Right, here is my Krabi post. Krabi, pronounced Cru-bee by the locals, is located almost directly to the East of Phuket, my new friend and I decided we would go ahead, even though we were missing our third musketeer...at 7:30 am on Saturday 13th December, we were collected by the tour company and taken through the bowels of Phuket to the port. My only experience of travelling on a ferry is a ferry I took from, I don't even know where across to the mainland of Maputo, Mozambique on a family trip when I must have been about 8 or 9 years old. I remember my parents' panic-stricken faces when they saw us and the rest of Mozambique climb
onto the creaking concoction of diesel-smelling rusting metal they called 'the ferry'. My mum took us to the top of the ferry and sat us down with a look more serious than the 'birds and the bees' talk expression and she said to us in a voice firmer than I care to remember, "Listen VERY carefully, most of the people on this boat cannot swim, if this boat sinks, you wait until you're almost in the water and you jump as far away from the boat as you can and you swim as hard and as fast as you can away from all these people, in that direction." I am glad to say we
miraculously got across fine and vowed never to use it again... So, honestly, that is what I was expecting when I booked my ferry ticket to Krabi. I was a little reserved in breaking the news to my mum as to how I planned to get there and as soon as I did, I had to laugh when she
said, "Right, do you remember the ferry rules...?" We arrived at the port and we climbed aboard a large beautifully kept speedboat and we made our way to the front of the boat where we found "our spot" - right in the bow of the boat, my friend, Annie described us as Kate and Leo in Titanic ;-)
The two hour boat trip was smooth and intoxicating. We passed several islands on the way and suntanned and took photographs along with the rest of the tourists on board. Despite this borrowed luxury, nothing could have prepared us for the sights that lay just around the
headland's bend...lush forests, soaring limestone towers and extensive shimmering sapphire waters...
For the next three days I walked around with my mouth hanging open and its just as well there wasn't a breath of wind, for if there was, in my grandmother's words, my face would have stayed like that! I just could not get enough of the raw beauty. We had found some budget
accommodation nearby, which had brightly coloured yellow and turquoise walls and comical writing on the outside. It was all we needed as we were not planning on spending any time, apart from bedtime, in our room. It was a 700m walk from Nopharat Thara Beach along a quiet road next to a mangrove swamp. We decided to take a long-tail boat (the old traditional wooded Thai boats with a small engine and a long plank extending out at the front of the boat, which wouldn't be complete without the Thai flag coloured fabric proudly displayed) to a place called Railey Beach, I still couldn't close my mouth...this was more of a cove caressed by limestone cliffs than the long stretch of white beaches that make up Ao Nang. We spent the day relaxing in the sun, swimming in the glittering waters and staring at the perfect views. As I looked down Railey beach at the row of long tail boats sitting in the sand while the water barely rolled
up on the shore with the emerald green forests dripping down the limestone cliffs reaching up to the sky and my life stopped for a second...I have always known there are beautiful places in the world but I remember thinking to myself that I found the beauty quiet surreal. I was mesmerized by the splendour of the scene to the point of feeling lethargic. Once we'd returned, Annie and I had dinner watched the sun go down and then continued along the strip of restaurants lining Nopharat Thara Beach, oohing and aahing at the great food and even better prices.
The following day we headed off on a tour that did 'island hopping' to four islands. Again, my mouth was hanging. The first island we visited was called Tup Island which joins its neighboring island by a short bar of white sand which can be crossed at low tide. We spent an hour lying on the beach, swimming and discussing our itineraries for when/if friends and family came to visit us. Every now and then throughout the day we would just gasp at the attractiveness around us...we couldn't believe our eyes. After about an hour, we went on to our next spot, passing a comparatively large island called Chicken Island named after a protruding rock that is shaped like a chicken head. We then threw anchor down at a purely limestone island, meaning, there was no sand or anywhere to walk, where we could jump off and snorkel. I was now transported to a completely different version of 'paradise'. It has been years since I have snorkeled but I was surprised to find it was much like riding a bike - I hadn't forgotten too much...I am always in awe of the abundance of life found in the ocean. My knowledge of fish is frightening so please forgive me for some of these descriptions...but you know me ;-) I saw angelfish, swordfish, clown fish, crabs, sea amenities, sea urchins, lovely colorful coral, parrot fish, little yellow stripeys (there're
those descriptions;-), green stripeys and blue stripeys. There was also a nearby cave we could go into that is famous amongst rock climbers who go to the centre of the cave where there is a small opening that they climb up. I had to laugh, most of you know, I'm a pretty expressive person and I battle to see something attractive without smiling and the first couple of fish I saw, I couldn't help but smile which made water pour in my mask, It was quiet funny - I told you I was rusty...the other thing that was funny was that Annie and I were swimming round together when I happened to hear her burst into a fit of laughter, I came up to hear the joke and she said I had swum past her and smacked her right across the face, so her mask was completely dislodged - the funniest part was I didn't feel a thing... I don't think the nearby fishermen appreciated us roaring with laughter near all their fish...haha...
The second island we went to was Chicken Island (the one we'd passed before) where we had lunch which was yummy soup and chicken fried rice. Shortly after lunch, we moved on to Pranang Island which was embraced by a cave riddled with stalactites and a calm pool formed by the cave in the corner. We went to the cave to hear the 'story of the island', we were told that you can make a wish at that cave because over 400 years ago when the island belonged solely to the local people of Thailand, a queen came there because she could not fall pregnant and she made a wish there to have a baby and she then fell pregnant, when the princess (the baby) was fully grown she was never happy - at this point my guides voice got lost in the cave - next thing I picked up was that she came back there many years later and she was buried there or something. It has now become a shrine and people leave gifts when their wishes have been granted. When I first went there, I remember looking at the rater promiscuous looking sculptures and thinking, no...surely they wouldn't have such a bizarre thing to worship, but sure enough, due to the origin of the wishes being about fertility, the sculptures were in fact, the
male organ - it wasn't pretty...anyway - I suppose it's a touristy thing - I was far more concerned about the little kids that had joined us on the tour but hopefully these graphic sculptures were not as clear to them. We spent the next hour on that beach and by now the sun was searing. I nearly finished my entire bottle of sun cream in that day.
The last island we went to was called Poda island, again, picture postcard stuff...just couldn't get enough of it. There are monkeys on this island but they asked us not to get too close to them as the day before a monkey had hopped on a girl's shoulder and bit her ear!
We were finished by the time we got back, so we went straight to dinner and then headed to the beach to watch the sunset...it was picture perfect. The tide sucks right back and the locals head out to collect something - I assume its muscles or some other seafood and them, together with the mountains and islands and the crimson sunset makes a stunning view. We bumped into a British guy who runs a guesthouse and he invited us over to a bunch of friends of his - some were staying at his guesthouse, others were locals.
On Monday, we slept in and then went for a delicious breakfast and just about rolled onto the nearby beach. The weather was perfect, not a breath of wind and the waves literally creep onto the shore - there are no waves - the sea is so still it is like a lake. So we spent the day on the beach and then headed back to the hotel to be collected for our luxurious trip home. We were lucky enough to find 'our spot' on the boat again and we lay looking up at the clouds after a really good get away.
I realised that when I came to Phuket, I found myself not convinced and I couldn't figure out why. When I was looking at the scenery around me, on the first day in Krabi, it suddenly dawned on me that this was what I was expecting when I thought I was coming to live in Thailand - lush
bush, aqua-marine waters, long tail boats, lazy lifestyle and friendly people. If I was not convinced by Phuket as Thailand, I am selling Krabi as Thailand...this exquisiteness can simply not be described in words and the pictures simply do not do it justice. Take it from me - every single one of you who have not been to Thailand HAVE to do it... It is not expensive once you are here - I was on a tight budget when I came and we didn't hold back once we saw how reasonable everything was. It is charming; the tourists have been very quiet for high season this year if you don't like the crowds. The tour that we did included the snorkeling gear, lunch, drinking
water, fresh fruits and visiting the four islands and cost less than the ferry ride over there. It's ridiculous!
Until next time, enjoy the Christmas buzz - wishing you all a good one and a wonderful 2009!
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Thursday, December 18, 2008
A Day in Malaysia
On Sunday evening I was collected at 10:30pm sharp, believe it or
not…I think that is the only thing that has happened on time, besides
school, since I've been here. I was told to wait outside the 'colour'
shop which translates into waiting outside the paint shop, which I
duly did. While I was watching the number on motorbikes with Thais
passing by diminish by the minute, I was keeping my eyes open for
potential 'versions' of buses wondering what my ride would be like.
