KUTA BEACH – Its 6:30am in the morning. I wake suddenly. I peer over at the adjacent bed to find Desirae sleeping soundly propped up on a mountain of pillows with a mouth open so wide you could fit an entire danish in it. Perhaps it is what she was dreaming about. I on the other hand had been sleep just under three hours. I was restless thinking about the prospects of parting ways to finally reach the destination that I had longed for. Ubud.

I didn’t want to hang around the room to wait for my ride that was supposed to arrive at some point in the early afternoon. I got up, brushed my teeth and headed straight out the door with my backpack in tow. I figured I’d get some of that delicious breakfast the hotel was offering and spend the morning exploring a bit on the motorbike I had rented. The mornings in Bali seem to always be sunny. This one was no different.

Kuta Beach’s streets seem to always be full with cars and motorbikes. I was lucky this morning as the traffic was light. I was able to pick up the speed a bit cruising down the streets. My aim was to get lost… and that I did. I hadn’t strayed too far outside of Kuta before and kind of expected most of the streets to be similar to the narrower crumbled streets I had grown accustomed to. I made one turn too many and that’s when I saw the first traffic light I had ever seen in Bali. I thought there were none up until this point. The street became wide filled with cars, but mostly motorbikes and it suddenly dawned on me, “I am in morning rush hour traffic.”

I hadn’t yet become fully adept to driving alongside the Balinese. In Bali, the lanes painted on the road seem to be there only as a suggestion of where to drive. People drive on the left here mostly but it is very customary for vehicles to cross over into oncoming traffic regularly to pass slower driving vehicles. Imagine a racetrack with cars going in both directions. I started to understand why so many tourists were getting into accidents. It takes some getting used to. My lone respite is that I am a good driver (on 4 wheels) and that I don’t hesitate. Hesitation will kill you.

The only problem I was having was being carried too far down stream in this raging river of motorist. I figured I would just keep going and hope that the path would lead me back around to the beach. A couple of twists and turns later and I was back in familiar territory… Kuta Square. I walked into my favorite spot, Gloria Jean’s Coffee, ordered a latte and took out my laptop and began to work on some projects. I am lucky that my profession affords me to travel the world as I see fit. All I need is an internet connection.

Its 11:30am now and I am about to head back to the hotel. My aim is to time it right so that all I have to do is shower and leave. As soon as I pull into the hotel Gusti is pulling in right behind me. Impeccable timing. I lend him my bike so that he may run a quick few errands. I rush up to the room, take a quick shower, gather my things and meet back with Gusti who is waiting happily in the lobby.

Gusti is your typical Balinese sized man standing about 5 feet 5 inches with long wavy black hair fashioned in a single braid pony tail speckled with chestnut brown highlights. The first thing you notice about Gusti is his bright endearing smile that almost always is followed by a clever joke that would lighten anyone’s mood. I was incredibly happy to see him. He wondered at first why I was coming alone, but that didn’t last long once I told him about my ordeal. He explained that the first night he was driving me and Desirae around looking for a hotel the way that she was treating the Balinese people had them all calling her “Gila!” That’s the Indonesian word for “crazy.”

We both had a good laugh about it. I told him about my situation with my lost debit card and that I had on my person roughly 700,000 rupiah ($67). The humble and gracious nature of the Balinese began to shine through as Gusti asked me if I wanted to stay with him at his village. I quickly rescinded his kind offer for I needed to take responsibility for myself. He told me of a hotel where I could stay for roughly 300,000 rupiah a night. I figured I could hold out until one of my clients wired me a payment.

Before you know it we were where I had hoped to be the entire time… Ubud. The first thing Gusti asked me once we had crossed over into Ubud was, “Are you Hungry?” I didn’t even answer with a word. I just looked at him with a look of, “Hell yeah!” Then he said a few words in his clear but thick Balinese accent, “Come, now I show you… the Real Bali.”

Not soon after it began to pour down raining. I guess the gods of Bali wanted to emphasize that today was the first day of rainy season. We pulled up to this restaurant that was on the side of desolate street. It was raining so hard that Gusti decided to get out on my side which was the shortest path to dash into the restaurant.

In Bali, many of the restaurants are open to the elements. This one was no different. It was no bigger than a two-car garage; and I wouldn’t be surprised if it was actually a converted garage. There were no front walls, only steps. We quickly sat down as it was a nice shelter from the rain. Gusti grabbed some rice chips. Rice chips are about half the size of tortilla chips with a Styrofoam type texture to them. They are quite tasty depending on your preference of chip. Immediately after popping one in my mouth I got my first taste of what is unavoidable in most of these open-air eateries… the flies. If you’re not used to flies buzzing here and about trying to grab a mouthful of your food it may at first be off putting. After awhile you get used to it and just accept that you are eating outside with nature.

The dish was mixed rice with chicken and Balinese style mixed vegetables. The food was spicy but really tasty. I was actually taken by the flavor of the food. It explodes in your mouth! Satisfied with a good lunch I reached for the money in my pocket to cover the bill, but Gusti had already paid for it. Gusti was quickly showing me what type of person he was. He knew I was in a bit of a jam and offered his hospitality as if it were he in the same situation.

