiles. I laugh at Asia, seriously, I laugh at you! Megan and Jake, walking by my side, experiencing first hand why you don’t drink the water. But in the end, I am smiling, and falling asleep again.

Vodka, soda, and apple juice – bad. Vodka, soda, and blood orange juice – good.

I have a confession to make.

About a week after returning home, I wanted to leave again, and I have been saving my money since. At first, I didn’t even realize it; after all, I have always been good about saving. But eventually it became obvious, I want to explore, I need to explore, and my savings account is getting heavy.

i wish i had pants to tuck this awesome shirt into

It is probably my own doing,

I want nothing more than to move, to see, to feel, and above all else, to taste. But within the comfort of friends and family I settle down, I make my money and I enjoy myself. But I am restless, and this contentment eats away at me constantly, until… well, until this. I am constantly looking at backpacking trips, always looking at new gear, and smashing that stumbleupon button as if it can possibly show me what destination is the answer.

Europe? Central America? Patagonia? Pan-American Highway road trip? East Coast? Vancouver road trip? 2014 World Cup/Brazil/ South America road trip of ultimate awesomeness?… they will all  end up in the same boat, another trip taken.

What I really want is what I left for in the first place. New Zealand. An entire country of outdoors, right outside your back door. I look through the pictures every week, I think of the people I met there every day.

Basically, I am Frodo, wanting to return to the Shire. OK, OK, just kidding.

But man, I want nothing than to go back. One month, 3 or 4 trips and a visit to wonderful Wanaka. Ooh baby, Brazil can wait ’til 2014, New Zealand and the dum is where it’s at, momma.

When I was traveling, I carried a notebook that I filled with observations, which I would sometimes quote in my blogs like this. I think I should start carrying around a notebook again, the world was much more memorable.

But don’t worry, I’m sure nothing will change and I will still be here and I won’t go anywhere and no tickets will be bought and no plans will be made and I’ll just be the perfect citizen of Carlsbad until my toes fall off from diabetes and I am sitting on the couch watching Matlock wondering why I never took ONE more trip, took ONE more chance, and found love ONE more time. There will also be one more run-on sentence, after I finish explaining my endearment of corporate interests and how they relate to my love for bartending in a corporate environment, and the overall theme of generalities that my blogs usually encompass.

p.s. I’m like,  a softmore at SDSU, and i really want to see the world and meet girls in London!

p.s.s We must return to the grab-a-lobster claw game in Long Beach!

oh?

2010, a beer in review; Or why great music can be the cruelest friend

one beer, two beers, three beers!! ah ah ah ah!

2010 was a great year!

Oh man, I just spent a couple of hours uploading the 400 or so best pictures from the past year. That made me smile. There were a lot of smiles. It is funny how it takes a year of awesome to come to an end to realize just how much fun you had. Between the bachelor parties, weddings, baseball games, and all the amazing people I met along the way, I really don’t know how 2011 will be able to compare.

First of all, I want to thank each and every one of my friends that got married, I love bachelor parties! But seriously, congratulations to James and Michelle Chapel, Billy and Lindsey Nuttall, Ed and Renee Fernandez, and of course, James and Andrea Kim(for part 2!). You guys all had great receptions and that, of course, is an excellent indicator of future happiness! The weddings were also pretty good as far as those things go. Though, I do regret not getting up at each and every one of your receptions to deliver what would have obviously been a very memorable congratulations, I’m sure your parents are happy I did not.

I just realized I have been typing using proper capitalization, oh dear.

I saw them standing there, just pretending to be friends, when all the time in the world could not pry them apart.

-Some random quote from my book o’ quotes

Well, after a slow start to the year, spring really got things cooking around here. James and Michelle surprised us all with a freaking keg right behind our table at their wedding, the great Joey Alfano got us into a super amazing roof top party to celebrate opening day at Petco Park, Megs and I went to Coachella, and of course, I started dating Miss Bloughlin. This break neck month would set the tone for what would become a very bad summer for saving money.

Jurassic Park beer pong, boom!

Coachella was simply amazing. Jay-Z was the surprise hit of the weekend, after wine pong and baby wipes of course, and the Gorillaz kinda fell flat on their face. None of the acts really mattered though because I was fortunate to go with my favorite traveling buddy, my sister Megan. We camped out, ate dust, fought off the drug dealers that were circling the grounds, and met a lot of super people…all while avoiding the 200 degree Indio heat. Success!