To be honest, I wasn't really looking forward to this trip. I had to
miss two days of school for it and like the nerdy teacher I've become,
all I cared about was that 'my kids' had to write a maths test on
Monday that they weren't ready for and I had a lot of work we needed
to get through this week because of loosing a day in the week later.
I eyed the 'potential' modes of transport suspiciously, I spotted a
truck that reminded me of what we called the school 'Cattle
truck' turn into the road to my hotel and my heart sank, "Oh no," I
thought, "Please don't let that be my bus to Malaysia!" Les than four
minutes later, I got a call from someone who was waiting at my hotel to take me to Malaysia. I was very relieved to find that my
bus wasn't a cattle truck but a good, strong 'sprinter, I took the
second-to-last seat which came complete with a blankie on it for my
warmth, ironic in Thailand I know, but these Thais really do know how
to blast their air-cons! I snuggled under it and we began our journey
with me not having the faintest idea how long it was going to take us.
We reached Big C – our local and cheapest shopping centre to pick up
our final passenger. This man, in his over sized yellow raincoat, said
goodbye to his Thai girlfriend and climbed onto the bus and into the
seat next to me saying, "Watch out – I'm a snorer!" It turns out, Dan
is a photographer from Chicago who came to Thailand four years ago for
a change of scenery and has been "maybe going back" all this time. He
has his own photography company here and has built up a good client base. With our mutual interest in architecture and photography, we got on incredibly well.
At about 1:30pm, we were told to shut up so the passengers could
sleep, which I was more than happy to comply with and fell straight
asleep. The drive was as can be expected – sore bums, legs and backs
and we had a break every two and a half hours. So my scenery was – a
garage, gross Muslim style filthy toilets and, of course, a 7 eleven
garage shop, which I'd sleepwalk around twice to get feeling in my
legs again. At around 5:30am (Monday) we reached the
Thailand/Malaysia Border where we drowsily submitted our passports and
filled in the necessary forms. Everyone handed in their two passport
photos and mine had been taken on two separate occasions and this was
unacceptable, despite the fact that the lady organising the trip had
assured me it wouldn't be a problem. Shortly after the border, the
bus driver pulled over and told me where to get my photos done with
comments flying round the bus, mainly from Dan, like "Ah! There's
always one, hey!" So I went into one of those photo booths commonly
found in America for those 'just for fun' kind of photos and this
passport photo place has made it into a 'do-it-yourself' passport
photo booth. You sit in the booth and press the button when you are
ready, smile for each photo and get them printed a few minutes later.
The guy in front of me had pictures that shocked the living daylights
out of the Malaysians working in the office. "Ah!!!" they said when
they saw the images of him pulling tongues, squinting his eyes etc…
"AAaaaayyyyy!" they said, this was supposed to mean "What the hell is
this?" To which this guy replied,
"What? No one told me my passport photos had to be professional
photos!" I tell you, I feel for these Malaysians and Thais with the
morons they have to deal with regardless of their limited English.
Soon after this, we stopped for breakfast at an Asian Roadhouse. I
had noodles, spiced vegetable rice, a cold fried EXTREMELY oily egg, a
slice of cucumber and a bottle of water. It was very good food after
a long journey, which, by the way was ten hours thus far and not over
yet – all in all, travelling time was twelve hours plus our time at
the embassy.
Something I didn't know was that Penang is an island. There is a very large port in Malaysia and the bridge's glorious
aesthetics are still in the process of being mounted. Trees line the
roads and road signs are written in English and appear far less
comical than Thailand's so-called English signs. It certainly seems
more geared towards Westerners, however, there is not much discretion,
for example I saw a 'School for the spastic' and thought that was
pretty hectic. We also passed a church with it's neighbouring
building displaying an over sized Swastika symbol overhead. This was
a little shocking to say the least but I later learned that the 'legs'
point in the opposite direction to the Swastika symbol and it is the
sign for a religion here or something…pretty weird…
Penang itself is an exquisite blend of culture in terms of people,
their influences and architecture and I therefore forgot all my
tiredness and got lost in my afternoon discovering and photographing
any building that caught my eye. The main cultures on the island are Chinese,
Balinese, Indian and Portuguese. The architecture is very old school
but was done 100% according to their cultural building regulations –
as if they were building back home. So you have these very strong
influences coming through however, they do not clash with one another
which really surprised me. I came across the Penang Museum and learnt
of the people's history and traditions. Penang's cultural influences
come from three basic groups. The Chinese, the Malays and the
Balinese. For the girls, I saw traditional dowries, wedding gowns and
crockery. For the boys, the most awesome 'Ninja' swords. I also saw
an archway decoration from a Chinese home that would traditionally be
in the entrance hall. The entrance hall of the Chinese homes is an
open display of wealth. This is where the visitors wait for the
family when they visit (including your potential son-in-law's parents
one day) so it would hold all the best furniture to impress the
visitors and potential suitors. This archway was overwhelming – it
measured over 6 meters in length and at least 4 meters in height.
Marriage, for the Chinese was a way to expand your business network.
The Chinese group as a culture was rather small in Malaysia initially
so the wealthy Chinese preferred to intermarry to keep the wealth
amongst the wealth of their cultural group. Of course you read all
this and it all seems to make 'history text book' sense and then you
see the old faded photographs of the wedding ceremonies – these brides
and grooms look about eight or nine on their wedding day – it is
frightening. However, marriage today is, hopefully very different to
what marriage meant then. Regardless – it does make me feel a little
past my sell-by date when you see an eight year old in a wedding dress
;-)
Despite this glorious history, the island has a vast amount of poverty
and homeless people. There are houses and temples that have been
deserted years ago and entire gardens have grown over, in and through
them, giving them almost completely giving them an ethereal quality,
which kept me snapping away like only I can…
The following day we were collected at around 11am Thai time, 12 noon
Malaysian time. We loaded our bags in the bus at our hotel, climbed
into the bus and began our 12 hour trip home…just as I was settling
in, literally 5 seconds after we began driving, the driver pulled over
and said "Lunch time!" It was so funny – it felt like de ja vous or
something. We ate at an Indian restaurant – I took one look at this
food with the richest, warmest colours of an artist's palette and
thought – it all looks SO good but I doubt my stomachs going to
handle this… I am proud to say that I ate the delicious food amidst a
bunch of stuck up foreigners with equally stuck up noses and thoroughly
enjoyed it. I am beginning to feel braver and braver with my food…we
finally did get on the road shortly afterwards, collected our
passports with no issues and drove through Malaysia in daylight which
we could now enjoy. It is countryside that is easy on the eyes. At
some stage, around an hour north of the Malaysian border, we passed an
area of Thailand that had recently had extremely heavy rains. The
water had flooded across the road, through houses, shops and had
swamped the landscape. People were simply carrying on as usual. I
feel so used to seeing these sights on TV but it is quiet scary when
you are driving amidst these people…living like that.
Getting to see the odd bit of Thailand and meeting the people at good
old Seven Eleven – I finally understood why they call Thailand the
'land of smiles'. Complete strangers would beam a 'mother's love'
kind of smile to me and greet me. What a warm experience…I feel like
the local people in Phuket have just been over-exposed to unfriendly
'farang' or foreigners to be known as part of the 'land of smiles'
anymore… but it was good to see. I didn't sleep much on the way home
as the driver we had was on the opposite end of the scale from our
driver on our way up there. Roaring up people's backsides, screeching
to a halt, smashing the accelerator while passing them on blind rises
with on-coming traffic – he was a mad man and I understood why Dan had
described our first driver as "Good. He's very good. No, seriously,
he's a really good driver. We're very lucky. He's very good." Our
stop for supper was at a charming little restaurant – I have no idea
where…! It was like a little log cabin amidst a wild garden with
fairy lights…on our way there we got to choose our menu which went
something along the lines of:
Chicken fried rice
Chicken fried rice with Basil
Beef fried rice
Beef fried rice with chillies
I went with Chicken fried rice, one of my new favourite meals, mainly
because of the price, but it is made really well here. In we went
into this charming setting for our dinner which we were all ravenous
for. We sat at the table and were served a delicious ton-yung soup.