My First Real Balinese Meal

The rain died down just enough for us to make a quick escape back into the truck outside. The next order of business was to find lodging. Gusti offered to bring me to Puri Manik that was right off of the main road in Ubud. We pulled in and I was half expecting to be staying in a rundown motel type of place where I’d have to just grin and bare it. I didn’t expect much for 300,000 rupiah (about $30). That notion was quickly erased as soon as we pulled up. Although the hotel was no Ritz Carlton it was nice and quaint with a nice decor about the grounds. Statues and carvings were all around adorned with flowers and the greenest of shrubbery in every direction. We got the keys from the hotel attendant Made and checked the room. The room had everything you need for Balinese life. The floors were tiled and the windows big in order to let in that beautiful Bali sunshine in the morning. The bathroom has a translucent glass roof where bits of the foliage from outside had grown through the cracks giving it an earthy feel. The only thing that seemed out of place was the 19inch television sitting on a stand against the far wall. Without a moments hesitation I exclaimed, “I’ll take it!”

Once my bags were brought into the room I asked Gusti where could I rent a motorbike. Still being as gracious as he could be he told me I could borrow his bike as long as I needed it. I was elated to hear this news. I had no idea how key this gesture would become. He told me that he had a place he rented right around the corner from the hotel where he kept the bike. We were off.

Entrance to Gusti's Place

The place was literally about a minute away on the same road. This was my first real Balinese style dwelling I had ever entered. The entrance is an arched cutout of stone bricks where a deity figure stands right before you as you walk in complete with daily offerings. The Balinese people put offerings at the entrances, nooks and crannies of every building and living space. The offerings all include an assortment of flowers, food (usually a small amount of rice) and burning incense. Bali is called the “Land of the Gods” and the offerings scattered literally everywhere prove the devout faith of the Balinese people.

Once inside I noticed how all of the people that lived in the dwelling communed with each other in a fashion that I felt that they were all related. We walked over to Gusti’s bike and I couldn’t wait to get on it. Not that it was anything special, I just love the freedom that it provides. We walked the bike outside and Gusti began to give me a few instructions on how to navigate around Ubud. Just outside there was a man on a food cart cycling up the road. Gusti asked again if I was hungry. I wasn’t but I was interested in what was on the cart. The carts are common in Bali. They sell bakso. Bakso is chicken meatball in a broth. The man has to wait until you’re finished eating because he does not carry disposable bowls. The soup is good but, as I can see I better come accustomed to, spicy.

Bakso

Before I leave Gusti asks me if I want to attend a dance. I have no idea what its gonna be like but I need and want something to do. He tells me he will pick me up later in the night and then I motor off back to the hotel.

Later on after I rested a bit at the hotel Gusti showed up. I gathered my camera bag and we were off. This was my first taste of the country side of the Island. It was dark now. The seemingly infinite twisting roads make you uncomfortable at first because they are very narrow and there’s barely enough room to fit two cars side by side. Watching Gusti manage the roads as he does coming mere inches to the sides of roads and the mirrors of cars and bikes is something to behold.

We arrive at the temple where they are holding the dance. It is filled with vans and tourist buses. We get there just moments before the show begins and find our seats near the back of the outdoor theater. Normally the dance is held completely outdoors, but alas this is the rainy season. I pull out my camera and then they start the show.

The dance that we are to see performed is called Kecak. Kecak (pronounced [ˈketʃaʔ] is a form of Balinese dance and music drama. Also known as the Ramayana Monkey Chant, the piece, performed by a circle of 50 or more performers wearing checked cloth around their waists, percussively chanting “cak” and throwing up their arms, depicts a battle from the Ramayana where the monkey-like Vanara helped Prince Rama fight the evil King Ravana. However, Kecak has roots in sanghyang, a trance-inducing exorcism dance. Really the story plays as the Balinese version of Romeo and Juliet. A man fighting for the heart of a woman.

This was followed immediately after with an amazing “Fire Dance.” One of the performers dressed in a grass skirt the shape of a horse or dragon with a long tail sat patiently on the floor as a stage-hand prepared a fire in the middle of the stage.  Once the, what looks like, hay bricks were set a blaze in a 5 foot high fire the dance began. The performer did a serious of gestures that seemed to psyche him up to jump into a blazing hot fire bare foot. He jumped right in seemingly ass first into this heap of burning material and put the fire out. Not that it was enough he had to do it about 8 more times as the stage-hand kept lighting the fire back up. The performance ended in a literal blaze of glory.

Kecak

Kecak

We raced out to the car afterwards because it started raining. I don’t mean your typical drip drop it will soon pass over rain. This rain was making an all out blitzkrieg to the ground. It was relentless. The strangest thing to me was how the Balinese people sucked it up and road through it in their motorbikes with only Pancho style raincoats for protection. The thing about Bali roads are they are extremely curvy, hilly and narrow. Couple that fact that it was pitch black dark and there are no street lights to illuminate the streets. It was starting to concern me that we might get stuck because it inevitably started flooding. We arrived at one intersection that was at the bottom of a hill where three roads met. The water which was nearly a foot high in spots became a raging river at this fated intersection. I literally saw an Indonesian girl get swept from her motorbike with several Balinese rushing to her rescue. There was a gas station on the corner of the road where several motorist who found it too harrowing to attempt to drive upstream settled in to wait it out.