Once I made the move to beautiful Carlsbad, I took full advantage of the local Coaster station to ride down to Padre games, with Todd and Brianna ridin’ shotgun. What better company to enjoy your $9 beer?? The coaster is a really sweet deal because they let you bring alcohol on board, a double edged sword of amazing. It is so nice being able to have a few beers before your wallet is ripped out of your hands downtown, but the ride back can be particularly painful when everyone is still trying to party and you are feeling like the Padres at the end of this year’s season. Much nicer than a DUI though.

Grabulas lead the way

Summer was a blur of bachelor parties, working 6 days a week, and living walking distance to Carlsbad’s finest boozeries. I made about as much as I spent and it was worth every single penny. It is such a relief to know that even though my friends seem to be growing up, they still know how to have a good time when the going gets tough. There are of course videos and pictures to prove this, but they have come up missing.

Adam and I have finally perfected our cheese dip, much to the dismay of our future offspring. But while chili pork and artificial cheese product seem to coat everything in gold, I am becoming increasingly certain that the magical properties of Velveeta might be having a negative impact on my future. Luckily it pairs nicely with Heaven’s Nectar, the Golden Beauty of Tecate.

Open your eyes...

Winter time is always slow, the initial crispness in the air seems to inevitably turn to cold. But this year has been different, and I am so excited about 2011. Kevin is home, everyone is married or engaged, school is starting again, babies are being made, I finally found a hiking friend, the trails are getting muddy again, beer will be made, new Coachella plans are in the works. I’ll never forget this year. It brought my brother home safely, straight A’s, new friendship, amazing experiences, new opportunities, happiness, and love.

And just like that, it is over. It all started with a Beach Break and a Stone, and ended with some magical eggnog. It is strange how things can be flying by so fast that all you can do is stand back and stare in amazement at how great it all is. Then one day you wake up and can barely breathe. The ball drops, taking with it what seemed to be the happiest thing in your life, and leaving you with a fresh, new year.

 

 

 

“I’m a good jumper, he said. But I’m not so good at landing. Maybe you should stay closer to the ground then, I said. He shook his head and said the ground was the whole problem in the first place”

Don’t be afraid of the ground.

Happy 2011, friends.

extra sharp cheddar cheese.

life has been strange.

i say this so much i should have it tattooed on my butt.

jame's and andrea's wedding party at the playboy club

it has been 10 months since i have typed words on here, but it feels like yesterday when i was riding white knuckled down the highways of bali, trying to keep up with jake with a bushel of bananas hanging off the handlebars of my scooter.

flight home. in-n-out. SLO beer fest. kissed mom. back to san marcos. OSCAR’S. blue fire. livin’ with lauren. halloweenie. the beautiful brown of the desert. holidays with family(finally). engagements. cocktail parties. happy 2010!!. work work work. escuela. love love love. eat eat eat.

there is almost nothing to say beyond that. as strange as it may seem i am almost at a loss of words. between school and work i have been stuck in a loop of monotony for the last 6 or 7 months, the only break being the odd weekend of cheese laden debauchery with adam, a night of jack with todd,  or a chance encounter in riverside with often not seen friends; i have waited so long to type them out they are only fleeting bursts of excellence in the sea of boredom that has become my memory. sure, there are temporary moments of excitement when i say i am going for a hike or i think i will go to the whiskey festival, but inevitably the dream meets the pipe and i realize i will be working, working working.

getting down at the silver fox

but let me stop right there! i have been making and saving boat loads of money! i am getting straight A’s in school! and have been living pretty well, all things considered. so despite the aforementioned signs of the apocalypse, everything is pretty great. i have traveling to thank for my ‘cup half full ‘ view on the world. i mean, here i am, mike mccoy, the bartender, the lover, the world traveler, the humanitarian, the family man, the legend; traveling the world, righting the wrongs of blundering americana. i have seen the other side and i know we have it pretty awesome. last semester i took a sociology class, and when we were talking about relative poverty vs. absolute poverty i got it, i knew what the teacher was talking about and it made complete sense.