This was the same soup which I was served on my first night in Bangkok
– the one I gagged at when I tasted its very strong flavour – and
guess what – I devoured the delicious bowl – it seems my taste buds
are adjusting ;-) Then I moved on to this brightly coloured chicken
fried rice…now, there is something you should know about me, I have a great appreciation
for food, cooking and spices, herbs etc but unfortunately my taste
buds cannot always share this appreciation as they cannot handle spicy
food – they go a little mad when I put pepper in my mouth. However,
everything here is SO spicy that I am thrilled to say – my little
taste buds are being fried and evolving…the thing is, is that the food
here is SO amazing that even if it is spicy (and you have retarded
taste buds) you cannot stop eating it. So I begin devouring this very
colourful Chicken fried rice on basil when I'm thinking wow, food is
so good, I'm so hungry and my taste buds are going "%*$£ What are you
feeding me?" I begin to examine my meal carefully…Ah, yes – those
lovely colourful red and green peppers…are actually chillies. No
problem taste buds, we'll put the chillies aside – 'cause there's no
way in hell I'm stopping this awesome meal half way though… Sadly
though, my taste buds were not having it – they were still yelling
naughty words ant me and I was forced to yet again, inspect my meal to
satisfy this petulant child of mine… "Oh, ok – I see what you're on
about" Removing the garnishing chillies was not enough, there were
also finely sliced and diced chillies well mixed into my fried rice.
"Well," I said, getting slightly impatient with this whining – "You're
just going to have to deal with it. – because like I said earlier,
this food is good and I'm hungry." and those two words don't normally
go in a sentence together because when I'm hungry I don't talk, I eat…
That is how my first 'chillie meal came to be eaten. I was so proud
of myself that I had the widest grin on my face – that is until I
began to smell the after effects of the meal in the bus from one of
our fellow passengers…
Friday, 5 December was Father's day in Thailand. This is not the father's
day I am used to where we give gifts to our
dads for being special fathers to us, it is because it is the King's
birthday. Should you wish to you can treat your father to something
as well though. So if it is the King's birthday, it is therefore a
public holiday and we get the day off school. Yey!!!! We were only
required to wear our bright yellow 'King's shirt' to a function that
evening. I was still suffering some of the after-effects from a
relatively safe looking restaurant across the street from me where
a friend and I had eaten lunch and I'd ordered chicken stir fry and I
was served seafood stir fry. So…as much as I didn't want to share
that with you – I had to convey how much I did NOT want to be at this
event one way or another…forgive me. So my mood was pessimistic on
the evening of the 5th, always keeping my eye out for the nearest
bathroom – which I really did not want to have to discover. The event
took place at Sa ha hin, in an open
arena. We were the only group of farangs at this event, just about
everybody else was Thai and we looked like a sea of marigolds in our
king shirt's. We wondered around before things got started (as it
always seems to happen in Thailand). There is a nearby pond which had
a giant sea serpent with lotus flowers made out of neon coloured
fabric and wire – which looked very festive from a distance. The
actual stage had an over sized picture of the king, the Thai and King's
flag and it was garnished in gold accents, marigold flowers, incense,
candles and spirit houses. It was lovely to look at…for the first
hour. Then I began to get over this whole event. My body was weak
and we were standing the whole time, doing nothing in particular. I
only understood every 400th word – no jokes, and I think I only
understood it because it was the name of my school or a greeting.
When the thanks were finally over and some random people had gone up
on stage to do whatever they were doing up there, we sang the King's
song. Some of us had bought candles from locals, which are small,
colourful candles, held in a cup with a marigold or frangie pangie at
the base, it looks very festive and beautiful. So at this point, the
candles are lit and the lights put out. The only light was shining on
the king's picture and coming from our candles – the golden light that
surrounded the event was breathtaking. My mood lifted instantly. The
candles were then blown out and the fireworks began – What a show!
So it felt so worth being there in the end…
not…I think that is the only thing that has happened on time, besides
school, since I've been here. I was told to wait outside the 'colour'
shop which translates into waiting outside the paint shop, which I
duly did. While I was watching the number on motorbikes with Thais
passing by diminish by the minute, I was keeping my eyes open for
potential 'versions' of buses wondering what my ride would be like.
To be honest, I wasn't really looking forward to this trip. I had to
miss two days of school for it and like the nerdy teacher I've become,
all I cared about was that 'my kids' had to write a maths test on
Monday that they weren't ready for and I had a lot of work we needed
to get through this week because of loosing a day in the week later.
I eyed the 'potential' modes of transport suspiciously, I spotted a
truck that reminded me of what we called the school 'Cattle
truck' turn into the road to my hotel and my heart sank, "Oh no," I
thought, "Please don't let that be my bus to Malaysia!" Les than four
minutes later, I got a call from someone who was waiting at my hotel to take me to Malaysia. I was very relieved to find that my
bus wasn't a cattle truck but a good, strong 'sprinter, I took the
second-to-last seat which came complete with a blankie on it for my
warmth, ironic in Thailand I know, but these Thais really do know how
to blast their air-cons! I snuggled under it and we began our journey
with me not having the faintest idea how long it was going to take us.
We reached Big C – our local and cheapest shopping centre to pick up
our final passenger. This man, in his over sized yellow raincoat, said
goodbye to his Thai girlfriend and climbed onto the bus and into the
seat next to me saying, "Watch out – I'm a snorer!" It turns out, Dan
is a photographer from Chicago who came to Thailand four years ago for
a change of scenery and has been "maybe going back" all this time. He
has his own photography company here and has built up a good client base. With our mutual interest in architecture and photography, we got on incredibly well.
At about 1:30pm, we were told to shut up so the passengers could
sleep, which I was more than happy to comply with and fell straight
asleep. The drive was as can be expected – sore bums, legs and backs
and we had a break every two and a half hours. So my scenery was – a
garage, gross Muslim style filthy toilets and, of course, a 7 eleven
garage shop, which I'd sleepwalk around twice to get feeling in my
legs again. At around 5:30am (Monday) we reached the
Thailand/Malaysia Border where we drowsily submitted our passports and
filled in the necessary forms. Everyone handed in their two passport
photos and mine had been taken on two separate occasions and this was
unacceptable, despite the fact that the lady organising the trip had
assured me it wouldn't be a problem. Shortly after the border, the
bus driver pulled over and told me where to get my photos done with
comments flying round the bus, mainly from Dan, like "Ah! There's
always one, hey!" So I went into one of those photo booths commonly
found in America for those 'just for fun' kind of photos and this
passport photo place has made it into a 'do-it-yourself' passport
photo booth. You sit in the booth and press the button when you are
ready, smile for each photo and get them printed a few minutes later.
The guy in front of me had pictures that shocked the living daylights
out of the Malaysians working in the office. "Ah!!!" they said when
they saw the images of him pulling tongues, squinting his eyes etc…
"AAaaaayyyyy!" they said, this was supposed to mean "What the hell is
this?" To which this guy replied,
"What? No one told me my passport photos had to be professional
photos!" I tell you, I feel for these Malaysians and Thais with the
morons they have to deal with regardless of their limited English.
Soon after this, we stopped for breakfast at an Asian Roadhouse. I
had noodles, spiced vegetable rice, a cold fried EXTREMELY oily egg, a
slice of cucumber and a bottle of water. It was very good food after
a long journey, which, by the way was ten hours thus far and not over
yet – all in all, travelling time was twelve hours plus our time at
the embassy.
Something I didn't know was that Penang is an island. There is a very large port in Malaysia and the bridge's glorious
aesthetics are still in the process of being mounted. Trees line the
roads and road signs are written in English and appear far less
comical than Thailand's so-called English signs. It certainly seems
more geared towards Westerners, however, there is not much discretion,
for example I saw a 'School for the spastic' and thought that was
pretty hectic. We also passed a church with it's neighbouring
building displaying an over sized Swastika symbol overhead. This was
a little shocking to say the least but I later learned that the 'legs'
point in the opposite direction to the Swastika symbol and it is the
sign for a religion here or something…pretty weird…
Penang itself is an exquisite blend of culture in terms of people,
their influences and architecture and I therefore forgot all my
tiredness and got lost in my afternoon discovering and photographing
any building that caught my eye. The main cultures on the island are Chinese,
Balinese, Indian and Portuguese. The architecture is very old school
but was done 100% according to their cultural building regulations –
as if they were building back home. So you have these very strong
influences coming through however, they do not clash with one another
which really surprised me. I came across the Penang Museum and learnt
of the people's history and traditions. Penang's cultural influences
come from three basic groups. The Chinese, the Malays and the
Balinese. For the girls, I saw traditional dowries, wedding gowns and
crockery. For the boys, the most awesome 'Ninja' swords. I also saw
an archway decoration from a Chinese home that would traditionally be
in the entrance hall. The entrance hall of the Chinese homes is an
open display of wealth. This is where the visitors wait for the
family when they visit (including your potential son-in-law's parents
one day) so it would hold all the best furniture to impress the
visitors and potential suitors. This archway was overwhelming – it
measured over 6 meters in length and at least 4 meters in height.