I was looking at Gusti who seemed calm and confident that his newer vehicle could get through this onslaught of street river current. The key was not to stop for risk of stalling out. Somehow through it all we made it back to the hotel. Gusti drove past a couple of buildings down to drop me off at what would become my favorite restaurant while in Ubud. L’nuriani restaurant.

Once inside the restaurant I was greeted by the nicest and charmingest of people, Erix. Erix is tall for a Balinese man standing at approximately 6″ and is rail thin with a very endearing smile like no other. I was glad to be out from the rain and thrust into this amazingly charming restaurant that offered a fusion of traditional Balinese food with other Asian foods such as Thai. What I didn’t expect was how good the presentation of the food would be. It looked magnificent and taste even better. I was very impressed. I saw a white gentlemen who came over to greet me after my meal. His name was Jan. Jan is a tall slender middle aged Dutch fellow with spiky hair and rectangular shaped glasses. He speaks perfect Balinese as he has lived there for 6 years. He began to inquire about my stay and how long I’d be in Ubud. When I told him of how unfortunate my time was in Kuta and how impressed I was with Ubud he told me, “Your troubles are over my friend. Welcome to Ubud, this is the Heart of Bali!” He was right. For the first time I knew it in my own heart… I was in Bali.

NEXT UP: NEIM’s Bali Adventure: Wedding Crasher

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2. The Living Room (Afterhours)
3. One Man Without A Home, The Other Without A Heart.

JAKARTA – This story physically starts off in Jakarta, Indonesia, but technically it really started June 24th 2011 in Warrenton, Virginia. I was attending the grand opening and Anti-Gravity master  training at the Vertical Girl Fitness Studio in Virginia. My good friend & colleague Bonnie invited me to come out and participate. That’s where I met the creator and master trainer Christopher Harrison. That first night we all went to have dinner together at a Middle Eastern spot chosen by Bonnie. On that fateful trip to the restaurant I starter talking to Chris about his many travels. One of the many questions I asked him was, “What is the most amazing and beautiful place you have ever been to?” His answer was with no equivocations, “Ubud!”

Jessica (I think), Bonnie and Chris

Up until that point I had never heard of this place. I had to inquire further. Once I saw the bright expression on his face and felt the energy in his description on how delightful this place was I immediately Googled it and when I saw the pictures I had no breath in my longs to express my amazement of how beautiful it was. As soon as I could catch a breath I told Chris and everyone who would listen that I would be there. I think my exact words were, “I don’t know when, but I am definitely going to Ubud!” Didn’t realize it’d be so soon.

Since the day I heard of this place I have been trying to find an excuse to get there. Enter the internet. I met a girl on the internet. Its 2011, get over it. She actually lives and works out of Abu Dhabi (UAE). She is from Canada. Through a series of emails, messenger chats, & expensive phone calls we got to know each other rather well over a period of 3 months. One day within those three months I suggested that we meet. I told her, “Name a place, I’ll meet you anywhere in the world.” I meant it. Befuddled with a myriad of choices I tickled her ear with the notion of Bali. It was a winner. Soon after the trip was booked and in a month or so we’d be in Bali. Crazy it seems to meet on these circumstances. I just thought it’d be adventurous. How right I’d be was not a concern, but the type of surprises I got were not expected. Let the adventure commence.

We were to meet in Jakarta and stay for a night. Then we would catch a flight to Bali the next day. The plan was to get separate rooms and go from there. What ensued is one of the main reasons I don’t plan that far ahead. My flight arrived in Jakarta about 45 minutes earlier than hers. I didn’t do too much research on visas and what not so it was a surprise to me that there was a $25 charge to enter the country. No worries, I just walked over to the ATM to get the necessary rupiah (Indonesian currency). I paid it and patiently awaited the arrival of Desirae. I failed to mention her name at first, but the story is all true so what the hell.

Jakarta’s airport is straight out of the 60′s. There was little way of me knowing that her flight had been delayed from Abu Dhabi. I waited for damn near two hours and then I said, “Fcuk it.” and caught a cab to the hotel. Not before I visited the ATM one last time for cab fare. I remember thinking to myself the first time I used the machine that I almost left my card inside the machine and that it would have been terrible if I’d have done so. Well… that thought came to existence because that is exactly what I did the second time I used the ATM. Of course I wouldn’t notice this until I made it all the way to the hotel. If you don’t already know, Jakarta traffic is probably some of the worst in the world. It is insane how bad it is. It took almost an hour to get to a destination that wasn’t really that far.