hi lauren

this has everything to do with what i was thinking tonight. i eat too much. this all stems from my time in new zealand. here i was, alone in a  country, with no source of income, and relying on nothing but those primeval wits that get the sperm from a to z… i would eat all the free food available to me and waste nothing in the hostels. the problem is i brought this mentality back, and where i was once able to control what and how much i ate, i now jump at any opportunity to gorge as if it might be my last. i do still exercise and i know i am not hurting the scale, but still, i feel like i am doing something wrong when i go for my 8th meal of the day. part of the reason is work, and its wonderful cafeteria. long has the la costa resort been known for its late night cafeteria awesomeness; the enchiladas legendary, the burgers massive, the LOBSTER beyond definition.

the wandering minstrel ninja

so, i have decided that my extreme preoccupation with food coupled with my recent passive aggressiveness is all stemming from a repressed need to express what is going on in my life. so here i am, again, rambling on about nothing in a mad attempt at skinny sanity(vodka soda with lime in hand): the crazies was pretty great; avatar is not best picture material; soda water is better than tonic; i get pensive when i hear my friends are getting engaged; i have absolutely no idea what i want to be when i grow up; i am almost grown up; the sun will rise tomorrow; everything will work out; i still don’t want to go to my 10th reunion; and finally:

i want to travel some more. yeah. there isn’t much to say about that, is there? i think i will wait until the end of next semester(spanish 3), and get back at it. south america, patagonia, i don’t know, it doesn’t matter. as most of you know, i do most of my thinking in the shower(with a beer), and lately, that thinking has been about plane trips to wherever… specifically, south america. i have entertained ideas of motorcycle trips to tierra del fuego in the past, and i really want to move. not move there, of course, but get moving. i want to feel the freedom of a country with a dictator, or a flag with a sythe. teenage romanticism at its best, i know, but being back in the real world of mortage rates and gasoline costs it has been a bore when there is a world out there waiting to be had, dollar in hand.

perfect shot

so here we are, i guess, everything will of course be ohhhh-kay. i won’t be running off to start some fried frog feet cult(unfortunately),  and i will be attending your easter dinner or wedding reception(unfortunately ). tomorrow the sun will rise, i’ll think some more in the shower, and before you know it, i’ll be quitting my job and running off to some country where the food isn’t what you expect and the people aren’t living the way you would think… there are certainly worse ways to be going through life.

hey dude, just spent a week in morocco, and my girlfriend dumped me

the fellow sitting next to me was typing that in an email just now. my heart goes out to your lost moroccan love, sir. also, the girl next to me is picking her nose. ok.

now for an informational video on indonesia’s mt bromo. ok, click play.

so much has happened since my last food orgy that i really have no idea where to start, and even though i know i always say this, i am really going to keep it short and to the point.

mexican me!

jake is here! yay. jake doesn’t like big cities, doesn’t like traveling long distances, and didn’t want to plan where we were going ahead of time. this has lead to jake being a sad panda for about a week while we covered 2,500ish miles by land, sea, and air haha.

but before that odyssey there were some other countries. we were in kuala lumpur, the capital of malaysia, as well as singapore for a few days. they were both notable for their cleanliness, i’m sure everyone remembers michael fay! singapore was very strange, no jay walking, western prices, and everyone spoke perfect english. it was just like being in a really really clean and orderly american city(non come to mind for a comparison).

mt bromo

so back to our one week of miles. the whole thing wouldn’t have been such an ordeal if we had planned ahead a bit and just flown straight to the beach instead of wrongly assuming that java was relatively small, it is in fact one of the largest islands in the world and we nearly covered the entire length of it by bus and train(very slowly). part of the problem is the typical bus driver, during our 24 hour travel day(two buses, a train, and a shuttle bus) we experienced what is probably the worst driving in the world. driving so bad that if i tried to explain it you wouldn’t believe me, if you were to watch a movie of it you would applaud the special effects used, and so horrific that the only example of its wretchedness i can give is that after 20 hours on the road, we didn’t sleep more than five minutes on the five hour bus ride. weeeee!

snake fruit

so, jakarta, the capital. we got one hour massages for $6, then jumped on a train for the beaches of pangadaran. rented some scooters without helmets and experienced first hand what driving on the wrong side of the road in a third world country that treats horns like a turn signal and lane markers like the boxes in a game of hop scotch. unfortunately there were no waves, and the beach was crap, but on the last night we feasted on 2.2 pounds of chili prawns for about $10. AWESOME. after that  we headed up to gunan bromo, a super awesome volcano near the east coast of java, drastic and beautiful are words that come to mind, only surpassed by COLD. woah, it was antarctica cold, we were sitting around 8,000 feet and our flip flops and tank tops weren’t cutting it. brrrrr.