Marriage, for the Chinese was a way to expand your business network.
The Chinese group as a culture was rather small in Malaysia initially
so the wealthy Chinese preferred to intermarry to keep the wealth
amongst the wealth of their cultural group. Of course you read all
this and it all seems to make 'history text book' sense and then you
see the old faded photographs of the wedding ceremonies – these brides
and grooms look about eight or nine on their wedding day – it is
frightening. However, marriage today is, hopefully very different to
what marriage meant then. Regardless – it does make me feel a little
past my sell-by date when you see an eight year old in a wedding dress
;-)
Despite this glorious history, the island has a vast amount of poverty
and homeless people. There are houses and temples that have been
deserted years ago and entire gardens have grown over, in and through
them, giving them almost completely giving them an ethereal quality,
which kept me snapping away like only I can…
The following day we were collected at around 11am Thai time, 12 noon
Malaysian time. We loaded our bags in the bus at our hotel, climbed
into the bus and began our 12 hour trip home…just as I was settling
in, literally 5 seconds after we began driving, the driver pulled over
and said "Lunch time!" It was so funny – it felt like de ja vous or
something. We ate at an Indian restaurant – I took one look at this
food with the richest, warmest colours of an artist's palette and
thought – it all looks SO good but I doubt my stomachs going to
handle this… I am proud to say that I ate the delicious food amidst a
bunch of stuck up foreigners with equally stuck up noses and thoroughly
enjoyed it. I am beginning to feel braver and braver with my food…we
finally did get on the road shortly afterwards, collected our
passports with no issues and drove through Malaysia in daylight which
we could now enjoy. It is countryside that is easy on the eyes. At
some stage, around an hour north of the Malaysian border, we passed an
area of Thailand that had recently had extremely heavy rains. The
water had flooded across the road, through houses, shops and had
swamped the landscape. People were simply carrying on as usual. I
feel so used to seeing these sights on TV but it is quiet scary when
you are driving amidst these people…living like that.
Getting to see the odd bit of Thailand and meeting the people at good
old Seven Eleven – I finally understood why they call Thailand the
'land of smiles'. Complete strangers would beam a 'mother's love'
kind of smile to me and greet me. What a warm experience…I feel like
the local people in Phuket have just been over-exposed to unfriendly
'farang' or foreigners to be known as part of the 'land of smiles'
anymore… but it was good to see. I didn't sleep much on the way home
as the driver we had was on the opposite end of the scale from our
driver on our way up there. Roaring up people's backsides, screeching
to a halt, smashing the accelerator while passing them on blind rises
with on-coming traffic – he was a mad man and I understood why Dan had
described our first driver as "Good. He's very good. No, seriously,
he's a really good driver. We're very lucky. He's very good." Our
stop for supper was at a charming little restaurant – I have no idea
where…! It was like a little log cabin amidst a wild garden with
fairy lights…on our way there we got to choose our menu which went
something along the lines of:
Chicken fried rice
Chicken fried rice with Basil
Beef fried rice
Beef fried rice with chillies
I went with Chicken fried rice, one of my new favourite meals, mainly
because of the price, but it is made really well here. In we went
into this charming setting for our dinner which we were all ravenous
for. We sat at the table and were served a delicious ton-yung soup.
This was the same soup which I was served on my first night in Bangkok
– the one I gagged at when I tasted its very strong flavour – and
guess what – I devoured the delicious bowl – it seems my taste buds
are adjusting ;-) Then I moved on to this brightly coloured chicken
fried rice…now, there is something you should know about me, I have a great appreciation
for food, cooking and spices, herbs etc but unfortunately my taste
buds cannot always share this appreciation as they cannot handle spicy
food – they go a little mad when I put pepper in my mouth. However,
everything here is SO spicy that I am thrilled to say – my little
taste buds are being fried and evolving…the thing is, is that the food
here is SO amazing that even if it is spicy (and you have retarded
taste buds) you cannot stop eating it. So I begin devouring this very
colourful Chicken fried rice on basil when I'm thinking wow, food is
so good, I'm so hungry and my taste buds are going "%*$£ What are you
feeding me?" I begin to examine my meal carefully…Ah, yes – those
lovely colourful red and green peppers…are actually chillies. No
problem taste buds, we'll put the chillies aside – 'cause there's no
way in hell I'm stopping this awesome meal half way though… Sadly
though, my taste buds were not having it – they were still yelling
naughty words ant me and I was forced to yet again, inspect my meal to
satisfy this petulant child of mine… "Oh, ok – I see what you're on
about" Removing the garnishing chillies was not enough, there were
also finely sliced and diced chillies well mixed into my fried rice.
"Well," I said, getting slightly impatient with this whining – "You're
just going to have to deal with it. – because like I said earlier,
this food is good and I'm hungry." and those two words don't normally
go in a sentence together because when I'm hungry I don't talk, I eat…
That is how my first 'chillie meal came to be eaten. I was so proud
of myself that I had the widest grin on my face – that is until I
began to smell the after effects of the meal in the bus from one of
our fellow passengers…
Friday, 5 December was Father's day in Thailand. This is not the father's
day I am used to where we give gifts to our
dads for being special fathers to us, it is because it is the King's
birthday. Should you wish to you can treat your father to something
as well though. So if it is the King's birthday, it is therefore a
public holiday and we get the day off school. Yey!!!! We were only
required to wear our bright yellow 'King's shirt' to a function that
evening. I was still suffering some of the after-effects from a
relatively safe looking restaurant across the street from me where
a friend and I had eaten lunch and I'd ordered chicken stir fry and I
was served seafood stir fry. So…as much as I didn't want to share
that with you – I had to convey how much I did NOT want to be at this
event one way or another…forgive me. So my mood was pessimistic on
the evening of the 5th, always keeping my eye out for the nearest
bathroom – which I really did not want to have to discover. The event
took place at Sa ha hin, in an open
arena. We were the only group of farangs at this event, just about
everybody else was Thai and we looked like a sea of marigolds in our
king shirt's. We wondered around before things got started (as it
always seems to happen in Thailand). There is a nearby pond which had
a giant sea serpent with lotus flowers made out of neon coloured
fabric and wire – which looked very festive from a distance. The
actual stage had an over sized picture of the king, the Thai and King's
flag and it was garnished in gold accents, marigold flowers, incense,
candles and spirit houses. It was lovely to look at…for the first
hour. Then I began to get over this whole event. My body was weak
and we were standing the whole time, doing nothing in particular. I
only understood every 400th word – no jokes, and I think I only
understood it because it was the name of my school or a greeting.
When the thanks were finally over and some random people had gone up
on stage to do whatever they were doing up there, we sang the King's
song. Some of us had bought candles from locals, which are small,
colourful candles, held in a cup with a marigold or frangie pangie at
the base, it looks very festive and beautiful. So at this point, the
candles are lit and the lights put out. The only light was shining on
the king's picture and coming from our candles – the golden light that
surrounded the event was breathtaking. My mood lifted instantly. The
candles were then blown out and the fireworks began – What a show!
So it felt so worth being there in the end…
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Thai-ing up loose ends
Life never seems to mind who we are. However, there is always a consequence for our actions... a prime example of this is someone - like me - who starts a blog with the best intentions of writing regularly about her messy life and thrives on the feedback she gets but... (here's life's little payback) when she becomes bad about writing regularly, life subtly says "I told you so" by getting her utterly confused as to where to start when she does eventually sit down to write... that's where I'm at now.