Jakarta Traffic

Back to my dilemma at hand… I was in the business office upstairs when I discovered I was in some deep shit. I walked down to see if I could use their phone to call the airport when I saw Desirae with my own eyes for the first time. I didn’t know at first that it was her. Lets just say that in this case the camera actually shed pounds. She knew it was me right off. I had to un-bug my eyes and escape my Shallow Hal moment for a second just to speak. I think my voice cracked a bit as I spoke. This was not really a deal breaker because I’m not really shallow; but If you know me then you know I’m not used to that. I explained my situation to her, and to her credit she actually tried to help me resolve the situation. We tried to have Chase Bank  ship me a card, but they were wholly uncooperative. She finally just said that she’d loan me some money and cover some expenses until I could find a way to get her the money. I thought that was nice of her. Fast-Forward to the next day.

After one decent night, glimpses of this woman’s true character started peaking out. It seemingly became clearer to me the moment we landed in Bali. A dear friend of mine, Valou, had put me in contact with on of the best people I was ever to meet in life Gusti Brada. We were in contact via Facebook briefly before arriving to Bali. Bali is an island with several villages and districts. As aforementioned I was all set on going to Ubud. From some source unknown to me she told me that Ubud was only good for a day trip. “A bunch of rice fields and grass.” is what she muttered. I must have given her my signature cocked eyebrow at the time and just dismissed it. I figured I’d be able to sway her one way or another to stay in Ubud longer. The only thing she was really interested in was the palm reader from that movie “Eat, Pray, Love” I will discuss that movie and its wackness in full detail later. If I’d have watched it I’d have know right off who this was I was traveling with.

Me and Gusti instantly took to one another. Kindred spirits. Then enter Desirae. She has a habit of sticking out her bottom lip like a spoiled little kid. It was off-putting. Gusti asked us where we’d like to go. She said Kuta Beach. I could immediately tell from Gusti that this was not what he wanted to do. I could tell he wanted to show us the REAL Bali, but he succumbed… er we succumbed. I had no choice because I was still stuck in a moneyless situation. This is when I got the true Desirae. We hadn’t booked a hotel before arriving so we had to search. As it turns out, it didn’t matter where we went because none of the accommodations would suit her “standards.” Let me say this, the grounds of each and every place we went to were amazing. Every one. The rooms, were a bit quaint but it was to be expected since she said the budget was from $60 – $90 USD. We went to at least 10 different hotels and it was getting to be very cumbersome.

Kuta Beach Main Road near 2005 bomb site

We finally decided on a place that was probably in the middle as far as standards from what we were looking at. I can understand not staying at a place of your choosing (most of the hotels were booked) but what she was doing was extreme. I thought at first she was playing around, but then I saw that she was really anal about it. She put a pashmina scarf on top of the pillow before she slept and would not let the sheets touch her face. It was a sight to see as it looked as if she thought she was going to be eaten by something. It was not even close to being that bad. I thought she was being a bit snobbish.

Kuta Beach Night Life

The next couple of days were a blur really. I got a motorbike and went out on my own most of the time. I met a couple of her friends who traveled with her to Bali. Now I understood. These cats in the UAE are banking hard! Its normal to make $6,000 a month there. The dude I met and probably her too, are making about $15,000 a month in oil and gas. In Abu Dhabi they are used to having lavish parties where they’d easily spend a few grand a night and up to 20 grand on a good night. They looked at the locals as nothing more than peasants and servants. I know this because she whispered to me, “These are the same people that we use as maids. Everybody gets an Indonesian maid.” I played it off for what it was worth, but that was their collective attitude the time I spent with them. I thought to myself, she is a full on snob!

Kuta Square (Best part of Kuta)

So I started thinking to myself, “How the fcuk can I get away from this situation.” I was literally not spending any time with her outside of one night there where she expressed to me what has happened to her in the past. She said that dudes would use her for her money and she was always the one paying for everything. I felt awkward then. I wasn’t purposely there on her tab, but shit happened. So I made it a point not to ask for anything. I was just thinking of a way out of this awful situation. I was enjoying my time a bit, but it was wearing on both of us I could tell. Finally she voiced it in a manner to which she felt that I was her charity case. I thought to myself, “Finally, I don’t have to say it.” I literally took whatever she said and used it as an opportunity to split. Gusti was coming the next morning anyway and I’d be out of there. I had enough money presumably to last me until I could figure out my situation. I was cordial the rest of the night as I lasted out my prison sentence and broke free with Gusti in the morning knowing full well I’d never see her again.

Temple at Kuta Square

I’m trying to judge anyone, but the way she treated the countless hotel staff and the comments she made to me behind the back of the locals made me sick to my stomach. I couldn’t believe I didn’t pick up on the snobbishness of this girl via email. I’m a pretty good judge of character. Alas she probably concealed that in the same manner she took those close up cleverly angled pictures of herself to hide the girth. I’m not small by no means, but I’m not around looking for cream puffs and chocolate croissants everywhere I turn either.

As soon as I was in the car with my good friend Gusti I felt so relieved. Not knowing what was in store or how I’d make it we embarked off to Ubud, Bali. Where I wanted to be in the first place. Little did I know how much I’d really love as Gusti calls it, “The Real Bali.”