streets of bromo

so we are finally here, at the end of what has become a pretty long trail, nine months, eight countries, and a lot of words. bali is beautiful, in fact the entire country is almost tragically awesome. these are easily the nicest people i have ever met, i feel bad that i am so guarded against scams here(from attempts in cambodia/thailand) that i am almost rude to people who are genuinely trying to help us. there has been a handful of people who we have talked to on buses to pass the time and even given us their food, others who have pointed us in the right direction, and even more who have gone completely out of there way to escort us across cities so that we can find a police station and lie to get motorcycle licenses hah!

tragic

i really can’t say enough about indonesia, and when i return it will be for far longer than the meager month i have afforded it this time around. oh yeah, the food isn’t thailand but it is ok! so we will be hanging out at the beach for the next three weeks and then flying home to carne asada, in-n-out, and some smiles. there will probably be another bloggity before the flight. happy cinco de mayo!

5 second exposure of a bus ride from hell

food, part 12; or, adventures with the prime minister of micronesia

spicy fried squid

“hey, everybody! listen up for a second. derek and matilda are hiding ’cause some dudes brainwashed derek to off the prime minister of micronesia.”

warning: i am going to drone on and on about eating in this post. if you do not like food, hate it when all i do is talk about food(todd), or you are on a diet, turn back!

some of you may know that i like food, so much so that i have devoted my entire time in penang, the proclaimed food capital of malaysia, entirely to eating. this has been no easy task; while the quality of food remains high, even by thai standards, the vast ethnic diversity of the area means the sheer amount of things to try is far beyond the scope of my three day binge. but before i get into the craziness i would like to talk about my train ride!!

there is a lady sitting at the computer next to me having a conversation using sign language on a web cam. mind blown.

best friends

i was pretty bummed to leave thailand, i had gotten very comfortable with the people, food, and culture. for some reason people started talking to me, i met a lady who had lived in florida for the last 40 years and had come back home to thailand to stay for a year or so; a really nice lady who talked to me on the bus and helped me find the train station; and a guitar playing minstrel from the south peninsula who i could barely communicate with, but he did tell me he liked metallica. anyways, i eventually made it to the station and took train 35 to malaysia. woah! i didn’t realize it at the time but depart 1445 and arrive 1245 doesn’t mean around 12 hours, it is in fact almost a full 24 hours, haha. i don’t know why i had the brain fart but let me tell you, i saw a lot of beautiful scenery, met some nice people, and was very glad that i had a bed and a double wide seat on the journey instead of being stuck in a bus seat.

somehow i got the impression that my 10 hour train ride wouldn’t have any food available so i brought a pack of oreos, a pack of oranges, a half loaf of bread, and three cans of curried chicken. oh man, you should have seen the looks on the people around me eating their meals with forks and other complicated modern implements while i was pouring curry all over white bread and going at it. the border formalities were a delight, none of this taxi from the bus station to the border followed by another taxi to the next bus station. the train stopped at the border, we showed our passports and got right back on. excellent. the only hiccup that occured was when the customs guy was inspecting my bag and asking me if i had anything he should know about. i told him i had the canned chicken, he thought i said i had chickens and was wondering where i kept them. we laughed, then he noticed my feet and asked me what size they were, i told him 13 and he told everyone else in malay, everyone laughed. a very happy introduction to the country!

the scenery on the train is so much nicer than a bus, the highways and congestion have been replaced with ride paddies and palm trees, the massive billboards with huge limestone mountains. everything is planted and it feels like we are floating on a sea of green. the whole thing reminds me of the south island of new zealand, the purest blue and deepest greens in beautiful contrast.

woah, the rapture

so here we are now, in the country where jess from south africa told me the food was ‘okay’, and i have been worried ever since. jess from south africa, what in the hell are you talking about??! the food here is not okay, it is not good, it is awesome! maybe i should have noticed she was eating a greek salad in thailand. i have eaten so much in the last two and a half days that i feel guilty. the first day i got here i took it pretty easy, had a bit of ice cream, checked out my surroundings to get an idea of where i was in town, then checked out an amazing indian food shop called sri anada bahwan. most of the good places here are just food hawkers slanging their stuff on the side of the road in carts called gerai(pretty much the same everywhere in se asia). in malaysia they group a bunch of them up into little makeshift restaurants, kind of a food stall co-op. i had never seen 95% of the stuff on the menu so i just ordered randomly: masala chapthi chicken, and some roti canai. the chapthi was almost like an omlette sandwich with chicken in it, and the cool thing about this place was they had free curry sitting on the tables to use on your naan and roti, ahh so good!