Right, so last I wrote I was jetting off to Thailand quiet soon. I am now here and have been for, I believe just over two months. It has been incredibly challenging due to various circumstances I don't wish to go into but at the same time the natural beauty that surrounds you is nothing short of breathtaking. During the very adverse times I was experiencing, I foolishly reached out to my ex. I cried for him every night and felt like I had made a huge mistake by leaving for such a long time. He was his usual self, sending me a total of two messages since I've been here. He has been better with his emails but nothing to put him out. On the other hand, there is Dave, the guy I broke up with (pretty much 'cause I'm still in love with my ex - but didn't say that to him) Dave - probably every other girl's dream guy, who treated me so amazingly but someone who I simply loved because I was so desperate to be appreciated and needed someone so to badly help me heal. He did this, he helped me re-build my self-confidence. That job has by no means been completed but it is getting there. Having broken up with him, when he fell in love so quickly, has left me wanting to avoid relationships at all costs. I cannot do it. I have decided I absolutely SUCK at breaking up with people. I lose it completely, I sob my eyes out and I'm a wreck for at least a week afterwards, in Tristan's case (big relationship) I'm still not over it and all that happened, when...? April or May I think.
So....Tristan and I have been messaging pretty regularly and have basically admitted to each other that we are missing each other like hell, battling each day out and still don't feel any different from the day we broke up, which pretty much is:
Tristan: He loves me, somethings not right and he doesn't want to break up.
Me: I love him, I wouldn't put up with being treated the way he treated and spoke to me anymore, I'm still in love with him, I'm crazy about him but I want to break up - I have to if I have any self-respect.
And I did have to. The relationship was affecting everything from my spirit, my health and my choices. I have improved vastly in these areas since the break up and I am so proud of myself...pretty much for not committing suicide over this whole thing because.......well, lets be honest, it's been such a shit time and SO bloody tough.
That out the way (bit of background) I finally got everything sorted that was way out of place when I first arrived and I began my English teaching career to Thai children. The short experience I've had so far has been amazing. The thing I've found most amusing is the names of the kids, they get English nick-names and they are really named after the strangest nouns, feelings and even animals. Unfortunately I'm working at a wealthy school (though not in terms of their payment to the teachers!) so the kids aren't overly grateful for their education like I was told to expect and they are there for a full working day, which makes for tired little children who really cannot concentrate for so long. Despite this, I have started to bond with them and am already so involved in all of their lives. I have loved the teaching, it has always been like a 'backup' career for me as it is something that I think comes naturally to me due to me being raised by 'teacher parents' or my love for children, or a combination of this, I'm not sure.
The hardest thing has been making friends, I think it's a good thing, but I realised once I got here that everyone who comes to Thailand has come here with someone - be it a boyfriend, friend, sister/brother or at least met someone here at the airport and moved in with them for the first few months...and here's me COMPLETELY going it alone...but again - I'm proud of myself because I can now say I've done it....without any help - except of course the support I've had from God, which has without a doubt, got me through this all. My point for raising this is that before I came here and had to break Dave's heart (after breaking Tristan's heart and having him constantly remind me of it) is that I decided to be single...I was single for a sum total of about a month and a half between Tristan and Dave and Tristan and I were together for 7 years so I really have not had all that much time to myself, to discover myself or even get to know myself. So this was my time to be single, however I'm not really good at it (as you can see from my time frames listed above!) I crave guy's attention and anything I get, I live off. I think this has a lot to do with my Dad running all over with other women, I quickly learnt (in a very childish manner, I'll put it as:) any attention I could get from him, I had to make that last for the times he was too busy to give me his time. So that's how I've landed here. Someone (a lovely new friend I have in Thailand) said to me when I was giving her a bit of my background, "Wow, you've got a lot of men in your life." I'd never thought of me being like that and I don't particularly like it, but she has a point. Tristan is still a big part of me, we message around 3 or 4 times a week for a few hours, Dave calls or emails at least once a week (and he's coming over to visit!!!! Another story there but when like I said, he fell in love and thought this was the real deal....I wasn't kidding!) I've got another 'friend' who I believe is interested but hasn't said as much (he has a girlfriend who up until a few months ago he was planning on proposing to but now he's changed his mind, broken up with her and since gotten back together) but he wants to come here and work near me for a couple of months. Then of course there is that guy I have a crush on and am infatuated with which I was sure was completely one sided who was texting me for a couple of hours the other day while his girlfriend was out....look at that list - I sound like such a slut! Thank goodness I've only been with two of them but come on, it is not normal for one girl to have this many guys in her life...talk about issues.
My worst days are when I decide to have a chilled day at home, these tend to be so miserable and depressing because I have to face the loneliness and acknowledge to myself that without the hustle and bustle surrounding my work, I am still struggling and miss Tristan with everything I have, the pain is raw and I miss him with every fibre of my being when I do finally face up to it. I love him so intensely and I hate him for letting things get to this. He is the boy who rules my heart. I was looking at photos last night and just looking at him, it felt so unnatural not to be with him and not to be his. I hate him so much for not making an effort to keep me or let me know how he feels. I hate him for not fighting for me, for what he said to me and how he treated me and for loving me but not showing me or treating me how he should. We had everything and I hate him because we don't have that anymore. I know I shouldn't blame him but these are quiet simply my feelings, raw and exposed. I hate myself for blaming and hating him but at the core of all of this is my love for him - he was my first love and our love conquered so much and cost me so much but I don't know if I'll ever fully recover from it. To be honest, I don't even know if I want to...
Right, so last I wrote I was jetting off to Thailand quiet soon. I am now here and have been for, I believe just over two months. It has been incredibly challenging due to various circumstances I don't wish to go into but at the same time the natural beauty that surrounds you is nothing short of breathtaking. During the very adverse times I was experiencing, I foolishly reached out to my ex. I cried for him every night and felt like I had made a huge mistake by leaving for such a long time. He was his usual self, sending me a total of two messages since I've been here. He has been better with his emails but nothing to put him out. On the other hand, there is Dave, the guy I broke up with (pretty much 'cause I'm still in love with my ex - but didn't say that to him) Dave - probably every other girl's dream guy, who treated me so amazingly but someone who I simply loved because I was so desperate to be appreciated and needed someone so to badly help me heal. He did this, he helped me re-build my self-confidence. That job has by no means been completed but it is getting there. Having broken up with him, when he fell in love so quickly, has left me wanting to avoid relationships at all costs. I cannot do it. I have decided I absolutely SUCK at breaking up with people. I lose it completely, I sob my eyes out and I'm a wreck for at least a week afterwards, in Tristan's case (big relationship) I'm still not over it and all that happened, when...? April or May I think.
So....Tristan and I have been messaging pretty regularly and have basically admitted to each other that we are missing each other like hell, battling each day out and still don't feel any different from the day we broke up, which pretty much is:
Tristan: He loves me, somethings not right and he doesn't want to break up.
Me: I love him, I wouldn't put up with being treated the way he treated and spoke to me anymore, I'm still in love with him, I'm crazy about him but I want to break up - I have to if I have any self-respect.
And I did have to. The relationship was affecting everything from my spirit, my health and my choices. I have improved vastly in these areas since the break up and I am so proud of myself...pretty much for not committing suicide over this whole thing because.......well, lets be honest, it's been such a shit time and SO bloody tough.
That out the way (bit of background) I finally got everything sorted that was way out of place when I first arrived and I began my English teaching career to Thai children. The short experience I've had so far has been amazing. The thing I've found most amusing is the names of the kids, they get English nick-names and they are really named after the strangest nouns, feelings and even animals. Unfortunately I'm working at a wealthy school (though not in terms of their payment to the teachers!) so the kids aren't overly grateful for their education like I was told to expect and they are there for a full working day, which makes for tired little children who really cannot concentrate for so long. Despite this, I have started to bond with them and am already so involved in all of their lives. I have loved the teaching, it has always been like a 'backup' career for me as it is something that I think comes naturally to me due to me being raised by 'teacher parents' or my love for children, or a combination of this, I'm not sure.