To be continued…

Next: NEIM’s Bali Adventure: The Heart of Bali

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1. NEIM’s Bali Adventure: The Heart of Bali
2. On the Level

On a warm summer night in downtown Chicago an encounter takes place between one man without a home, the other without a heart. The forecast a day before predicted thunderstorms the entire day, 90% chance of seeing rain in fact. To everyone’s surprise the entire Memorial Day was absent of any hint of rain. It was a welcome development since the city was on a terrible streak of unseasonably cold weather. The grandiose of the day was not lost on the night. The metropolis, filled with such energy from its people that day in conjunction with the abundant supply of the suns energy, kept the air warm with life even into the dead of night.

That night started out as the last night between brethren. A bit greedy we wanted to take advantage. We proceeded to walk from place to place in seek of that final good time when collectively we noticed that seemingly at every corner there was someone asking us for money. Some had stories, some didn’t. Some even attempted to trade unsolicited knowledge of directions for legal tender. It was becoming apparently clear that attempting to help everyone would empty our pockets fast. Not that our club entry or cab fare was more important than another man’s need to eat, It was just clear that this was the daily lazy hustle of some of the men. To avoid trying to figure out who was who we just avoided all interaction.

This man was different. He was a little older than most of the men and had a clear charm about himself before he could say a word. For an instant I thought about giving him what cash I had handy for a future cab, but instead I just kept pushing on like so many other times. The man having more character than the others tugged at what I thought was my heart until he exclaimed, exposing the fragility of his tired old voice, “They don’t have hearts where you come from!”

Immediately I was emotionally smitten by this short bearded man. I thought it was the coldest thing a sweet old grandpa could utter without the use of profane language. I questioned my reluctance to give him just a dollar. I questioned the reasoning behind it. Had I really grown that cold to ignore a hungry old man. I started to think about how that is bred into the capitalist society that we live in.

Are we as humans so far removed from the notion that in order for us to progress and evolve we need each other. In older times the village starved and feasted together. We are so unconnected from each other now we comfortably walk amongst each other as if no one exists. Imagine if the cells in our body were to abide by those sets of principles. White blood cells not wanting to carry oxygen to the rest of the body from pure selfishness. What if sperm cells were too apathetic to aspire to want that egg. There would be death with no chance of new life. An extinction of a species.

Its no wonder that this country I live in is on the verge of collapse when its inherently designed in the system to which we abide for the few to have the most; and the most to have so few. Individually it seems we don’t  measure success on how well the whole of society thrives; but only ourselves. I know that’s not true of all people, but it is too apparent to ignore like the old man in the door way. Collectively our way of thinking has to change.

I feel we should all want our neighbors and countrymen to succeed. Harmony is only achieved in this universe by having balance. Our very own planet can only sustain life because of its balance in relation to our sun. Its a universal truth.

I don’t know what circumstances ultimately led him to being homeless. All I know is that it is a sad situation. The plight of the homeless should be shared to an extent. There’s just something not right about it. What’s happening to our sense of community? Until we start thinking as a collective I fear these erroneous situations will continue to be a bane on our society.

They say that home is where the heart is. What if you have no home; and worse yet, what if you have no heart?

Related posts:

1. On the Level
2. NEIM’s Bali Adventure: The Heart of Bali
3. Everyone Struggles

I want to do something different for my birthday (May 3rd) so I decided to have a Kick-A-Cue (Kickball + Barbecue). I came up with the idea one night while Tweeting @KPisfabuleux when she was talking about Kickball. I remembered how fun it was to play kickball way back in elementary school. So here’s an ode to the 80′s! This event is totally free and we encourage you to bring your pets children or whomever, although there will be drinking on the premises so…

We will have the melodic sounds of DJ Relentless & the barbecue will be provided by Chef Jeff (little black box company).

TEAMS

If you are interested in playing, please email me ASAP @  info@muzzlewump.com There will be 2 teams of 10 people each.

RULES

VENUE

T.C. JESTER (4201 W. T.C. Jester)

Can be reached by going out North Loop West  (610) turn right on W. T.C. Jester to the park.

follow @Muzzlewump on Twitter for an update.

If you are interested in sponsorship or vending please contact NEIM @  info@muzzlewump.com

Last but not least… I bet you didn’t know Me and Brook knew each other as kids, lol:

Click here to view the embedded video.

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Saturday night, as @JaDoreBrook would say, the “N Crowd” decided to change it up a little. Instead of the usual going out drinking (we still had a couple of drinks) we went out and played Laser Tag. We themed it ALL BLACK EVERYTHING. Since… it has been dubbed… “Black Ops” lol. We had a GREAT time!

@AdeLusi @JaDoreBrook @Muzzlewump

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1. Black Dynamite

Daisy May’s BBQ in New York was introduced to me by my homey Hasan. He told me the beef ribs were super big and super good… I had to go see what was up being from Texas and all. So… the here are the ribs…

Before I could get into my Dino Rib I noticed a dude who tried to eat 2 of these things… The hilariousness ensued.

He aparently had the “Itis”

Itis: The drowsy sleepy feeling you get after eating a large meal. Usual meals like big Sunday dinners, Thanksgiving and Christmas meals.

Then the dude wakes up, LMAO, and tries to fight it and finish rib 2!