after that i went to scope out the local night market/food bazaar that was around the block from my guest house, well, i got stuck. on the way i was convinced into buying roasted chestnuts, delicious! and when i finally arrived not only were they selling ice cream and waffles, but the yankees game was on(not the bad yankees game, the one before it with jeter’s game winner). oh delicious happiness. this was the first time i have watched a baseball game since leaving the states because communist new zealand thinks NETBALL is more important than playoff baseball. suffice to say i was very happy, and woah, the yankees’ new scoreboard is awesome.

if i didn’t have to meet jake on the 22nd in kuala lumpur i would probably stay here for a week so that i might have a proper go at the whole thing. maybe i’ll just give him directions from the airport.

neat wall

the next day, and the last day i planned on staying, was devoted to the rumored mecca of gastronomy, gurney plaza. gurney plaza is the centerpiece of the beachfront gurney lane, a massive mall complex with an impressive indoor food court as well as a sea of stalls surrounding it. after sweating for about 30 minutes i finally made it. what a glorious site, in thailand most of the food stalls sell the same thing, here the competition seems to be so stiff that everyone has their own little niche with only one or two people selling the same thing. heaven. i was a little bummed to see that most of the stuff leading up to the mall was more expensive fish and that sort of thing(shark fin soup anyone?) but i stayed strong and headed to the mall’s air conditioned food court, picked up some penang assam laksa(awesome!), and oreo mcflurry, pondered getting bird’s nest soup, but ended up with a chocolate chip and custard filled eclaire ahhh! oh god, terrible mistake, soon after exiting the mall a little bummed by the whole selection i noticed the real food court next door. i was not prepared for this, i had already eaten at least two meals worth of crap inside the mall and here i was confronted with what looked to be the highlight of the region. i quickly braced myself for the shock and sat down at the pasembor stall. the fellow calling the shots there quickly explained to meet what my choices were, handed me some tongs, and told me to go for it. i grabbed some squid, potatoes, and a bunch of fried goodness and thought i was done. oh no, he chopped it all up and added what looked like shredded zucchini and a spicy chili sauce over the entire affair, i added a KICKAPOO juice to the mix and pulled the trigger.

scratch that, if i stayed here for an entire week i would die. i would seriously explode if i bumped into a corner or something, like the gluttony fellow in se7en.

eating a freakin' volcano

eventually i decided to extend my stay to a third day and went on to destroy 17 different meals in just over 7 sittings, yes, i think that is horrible also. without going into too much more detail i will try and explain a couple of the more memorable eats. curry bowl/loaf, this was exactly like a chowder bowl, except with curry, and the bread was more of a roll; rajuk was chopped up fruit covered in a spicy sweet black sauce that i did not finish; teochew chendu!! this was the best snowcone i have ever had, shaved ice in a bowl covered in a bunch of weird but great flavored sugar syrups, gum drop looking things, red beans, sweet corn and black gummy worms, i have no other way to describe this, very strange and good; rote tissu, a giant conical tortilla covered in honey, this and a chai and i was ready for anything.

crazy graffiti

ok, so no more food? well there was plenty more but i don’t want to risk getting hungry again! the city itself is fantastic, it is mainly that nifty architecture that reminds me of new orleans, a million different colors and falling apart, but quite beautiful. the sewer and drainage system is completely open and i would not want to be walking down the street drunk at night. the climate is exactly like the rest of coastal asia, hot, humid, and evening rains. for some reason, i think it might even be getting hotter the closer i get to the equator! crazy i tell you. i am pretty sure he would like to meet her haha. the shop keepers try their best though, everyone has the a/c completely maxed out and all of their doors thrown open, walking down the street turns into a kind of ‘stay out of the lava’ game that we used to play as kids. instead of jumping from pieces of furniture you are scurrying from spot of shade to open electronics store and then quickly under a tree. the weather isn’t all bad though, i was lucky to meet a fellow named durai tonight, we stuck out a short downpoor together next to a chinese temple. he is a mechanic at the local mercedes dealership and a super nice guy that shook my hand about 20 times and after showing him my pictures, commented on my sisters beauty.