The hardest thing has been making friends, I think it's a good thing, but I realised once I got here that everyone who comes to Thailand has come here with someone - be it a boyfriend, friend, sister/brother or at least met someone here at the airport and moved in with them for the first few months...and here's me COMPLETELY going it alone...but again - I'm proud of myself because I can now say I've done it....without any help - except of course the support I've had from God, which has without a doubt, got me through this all. My point for raising this is that before I came here and had to break Dave's heart (after breaking Tristan's heart and having him constantly remind me of it) is that I decided to be single...I was single for a sum total of about a month and a half between Tristan and Dave and Tristan and I were together for 7 years so I really have not had all that much time to myself, to discover myself or even get to know myself. So this was my time to be single, however I'm not really good at it (as you can see from my time frames listed above!) I crave guy's attention and anything I get, I live off. I think this has a lot to do with my Dad running all over with other women, I quickly learnt (in a very childish manner, I'll put it as:) any attention I could get from him, I had to make that last for the times he was too busy to give me his time. So that's how I've landed here. Someone (a lovely new friend I have in Thailand) said to me when I was giving her a bit of my background, "Wow, you've got a lot of men in your life." I'd never thought of me being like that and I don't particularly like it, but she has a point. Tristan is still a big part of me, we message around 3 or 4 times a week for a few hours, Dave calls or emails at least once a week (and he's coming over to visit!!!! Another story there but when like I said, he fell in love and thought this was the real deal....I wasn't kidding!) I've got another 'friend' who I believe is interested but hasn't said as much (he has a girlfriend who up until a few months ago he was planning on proposing to but now he's changed his mind, broken up with her and since gotten back together) but he wants to come here and work near me for a couple of months. Then of course there is that guy I have a crush on and am infatuated with which I was sure was completely one sided who was texting me for a couple of hours the other day while his girlfriend was out....look at that list - I sound like such a slut! Thank goodness I've only been with two of them but come on, it is not normal for one girl to have this many guys in her life...talk about issues.
My worst days are when I decide to have a chilled day at home, these tend to be so miserable and depressing because I have to face the loneliness and acknowledge to myself that without the hustle and bustle surrounding my work, I am still struggling and miss Tristan with everything I have, the pain is raw and I miss him with every fibre of my being when I do finally face up to it. I love him so intensely and I hate him for letting things get to this. He is the boy who rules my heart. I was looking at photos last night and just looking at him, it felt so unnatural not to be with him and not to be his. I hate him so much for not making an effort to keep me or let me know how he feels. I hate him for not fighting for me, for what he said to me and how he treated me and for loving me but not showing me or treating me how he should. We had everything and I hate him because we don't have that anymore. I know I shouldn't blame him but these are quiet simply my feelings, raw and exposed. I hate myself for blaming and hating him but at the core of all of this is my love for him - he was my first love and our love conquered so much and cost me so much but I don't know if I'll ever fully recover from it. To be honest, I don't even know if I want to...
Monday, October 6, 2008
Why do fools fall in love...?
I'm leaving really soon so thought I'd finally have this cup of coffee with Tristan, my serious relationship ex...We landed up having coffee for 5 hours...it was really good. We've only seen each other once briefly since the breakup and the coffee went smoother than I could have imagined. We chatted through things and it was really hard to hear a lot of it but things needed to be said. I think the hardest thing is hearing him talk about other girls. He's hardly been with anyone and was horrified when he heard the odd person I'd been with, he said, "how many guys have you been with?" Shame, I think it's normally the guy who goes wild after a breakup and he thinks its the other way around. He also said, "I hope you aren't going home with all these guys" and I felt like telling him that he was actually insulting me, it's like he doesn't know me at all. Anyway, the rest of the coffee went well, occasionally we subtly tuned each other. He asked if I'd cheated on Dave and I said no, so he said, "Wow, he got off lucky hey". 'Cause I cheated on Tristan which is something I've always said I'd never ever do - but that's another whole long story. Things are still hurting but we left on a really good note... actually too good. We landed up having a good night kiss and it's amazing how good it feels when you've wanted it for so long...how right it feels, Its a bit of a mindf*%k.
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Major changes
I am so ashamed at having not written in so long. My apologies, however, I think you should know there have been some MAJOR changes in my life. Uh, OK - since I last wrote, I've been retrenched - which is good - I was planning on travelling to the States but my visa was denied. I was so traumatised by this but its since then that I've realised it obviously wasn't the plan for me. I've broken up with the divine, perfect guy I was going out with - Dave because I've decided I'm actually not in a place where I can be in another relationship right now and I'm desperate to travel and I really don't think that after being together for a month or two we can now launch into a long-distance relationship for a year. He's really hurting. He didn't want it at all but he was amazing about it. He was far more understanding about my decision than my ex. He didn't fight me at all on it, which was weird.
Anyway - I've got a job in Thailand and I've got a visa (at last) I leave very soon and am so excited for this new adventure in my life. Anyways, I thought I would have a farewell get-together for all my friends, family etc to say cheers and I now invited both my exes. Now before you shoot me down for doing something that is simply 'not done ever', give me a little credit...I know these guys really well. I was sure neither of them would come... I had to invite them cause I really wanted to say good bye so I couldn't not invite them and I couldn't choose one...Their reasons for not coming were: (Dave) "It would be awkward" and (ex) "It would be wrong". Please. Get a backbone! So, I had a lovely get-together with family, friends and a few randoms that just rocked up and really enjoyed my night.
So that's a quick catchup from me and in hopefully my next post will be from Thailand... mmm. In closing, I'll leave you with a question...I have a crush - it's a guy I am sure hasn't noticed me in that way as yet and we're related by marriage (sounds dodgy, I know but if you saw this guy - you'd understand). He is so different from any guy I've ever been with. He's outgoing, confident, fun, adventurous and like I said, so different. He also has a girlfriend - the first girl since I've known him (about four years) that he's fallen in love with. Obviously, I haven't done anything as I'm very opposed to cheating etc. But what do you do in this situation when ignoring it just makes it nag some more....? I'd love to hear your takes on it... Until next time, have an awesome day x
Anyway - I've got a job in Thailand and I've got a visa (at last) I leave very soon and am so excited for this new adventure in my life. Anyways, I thought I would have a farewell get-together for all my friends, family etc to say cheers and I now invited both my exes. Now before you shoot me down for doing something that is simply 'not done ever', give me a little credit...I know these guys really well. I was sure neither of them would come... I had to invite them cause I really wanted to say good bye so I couldn't not invite them and I couldn't choose one...Their reasons for not coming were: (Dave) "It would be awkward" and (ex) "It would be wrong". Please. Get a backbone! So, I had a lovely get-together with family, friends and a few randoms that just rocked up and really enjoyed my night.
So that's a quick catchup from me and in hopefully my next post will be from Thailand... mmm. In closing, I'll leave you with a question...I have a crush - it's a guy I am sure hasn't noticed me in that way as yet and we're related by marriage (sounds dodgy, I know but if you saw this guy - you'd understand). He is so different from any guy I've ever been with. He's outgoing, confident, fun, adventurous and like I said, so different. He also has a girlfriend - the first girl since I've known him (about four years) that he's fallen in love with. Obviously, I haven't done anything as I'm very opposed to cheating etc. But what do you do in this situation when ignoring it just makes it nag some more....? I'd love to hear your takes on it... Until next time, have an awesome day x
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Since I've been Gone....
Right, so I promised myself the other day that I had to write another post before a month since my last one (shocking! I know) so here we are. Right, since the last post, if I thought I was in love, I know I am now, but I often feel like there's something missing – I cant’ put my finger on it. In the meantime let me explain what I’ve been up to….
I suddenly realized about three weeks ago how important Dave has become in my life. I had a bad day at work and wanted to get Dave’s opinion on something (and just wanted to talk to him) and a friend of his answered – I laughed and said, “oh dear, did u guys have a fine’s evening after the game tonight?” thinking he was a bit drunk as he’d just played his last game and she said, “No, I’m in the Ambulance with him.” I thought she was joking. She explained that he’d taken a bad knock during the game and had been concussed for 5 minutes and convulsed. They were in the ambulance taking his blood pressure etc and on the way to the Hospital. I broke down, I cried and cried and cried and joltingly realized how much he’d come to mean to me in this short space of time. I couldn’t do anything for the rest of the night. I was restless and considering driving down to see him but I held out. I eventually decided to go down at about 11pm. Some other people were there too but Dave was strapped in a neck brace still in casualty, he was quiet pale and still dirty with grazes and grass everywhere, looking so uncomfortable. Because there wasn’t a bed available in that city, he then had to be transferred by ambulance to another Hospital into high care. We eventually left him quiet settled when we were kicked out at about 2:30am. I was back at the hospital at 7am to see what the neurosurgeon had to say when he’d seen him at 6/6:30 AM but the x-rays and reports had not been transferred when Dave had come across and so, he couldn’t make a call. I tried to follow this up but was a case of asking the nurse what she suggest I do to get these documents across here asap (bearing in mind it’s just an email that has to be sent) and she told me to speak to the ‘head’ nurse, who told me to go to reception. Reception told me to go to their x-ray department who explained that they were completely separate from the original hospital’s x-ray department – You get the picture…it’s a nightmare. I eventually went and fetched the hard copy myself (a 45min round trip drive is quicker than sending an email????!!!!) I arrived back at 9:30 with clean clothes for Dave and the hard copy of x-rays. Unfortunately, the reports on the x-rays weren’t ready and I was promised that those would be faxed through when they were. Dave seemed a little better at this stage and later went for a walk around. Visiting hours were from 11 – 11:30 because High Care is situated in ICU, so I hung around until then and visited him for that time, which was the first time I got to see him properly. When I came back at 11, he thanked me for all I’d done, driving down etc, said I shouldn’t have but I made his night. At this point he was looking like a puppy in a cage – he seemed 100% and dying to get out. I left around lunch time yesterday to come back to work thinking he’d be released that afternoon. He only saw the neurosurgeon at about 7:30pm on the second night and was fed up when he was told he had to stay the night again and possibly the next. Poor sausage was there for another 2 nights.