Then… the Itis finally claims its victim!

Good Stuff… I survived. Here is the evidence.

All in all… Great ribs!

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1. Laser Tag: Black Ops

The girl is persistant I will give her that. I love doing cutouts and sticking logos behind heads inbetween backgrounds (magazine style).

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1. GQ & Vibe Magazine Covers: MTV Project

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3. New York

Finally its here! The entire footage of the 1st game. You must be registered to view this content though. Its Free and fast so just do it real quick if you’re not already logged in.

Please Login or Register to read the rest of this content.

Related posts:

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2. New York
3. New York, New York

Here is a little taste of what’s to come![MEDIA=43]

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“Start spreadin’ the news…”

I thought I’d share my 1st New York trip with the world… enjoy!

Day 1: The Arrival

August 13th, 2008. I haven’t slept purposely so that I can sleep on the plane. It helps me reduce the anxiety of flying. Its about 9 a.m. and my plane leaves at 11:30ish. I haven’t packed. I just realize that some of my clothes are in the cleaners. I haven’t arranged a ride to the airport either. Hell I just got an ID (lost my old one) 2 days prior. I call moms. She talks to me on the phone still sleep. Then she asks me to get her some special type of Coffee from a store that’s not up the street. WTF! I am forced to agree.

Somehow, we get outta there by around 10:30 and to the airport at about 11. I like to travel in the middle of the week to avoid the crowds. I’m traveling cheap though so I don’t arrive to New York until about 7:30. On the plane ride I got the birds eye view of the Statue of Liberty. She seemed small, but I guess I was high in the sky. At the airport I meet up with ol Kevo and we catch a cab to Hasan’s place. While in New York we stayed with Hasan. Big ups to my homey for showin’ us love.

The cab driver must have been a retired Arab race car driver or something because homeboy was gettin it! We arrive in Midtown, Manhattan in what must have seemed like 15 minutes in traffic! By far the best cab driver I have ever seen. Scary though.

Hasan stays in a great area on 37th St & 9th Ave.

We settle down at Hasan’s. Then we get lucky and Hasan had some chicken he needed to cook so he threw down for his boys. Check it out:

Click here to view the embedded video.

After we ate we were tryin to figure out what to do. It was wednesday and “Tropic Thunder” just came out. (Check out my review over on XtraButter.com.) The fellas were talkin bout goin to this premier strip club with some hot Dominican dancers. I don’t enjoy teasin myself all that much so I decided to go to the movie instead. I thought I persuaded Kev & Hasan to check it out to, but then they ditched me right at the box office. I guess I’m lame. I just prefer a good movie over strip clubs. Call it what you want.

Day 2: The Jew

Hasan shows us this corner store across the street where they make these great bacon egg & cheese croissants. They were damn good! Its Thursday and I needed to work on the computer while Kev and Hasan went shopping. This became a familiar pattern because I needed to finish up some stuff while in NY.

Fast Forward to later that night. My friend, Hasan’s sister, Chandra’s husband Jameel’s friend the coordinator from “Making the Band 4″ was having a birthday at this little Kareoke spot. We were having drinks and enjoying ourselves. Jameel gave his rendition of Prince’s “Purple Rain.” He was rather good. It was funny at the time to me because I had already signed up for another Prince song off of the same album “Beautiful Ones.” At the beginning of the song I was not doing so well. The mic was terrible and it wasn’t picking me up. I should have done a mic check 1st.

Click here to view the embedded video.

I kept thinking that if I could only get to the bridge I’d be ok. Once I got to the middle of the song I started groovin. I felt the crowd pick up a little bit and so I started flowin with them. I dropped to my knees in some parts and was on the floor trying my best to mimic Prince in that scene in the movie Purple Rain:

I joined the crew back at the table and then we took a pic.

*Top to bottom left to right (NEIM, Kev, Tarv, Hasan, Chandra)

After that night of drinking etc. I decided to not sleep so I could on the plane… didn’t happen. I over slept and realized I lost my bank cards in the cab on the way home. In my drunken haze I didn’t feel them slip out of my slacks! I missed my flight and had to catch stand-by. It was $15 to check my bag which I did not have because of the bank card situation so I had to use my FedEx account to ship my big bag. I was at the airport around 6am and didn’t get home till around 10pm. So, I guess it had to even out.

Last thing… You will see why in the next post of the Athletic Challenge… Kev still hasn’t spoken to NEIM. I wonder why.

New York I love you! Special thanks to Hasan, my brother from another mother. Jameel, your mentoring and hospitality is priceless. Chandra, I’m so proud. Tarv, you’re still great! Hugh & Blyss my surrogate family. I will miss NY, but you know I’m comin baaaack! To stay… to be continued.

If You enjoyed the post, please leave a COMMENT. Thanks.

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Wow… its been a minute since I have written anything on my blog, but somehow my stats are up (go figure).

Where should I start? Been busy this month. I’ve had project after project which is good. I have been goin out a little too much which is bad I guess. I’ve had a fun month though.

Lets see… where shall I start. My birthday was Please Login or Register to read the rest of this content.