some room art

and that is it, my tummy hurts and i want to stay longer but i am leaving for the capital tomorrow morning…well, just as soon as i get some dim sum haha.

meet me at the train station, i will be holding the pink umbrella

our green ship!

cambodia was great. after taking a bus from siem reap to the capital, phnom penh, we decided to hang around for the night before continuing south to the coast. phnom penh was a pretty interesting place and it was nice to be back in a proper city, unfortunately we didn’t do much aside from eating because most of the sights there have to do with genocide and we weren’t really in the mood to go to the war atrocities or landmine museums. we did find a super good dumpling restaurant that also sold these intense fried bread things for 25 cents each, they were like gigantic twist donuts as big as my forearm and of course we put sugar on them. the next day we boarded the bus for kep without more twists!! because they didn’t start making them until later in the day. the agony.

we were walking down the road and megan stepped on a huge cow pie. i mentioned this to her and she replied, “yeah i saw it, but it was dry so i didn’t care.”

megan is officially a traveling badass.

sweet wall at our guesthouse

there isn’t much to say about the cambodian coast, it was relaxing, cheap, and hot. our rooms ranged in costs from $8-10, were on the sand, and all had cold showers and no tv. oh no! we had a good time, especially in kep, which used to be the next big beach destination for the cambodian elite until the khmer rouge killed everyone there… now it is a sleepy fishing town surrounded by the world famous kampot pepper plantations. we first attempted to visit the plantations by bike, then after megan’s tire went flat and we walked back, by scooter. wooyeah we rode scooters finally, megan has a funny video that i will try and upload later. we also had some of the most amazing crab i have ever had, cooked with the peppers of course, and plenty of it; the waitress didn’t really understand what we were saying and we accidentally ordered two huge plates, it took us about three hours to crack our way through both of them. the picture below is the view from our restaurant, fresh! the weird thing about the coast was the rain, it was a bit like hawaii with an evening downpour or some serious clouds around 8pm, very relaxing when we were eating dinner, not so much when the rain came early and we had to take a thirty minute boat ride back to the mainland in a downpour.

the waitress getting our dinner

so i guess the real story over the last week or two has been bangkok, and after a twelve hour marathon bus trip that took us from the center of cambodia to the center of thailand we arrived, slowly. the riots you have probably heard so much about were the culmination of the last twenty days of protesting, and we had some trouble getting into the city because a lot of the streets were blocked off. our arrival also coincided with the eve of songkran, the buddhist new year, a five day holiday usually celebrated at home with the family, but taken to the streets by the kids and young at heart. of course they take it to khao san road, the backpacker and foreign center of bangkok, and celebrate it with hundreds of pounds of flour and super soaker squirt guns. by mid day there were tens of thousands of people running around in a small area soaked to the bone and covered in flour.

with their tanks and their bombs and their bombs and their guns

most of the crowd was thai even though the majority of people staying in the area were foreigners, but i think they were all hiding in their hotel rooms. it was a pretty impressive thing to see and a very happy time, smiles everywhere and everyone saying hello and happy new years. megan only got to see it for one day, although that is probably more than enough, the four days i was there started dragging on a bit and after a while you just want to sit down without getting water thrown on you. luckily the riots stayed far far away from this scene and the only time we had to deal with them was on the way to the airport.

raaaiiinnnn

between the political turmoil and national holiday, megan picked a really bad time to leave the country. the souvenirs we were going to buy for everyone? haha, the only thing we could buy was flour, water, booze, and water guns, every other store was shut down. transportation? that was also out the window, the streets were completely locked down with people so all public buses were shut down for four days, we ended up having to take a taxi that cost about $30 round trip, instead of a bus that would have cost $4. luckily we did get to the airport ok and other than a burning bus fully obscuring the freeway and a few military blockades it was just peachy and as far as i know she is in riverside again.

sunrise, otres beach, i was only awake because our fan died as a result of the generator shutting off

now i am sitting around bored, after experiencing that festival for four days i am tired. strangely enough, i have also been lonely, it is weird traveling solo for seven months and suddenly feeling alone after spending three weeks with my sister. tomorrow i am boarding a second class sleeper train that will arrive in the malaysian border town of butterworth after a twelve hour journey. very excited by that, i really like trains and it seems to be an excellent way to see the thai peninsula. malaysia is an hour ahead of thailand, even though it is directly below it, so i will be another hour in the future!!(+15) jake arrives in six days, and i will have some more stuff to say when i meet him in the capital, kuala lumpur.