He’s doing well, which is the main thing. This is apparently standard for someone who has had convulsions after a concussion. He had his drip taken out on the second day and was moved to a general ward. He came out of hospital on his third morning and went back to work from midday to the afternoon.
Now, as you know, I had a surprise coming my way from Dave for my birthday, however I didn’t think it was going to happen because of what had happened to him that week but he insisted it was still on. I could not wait… I have never had a surprise birthday and Dave planned this for me about 3 weeks before my birthday (when we’d barely started going out!) So I have to share it with you…
On Friday afternoon I headed down to him and I was dying to see him after his incident earlier in the week and he was only discharged from hospital that morning. He was a little on edge but I think he’d just wanted things to be a little more organized than they were. He’d bought wine, snacks etc for beforehand and we caught up with each other’s weeks. He took me to an upmarket restaurant that I just love, we had a quaint table right near the feature of the restaurant and the Waiter who sat us down announced that once you’ve sat at this table as a couple, you’ll never be apart again…a little corny I know, but it was sweet. Once we’d settled, our conversation led us towards the past weeks events. I explained to him that I’d completely lost it after I’d heard he was in an ambulance. I fell apart and cried my eyes out. I could not believe that this guy who I’d known for such a short time could bear so much on me and my life and how much I’ve come to care for him. I realized all of this in the space of a few seconds, which is why I did the most irrational act of driving down at stupid-o’clock. It was at this point that I expected him to laugh and sit back with an expression of “where’s the nearest door? This chick is mad”. Instead that he told me that although he’d told his friend (whom I was in touch with on the night of the accident) that I must go home and not come down that evening, yet when I walked into the emergency room, he was immediately relieved. I was so flattered by this, as he had one of his closest friends, a colleague and his brother around the bed. He said he was so happy to see me the next morning (Wednesday) and twice more after he thought I’d left. It really meant a lot to him and his words meant so much to me. Darling Dave then impulsively lent across the table after I’d spilt my feelings and promptly knocked over his glass! This of course gave me the absolute giggles and transported the evening atmosphere from heavy to light once more.
On Saturday, Dave woke me up with coffee in bed (my favourite) and he sent me on a treasure hunt for my birthday present. Bearing in mind that he’s taken me out for supper the night before and only known me for a little over a month, he bought me speakers and a front-loader for my music-less car!!!!! He said I stared at it for about a minute before turning to look at him. I was gob smacked to say the least! I cannot believe the effort and energy and everything that he puts into me! As if this wasn’t enough, he made me flapjacks for breakfast! I felt so spoilt! After this, we headed for the Coast for a friend of mine’s birthday where we stayed at a backpackers. We had the most divine time chilling after a very stressful week and spent most of the time at the beach. It was the most wonderful birthday that I’ve had in quiet some time. I thanked him once more as I was leaving, for everything he’d done for me over the weekend and for spoiling me and his response was, “You deserve it.”
What I absolutely love about him is that he can be going through the busiest time at work (I’m talking working Sundays, evenings and early mornings) and he’ll drop me an email just to say “Before my day starts to spin and I get lost in it! I just want to say you’re on my mind and can’t wait to see you again.” My feelings for this soft little soul are growing daily and I just wanted to share that with you because you know where I’ve been and I wish I knew where I was going…!
I suddenly realized about three weeks ago how important Dave has become in my life. I had a bad day at work and wanted to get Dave’s opinion on something (and just wanted to talk to him) and a friend of his answered – I laughed and said, “oh dear, did u guys have a fine’s evening after the game tonight?” thinking he was a bit drunk as he’d just played his last game and she said, “No, I’m in the Ambulance with him.” I thought she was joking. She explained that he’d taken a bad knock during the game and had been concussed for 5 minutes and convulsed. They were in the ambulance taking his blood pressure etc and on the way to the Hospital. I broke down, I cried and cried and cried and joltingly realized how much he’d come to mean to me in this short space of time. I couldn’t do anything for the rest of the night. I was restless and considering driving down to see him but I held out. I eventually decided to go down at about 11pm. Some other people were there too but Dave was strapped in a neck brace still in casualty, he was quiet pale and still dirty with grazes and grass everywhere, looking so uncomfortable. Because there wasn’t a bed available in that city, he then had to be transferred by ambulance to another Hospital into high care. We eventually left him quiet settled when we were kicked out at about 2:30am. I was back at the hospital at 7am to see what the neurosurgeon had to say when he’d seen him at 6/6:30 AM but the x-rays and reports had not been transferred when Dave had come across and so, he couldn’t make a call. I tried to follow this up but was a case of asking the nurse what she suggest I do to get these documents across here asap (bearing in mind it’s just an email that has to be sent) and she told me to speak to the ‘head’ nurse, who told me to go to reception. Reception told me to go to their x-ray department who explained that they were completely separate from the original hospital’s x-ray department – You get the picture…it’s a nightmare. I eventually went and fetched the hard copy myself (a 45min round trip drive is quicker than sending an email????!!!!) I arrived back at 9:30 with clean clothes for Dave and the hard copy of x-rays. Unfortunately, the reports on the x-rays weren’t ready and I was promised that those would be faxed through when they were. Dave seemed a little better at this stage and later went for a walk around. Visiting hours were from 11 – 11:30 because High Care is situated in ICU, so I hung around until then and visited him for that time, which was the first time I got to see him properly. When I came back at 11, he thanked me for all I’d done, driving down etc, said I shouldn’t have but I made his night. At this point he was looking like a puppy in a cage – he seemed 100% and dying to get out. I left around lunch time yesterday to come back to work thinking he’d be released that afternoon. He only saw the neurosurgeon at about 7:30pm on the second night and was fed up when he was told he had to stay the night again and possibly the next. Poor sausage was there for another 2 nights.
He’s doing well, which is the main thing. This is apparently standard for someone who has had convulsions after a concussion. He had his drip taken out on the second day and was moved to a general ward. He came out of hospital on his third morning and went back to work from midday to the afternoon.
Now, as you know, I had a surprise coming my way from Dave for my birthday, however I didn’t think it was going to happen because of what had happened to him that week but he insisted it was still on. I could not wait… I have never had a surprise birthday and Dave planned this for me about 3 weeks before my birthday (when we’d barely started going out!) So I have to share it with you…
On Friday afternoon I headed down to him and I was dying to see him after his incident earlier in the week and he was only discharged from hospital that morning. He was a little on edge but I think he’d just wanted things to be a little more organized than they were. He’d bought wine, snacks etc for beforehand and we caught up with each other’s weeks. He took me to an upmarket restaurant that I just love, we had a quaint table right near the feature of the restaurant and the Waiter who sat us down announced that once you’ve sat at this table as a couple, you’ll never be apart again…a little corny I know, but it was sweet. Once we’d settled, our conversation led us towards the past weeks events. I explained to him that I’d completely lost it after I’d heard he was in an ambulance. I fell apart and cried my eyes out. I could not believe that this guy who I’d known for such a short time could bear so much on me and my life and how much I’ve come to care for him. I realized all of this in the space of a few seconds, which is why I did the most irrational act of driving down at stupid-o’clock. It was at this point that I expected him to laugh and sit back with an expression of “where’s the nearest door? This chick is mad”. Instead that he told me that although he’d told his friend (whom I was in touch with on the night of the accident) that I must go home and not come down that evening, yet when I walked into the emergency room, he was immediately relieved. I was so flattered by this, as he had one of his closest friends, a colleague and his brother around the bed. He said he was so happy to see me the next morning (Wednesday) and twice more after he thought I’d left. It really meant a lot to him and his words meant so much to me. Darling Dave then impulsively lent across the table after I’d spilt my feelings and promptly knocked over his glass! This of course gave me the absolute giggles and transported the evening atmosphere from heavy to light once more.