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Albeit it is a small publication, I have been published nonetheless. I wrote an article in the Fort Bend Star for Bangkok Chef (restaurant). They published it in their paper. Its kinda neat. Those who know me and my future plans with writing know that this is a tiny step into the writing profession!

You can read it here: FortBendStar.com

Now go eat up!

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(Some names and locations have been substituted to protect the guilty)

This story proves that I fly through life by the seat of my pants. I just love it when things happen (good things) to me or I end up in a place that I could not have predicted 24 hours prior to. Hell, a few hours prior. The story I tell is about one of those nights.

The night starts off Please Login or Register to read the rest of this content.

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Who would have thought? NEIM a delegate? Not me. A year ago I was probably the main advocate for all things anti-government. I was so disenfranchised with the entire process it made me want to move to another country.

Over the summer though, I caught wind of this guy named Barack Obama. I saw and read a few articles on the man and for some reason I thought to myself, “This guy could be the first black President of the United States.” I didn’t even fully understand why I felt that way. It was something about him.

As time passed and I found out that he was indeed going to run for the Presidency of the United States along with Hillary Clinton I must admit I was skeptical. I remember telling a woman from New Zealand Please Login or Register to read the rest of this content.

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What up people?! I haven’t blogged in over a month! Had one great weekend though, followed by a really good week so I am in a writing mood.Friday was Please Login or Register to read the rest of this content.

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Our video compliment to our Phi Phi Island adventure!

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2. Touring Thailand: Day One
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Since the title of my blog is “Life with NEIM” I guess I owe you this one. Tonight was ecstatic! It was Please Login or Register to read the rest of this content.

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Day Nine: Damn, its been so long I had to read my last entry! Lets see, where did I leave off… Oh yeah… the Party in Patong. After a longPlease Login or Register to read the rest of this content.

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Day Eight:Finally we all get a well deserved good night of sleep. We slept so long we almost missed breakfast. Good thing KB is the responsible one. He got us up in time to chow down on those good omelets and rice. Kwan was all smiles as we passed by her office where she made reservations for the hotel guests to do the various activities around the island. I’m not sure if I mentioned

but she is 5 months pregnant and all smiles. Our buddy Bert was behind Please Login or Register to read the rest of this content.

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1. Touring Thailand: Day Seven
2. Touring Thailand: Day Nine
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Day Seven: We wake up very early this morning. We are going on an expedition to Phi Phi Island. This Island has been used in a couple of movies and is considered to have one of the top 10 beaches in the entire world. We eat breakfast and wait on our driver to arrive to take us to another part of the island.

After being close to an hour late our driver arrives. We take off through the twists and turns of what are Phuket’s streets. Arriving at our destination there is probably another couple of hundred tourists waiting. We are grouped off in group orange. Little did we know we would have the best tour guide on the entire island. His name is Lucy. Yeah that’s right… Lucy. You have to see the video to see how much of an offbeat character he is. He is very entertaining.

KB and I decide to sit in the limited seating section of the speed boat which is located in the very front. We are joined by 3 Germans, 2 Australians, and a couple from London. We immediately become acquainted with them and have a great time in conversation all the way to the first island.

During the journey we get some great wide shots of the island and we kneel on the seats as to allow the wind to hit our face. It felt great. Once we arrived at the first island, we got a chance to marvel as to how beautiful nature really is. SEE PICTURES.

The rest of the trip consisted of snorkeling, swimming and me laid out on the beach sleep face first in the sand. I was tired.

Once back to Phuket we for some reason ran out straight to the beach. We were out there for about half an hour and changed clothes. After that, Nick had to go for a fitting for his suit and KB and I stopped at the local pool hall to use the internet connection. This is where Noi and Oy worked.

These chicks whole purpose on the island was to get us to buy as many drinks as possible for us and themselves. The internet connection was horrible at best. We didn’t get much done even except for getting drunk. Nick eventually joined us and this is where we met our little buddy Marlon.

Marlon is a 16 year old kid from New Zealand by way of Holland. We had seen him around the hotel a few times but we had never really spoken to either him or his mom. We talked a bit and became friends.

It was now getting late and we were growing drowsy. On the way back to the hotel we got a drunken idea to mess with some Lady Boys for shyts and giggles. After trying to coral every motorcyclist on the beach it seems to get our kicks, we finally landed one. This monstrosity slowed up and for some reason had a hard on for me. He stopped and said in this hideous voice, “I suck you. Make you cum. Only 300 baht baby!” The fellas were laughing, but it wasn’t at them, it was at me. Nick then asked how much for all 3 of us and was quickly met with a reply that we could all go at the same time. Sensing that a trick was to be made this Lady Boy parked its bike and started walking towards me. “I take you first and you can tell them how good I was.” I could take no more. I quickly ran across the street (literally) as Nick and KB were dying laughing. That was sick! Soon after, we decided to call it a night in preparation for our last one in Phuket the next day.

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Refreshed we go down and eat breakfast. Afterwards we decided to walk down the beach to shop, use the phone and visit the ATM. Nick stops off first to look at some stuff in this collection of tents that form this little shopping area. KB goes down further to find a phone.