landmines, another fever, border disputes, etc.

yes, despite southeast asia’s valiant attempts at killing me i am still here. of course i waited until cambodia(basically the slowest internet in the world) to update this and now there is too much to say, so i will keep it short.

you would think that paying to use a toilet would ensure some paper and a proper flush.

well, shortly after my last post i braved the laos bus system again to get back to thailand and meet my sister, megan, in bangkok. unfortunately automated travel websites are stupid and i got there a day early because 1am is considered the day before on orbitz.com. the next day i picked her up from the airport and five hours later we were on a bus to ko chang, which kinda means elephant island because some guy did a lot of drugs and decided it was shaped like a pachyderm. once we arrived i continued my previous activity of doing absolutely nothing and relaxing. we hung around for five awesome days, rode elephants in the jungle, watched fire twirlers, saw iguanas and monkeys, and sweated our asses off on the beach in the 100 degree heat. i also introduced megan to the booze bucket, haha. the bungalows there were pretty spartan, a bed, mosquito net, cold water shower, and of course the bucket. unfortunately i didn’t get to explain to megs how to use the now infamous device as i had abandoned all hope of the system when i had the hanta butt virus, and of course i never figured out how you were supposed to dry your butt after you splashed(i am currently working on a super-string butt physics theory where water can clean and dry at the same time). of super awesome note was our first nights accommodation where we had a bathroom outside but with walls and a roof over the toilet, sweet!

sunset, lonely beach, ko chang

after that it was back to bangkok to check out some temples, including the spectacular reclining buddha. while we were there it decided to rain, oh man, it poured down rain for about an hour while we were huddled under an entrance gate to the temple with a bunch of thais, a dog, and a cockroach; the water went over the curb and up into the actual gate so there were people standing on chairs while we were rolling up our pant legs. good thing it isn’t the rainy season for a few months? i also took megan by the night market so she could get an idea of all the cool crap you can buy here. fast forward about a week and now we are in cambodia. oh man, let me tell you about a pain in the ass. as soon as we crossed the border it was a different world, everyone is super nice, but i am pretty sure about 60% of the people are trying to scam us. after paying about $20 each to get from the border to siem reap, we were driven about 20 minutes down the road to a “bus stop” where there were four cambodians sitting there with a taxi. the guy then started to tell use that we had to pay another $15 or so to be able to take the taxi, he was quite adamant about the whole thing until i spoke with his boss(whom i had dealt with on the thai side) and told him i would rather forfeit my $25 visa and $20 fare, walk my ass back across the border, and call the thai tourist police and report them for scamming us. we were then quickly shuffled inside a cab and arrived in siem reap in record time! yay.

in addition to the scams there is also a small border dispute between thailand and cambodia where 1-4(depending on what side is telling the story) thai soldiers were killed the other day, hopefully that cools down. i also got another fever, but it was gone in a day and i’m pretty sure it was just due to more food experimenting. of course that is another problem, the food here sucks so far, the only decent food we have had is a pizza and an awesome indian food restaurant(i bought a shirt). other than that(and the landmines which still cover a very large portion of the country) things are awesome. the cities are beautiful, everyone speaks english and smiles, and the temples are amazing. we were going to go to malaysia to see the f1 races but we decided this might be a better idea, good thing, i will probably never see anything like this again and i am happy we made the effort to come out here. plus , our 3 bed room with 3 movie channels is only $8 a night and we got to ride bicycles!!

“excuse me, can i ask you a question”

don’t you hate when people say this?

so tomorrow we are off to phnom penh, we still haven’t figured out how to pronounce it and i feel like an ass because i really haven’t even made the effort to learn any basic khmer(cambodian language) words, partly because whenever we would say hi in khmer to a cambodian they would reply in english, but mainly because it makes my head hurt. the language is really hard to pronounce, they have 33 consonants and 38 vowels, no joke, plus in another week i will need to learn malaysian and all of these languages are starting to blur together ahh!

it is really nice having megan here to talk to, but my notebook that i write stuff down to type out is seriously suffering, if you haven’t noticed the lack of unfunny quotes i normally put in. that is probably a small price to pay for good company and i am looking forward to the week after she leaves when jake gets here.

well, i will try and say some more hellos soon.