On Saturday, Dave woke me up with coffee in bed (my favourite) and he sent me on a treasure hunt for my birthday present. Bearing in mind that he’s taken me out for supper the night before and only known me for a little over a month, he bought me speakers and a front-loader for my music-less car!!!!! He said I stared at it for about a minute before turning to look at him. I was gob smacked to say the least! I cannot believe the effort and energy and everything that he puts into me! As if this wasn’t enough, he made me flapjacks for breakfast! I felt so spoilt! After this, we headed for the Coast for a friend of mine’s birthday where we stayed at a backpackers. We had the most divine time chilling after a very stressful week and spent most of the time at the beach. It was the most wonderful birthday that I’ve had in quiet some time. I thanked him once more as I was leaving, for everything he’d done for me over the weekend and for spoiling me and his response was, “You deserve it.”
What I absolutely love about him is that he can be going through the busiest time at work (I’m talking working Sundays, evenings and early mornings) and he’ll drop me an email just to say “Before my day starts to spin and I get lost in it! I just want to say you’re on my mind and can’t wait to see you again.” My feelings for this soft little soul are growing daily and I just wanted to share that with you because you know where I’ve been and I wish I knew where I was going…!
Monday, July 14, 2008
The Weekend
It was my ex's and my anniversary this weekend - that was a tough one. Apart from that on Thursday evening my family and friends went to dinner and a show at a Supper Theatre to celebrate my birthday. I had the most wonderful evening and killed myself laughing right the way through the show. Afterwards, the young 'uns went on the town but not much was open so we landed up going to the new boyfriend's place and chilled, should we give him a name...? I think yes, lets call him David. Friday evening Dave came to my house, some 100 km from his place to house sit with me. Saturday he had a rugby game which I watched and really enjoyed and yesterday we went to the beach in the morning and back up to my place in the afternoon and chilled with my parents, brother and his girlfriend. I decided to have this celebration early because the show finished yesterday and Dave asked if he could take me out for my birthday. I cannot believe it. For so long I hinted to my ex for some kind of a surprise, I even threw him a couple of surprise parties to show him how much fun they were. Even if he'd just made a reservation for us for a celebration would have been enough but a few years ago I gave up. Here is this boy who I have known for probably two months and he is so excited to give me this 'surprise' on Friday night. So I'm so amped and dying to know where we're going.
I'll try and describe him as best I can. I wouldn't say he's amazingly good looking but he has quirks that I'm starting to love about him and that I find incredibly endearing. He plays rugby socially, is very musical and I think he's a romantic at heart. He's an absolute Gentleman. Holds doors open, pours drinks, keeps them topped up etc etc. At the end of last week, I was beginning to worry that I was indulging too much, I felt like he was giving and giving and giving and I was only taking. I chatted to him about this and explained that I felt like I was indulging in his attention and affections etc. He said he hadn't' seen that at all, he said he hadn't given it a second thought and then pointed out that I've been driving up and down to his place nearly every weekend and driving up early on Monday mornings for work and he felt that my commitment was more that there, so that made me feel a whole lot better.
He's a good guy and I think he really likes me. I'm falling for him so hard and fast, its actually ridiculous. The funniest part of all of this is that my parents are crazy about him too! My Step dad says Dave adores me in the way that he always said my ex should have. My mum says she hasn't really seen it yet but she's blown away by his behavior in the stories I tell her. Like when Dave brought me home last night, his second trip to my house that weekend, my mum chuckled and said, "Wow, when I think of how we had to fetch and carry you from your ex's..." so I've got the thumbs up from both of them, which is awesome.
Another slightly amusing thing is, we went for an ice cream yesterday and when we found a table, Dave pulled a chair out and I started sitting down on another chair and he gestured to the chair he'd pulled out for me to sit at and I suddenly realized it was for me and apologized for sitting somewhere else - it must have looked so rude and when I apologized and said I hadn't realized it was for me, he said, "You're also not used to that being done for you." That's truer than he knows! But I also think a couple of things have happened like that that I haven't even realized simply because, I'm not used to it and I think he's realizing more and more about my past relationship as time goes on.
When we started getting semi-serious but not going out yet, I asked him what he liked about me and he said he thought I had the most awesome sense of humour, I was witty, quick, gentle, compassionate blah blah blah. And I remember thinking, some people have told me I'm pretty...I don't know if you've noticed anything... But you know what I've realized? I've always placed SO much importance on it because of the emphasis my dad and my ex have always placed on that. I have ALWAYS wanted to be with someone that loves me for me. My personality needs to be what they love about me because my looks will go - and that is something that always worried me about being with my ex, would he still love me after my youth? Very deep, I know, but I really am feeling good about the situation. Dave has since told me that I'm beautiful and I'm really glad that things have happened in that order. Ah, I cannot tell you how good he is to me. I went to his house this weekend and didn't lift a finger. He cooks, washes, helps out when I do anything. If I try and help him cook, he sits me down and pours me a glass of wine. VERY hard to get used to but can you believe it, I think I'm falling in love with him.... I cannot wait for Friday night...
I'll try and describe him as best I can. I wouldn't say he's amazingly good looking but he has quirks that I'm starting to love about him and that I find incredibly endearing. He plays rugby socially, is very musical and I think he's a romantic at heart. He's an absolute Gentleman. Holds doors open, pours drinks, keeps them topped up etc etc. At the end of last week, I was beginning to worry that I was indulging too much, I felt like he was giving and giving and giving and I was only taking. I chatted to him about this and explained that I felt like I was indulging in his attention and affections etc. He said he hadn't' seen that at all, he said he hadn't given it a second thought and then pointed out that I've been driving up and down to his place nearly every weekend and driving up early on Monday mornings for work and he felt that my commitment was more that there, so that made me feel a whole lot better.
He's a good guy and I think he really likes me. I'm falling for him so hard and fast, its actually ridiculous. The funniest part of all of this is that my parents are crazy about him too! My Step dad says Dave adores me in the way that he always said my ex should have. My mum says she hasn't really seen it yet but she's blown away by his behavior in the stories I tell her. Like when Dave brought me home last night, his second trip to my house that weekend, my mum chuckled and said, "Wow, when I think of how we had to fetch and carry you from your ex's..." so I've got the thumbs up from both of them, which is awesome.
Another slightly amusing thing is, we went for an ice cream yesterday and when we found a table, Dave pulled a chair out and I started sitting down on another chair and he gestured to the chair he'd pulled out for me to sit at and I suddenly realized it was for me and apologized for sitting somewhere else - it must have looked so rude and when I apologized and said I hadn't realized it was for me, he said, "You're also not used to that being done for you." That's truer than he knows! But I also think a couple of things have happened like that that I haven't even realized simply because, I'm not used to it and I think he's realizing more and more about my past relationship as time goes on.
When we started getting semi-serious but not going out yet, I asked him what he liked about me and he said he thought I had the most awesome sense of humour, I was witty, quick, gentle, compassionate blah blah blah. And I remember thinking, some people have told me I'm pretty...I don't know if you've noticed anything... But you know what I've realized? I've always placed SO much importance on it because of the emphasis my dad and my ex have always placed on that. I have ALWAYS wanted to be with someone that loves me for me. My personality needs to be what they love about me because my looks will go - and that is something that always worried me about being with my ex, would he still love me after my youth? Very deep, I know, but I really am feeling good about the situation. Dave has since told me that I'm beautiful and I'm really glad that things have happened in that order. Ah, I cannot tell you how good he is to me. I went to his house this weekend and didn't lift a finger. He cooks, washes, helps out when I do anything. If I try and help him cook, he sits me down and pours me a glass of wine. VERY hard to get used to but can you believe it, I think I'm falling in love with him.... I cannot wait for Friday night...
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