Da White Man's Land

Just in case there's someone out there who's been visiting this blog

Photo bombing the swan

And kept seeing the same dang post over and over again (I'm not being presumptuous, just trying to cover the bases), I'm sorry.

Truly I am. But I do have my fair share of excuses, one of them being the fact that I just came back from an entire week of sun, sand and sea in Thailand (Wow...I seem to be heading there a lot this year).


Also, if that last sentence made anyone depressed (I know I get that way when I hear about someone visiting awesome places whilst I'm stuck at home vegetating. Once again, just covering my tracks. Sorry folks.) You can pretend that I never said it and no one'll be the wiser.

Anyhoo...here it is guys.

Ao Nang, Krabi found my folks and I the way most towns find a lost family, absocompletely pooped from 7 hours of non-stop driving - by appearing out of nowhere in the darkness like a rio grande beach party. Like an oasis in the middle of a dessert. Liike a long string of repeated "Hey this place looks familiar"s.

The second I stepped out of our Proton, a stream of lightly salted wind hit my face and right away there stood the welcoming committee: Two neon lit rows of motels, hotels, bars, Irish pubs, 7-11s and way too many souvenir shops lining a road to the beach. For a Thai populated beach town, there's barely a Thai tourist in sight. Only westerners parade the streets in their colored bikinis, harem pants, cornrows and dreadlocks.

This da white man's land, baby.

It isn't too hard to get your bearings in Ao Nang, after a while you realize that the main tourist hub is just two roads leading towards the beach and connected at the bend where they face the sea, like one big smiley face. Or at least that's how I see it.

And so we walked, and talked, and ate, and shopped (I'm beginning to sound like a Dr. Seuss book here) whilst a husky voice crooned tunes from the sixties inside a pub opposite our street. I should probably introduce Mystery Husky Voice Guy now before i get ahead of myself. Josh is a Philippino singer working at one of the many bars dotted around Ao Nang and my god he's talented. So talented in fact, that I want to give a bear hug to this 29 year old father-to-be with his crazy bohemian ponytail and awesome keyboard skills.

Hug him till he faints.

I met Josh on our first night at Krabi while the rest of my family ate ice-creams at Swensens (MY GAWD the ice cream in Thailand is incredible...and cheap. But then again, I'm a girl, and I'm a teenager, so you do the math and figure out that I've got a figure to watch...darn). I took a couple shots of Josh and soon enough we hit it off. And it wasn't hard, this guy is seriously friendly, like Labrador Retriever friendly. He even invited me to belt out a few tunes with him. Gasp.

Me? Sing? In public? That's like, my worst nightmare and only dream all rolled into one. What could I say?


I said yes, of course.

It was as excruciating as it was fun, but hey, it was my last night. What was I supposed to do, say "Hey thanks but no thanks, I gotta go back to my hotel and count the ceiling tiles"? Yeah. Right.

I was bad, like, really really bad. But on the bright side, at least I know I can cut Performing Arts off my college application list next year. Yay.

Josh's bar...OK, its not his bar but you get it

Josh's face.

Tried to sculpt a Coke can

SUCCESS! (a subjective term)

True meditation: when a monkey pisses on you and you're OK with it

And finally: This happened when my book fell into the water. No photoshop. Seriously

[To be continued: The 1237 steps of hell - You guys are messed up. I love you, but you're messed up. - The best day ever - I officially declare eating my favorite hobby ]


Love,