There is a lot of stuff in these stores. I decide that I need to get some stuff done on the computer and I leave to find KB. Walking down the boardwalk is no easy task. You are constantly asked to buy things along with do we want to get a taxi or took-took. So many people you have to say no to. They usually start with the line, “Where are you from?” I clearly look South African to them. That is to start conversation to lure you in to their stands and shops. Finally I find KB. He is talking to a tailor and I then tell him about this guy I met that seems to have some good stuff. We pass 2 more tailors before we can get to him. We didn’t walk 2 blocks.

The guy that we met name is Harry. We spend close to an hour getting KB fitted for a suit and I fitted for a shirt. The fabric is top notch and to get an entire suit tailored from some of the best fabric you can find costs only 5,000 baht. That’s a little less than $150!

Once our measurements are done, we look for Nick. He’s nowhere to be found. We head to the room and wait for awhile, but he does not arrive. Once we head out again, we see Nick next door as happy as can be. He was in the same place I left him for like 2 hours shopping. He bought a suit from this guy next door and had to ride with him to his other location to use his credit card. When I say ride with him I mean on the back of his motor bike.

Motorbikes are by far the most common way of transportation. I’ve seen whole families on them. I’m talking dad, two small children and mom rollin down the road @ 40mph! The shyt is insane how they ride side saddle and by 2’s and 3’s with no fear or helmet in the anything goes streets of Thailand. I can’t remember the last time I saw a traffic light or cop.

Nick and his buddy take off into the neighborhood of Karon. KB and I return to the hotel, relieved that we have finally found Nick. When we regroup, I suggest that we get some motorbikes to ride to Phuket. I sense hesitancy among my peers. This is my main goal of the day… to ride the motorbike.

We rest a bit and then it’s unanimous; we are getting the motorbikes. I’m stoked! I can’t wait to join in with the locals on the treacherous roads of Phuket. We walk down and talk to the lady in charge of extracurricular activities at the hotel, Kwan. Kwan is a very sweet 5months pregnant Thai woman. She is just like so many people down hear, very friendly and very helpful. She ends up giving us 50 baht off the price so that the rental comes out to be 200 baht each for 24 hours. That’s about $6.

I’m so excited and then it hits… rain. I am so disgruntled right now it shows on my face. We decide to try and wait it out by having something to eat at the hotel. The food at the hotel is pretty good. We all try Thai dishes. I must have ordered the spiciest soup in Thailand because after 3 minutes of eating my lips were numb. For the main course I had duck. I should have noticed that I didn’t see any ducks floatin around Thailand. The duck clearly came from the freezer, but I did not mind so much about the toughness of it. I was hoping the rain would dissipate before Nick and KB changed their minds on the motorbikes. Little did they know I was going to get one if they did or not.

We finish eating and the rain stops… perfect! We have already given Kwan the necessary documents to obtain the bikes so we grab the keys and a helmet and take off. Not immediately. The guys put on rain ponchos. All I needed were my sunglasses and Mohawk baby, lets ride!

We cruise down the coast with no problem, but the road connecting Karon Beach to Patong Beach was going up and down steep hills through the mountains and had curves throughout. It was like maneuvering a video game. Halfway through the mountains we saw elephants. We decided to stop and take pictures. These guys were riding the elephants similar to the way you would see someone riding a horse in the street back home in Texas. It was pretty cool. We hopped back on the road and eventually arrived in Patong.

Mind you, the traffic here goes to the left so were at a slight disadvantage to making natural decisions on the road. Plus the locals drove with no rules anyway so it was a trying experience to ride in traffic. We managed to get in with the huge flow of traffic that consisted of few cars, with took-tooks and motorbikes. We cruised all the way down the boardwalk. Let me tell you now. This place was sprawling with tourists! It was so busy around here that we were thankful for the quiet beach of Karon where we were staying.

We made it onto the second street about 4 city blocks away from the beach boulevard and were caught in a tourist trap. “Whistle!” a cop standing stopped us as we were riding down the street. He informed us that we had to have helmets on. He took the key to my bike and said we had to pay 300 baht a piece for the infraction. I was pissed. I asked why we could not get off with a warning. He gave me attitude and kept telling me to just pay. Cops! no matter where they are from are usually assholes! The first asshole we meet in Thailand is a f***ing cop! Go figure. KB and Nick took off on the motorbikes to the police station to pay the ticket and I hung back waiting for them. I was still livid, but that would soon change.

There were 3 girls standing behind me. One of them was especially attractive. They all marveled at my hair and asked to touch. They started talking to me and were telling me about how things worked out here, but not to worry. I explained to her that I was looking for an internet connection out here because I needed to get some work done. She instead let me sit in her little office just outside near the sidewalk and use her computer. Very nice gesture, but the connection sucked ass. I soon gave up and continued my conversation with them. One of them offered me squid on a stick and I accepted. It was rather tasty. It was coated with some sort of spicy sauce. There was another meat on the stick that I will just have to say tasted good.

Nick and KB finally arrived. They told me it was a slew of tourists in the police station all paying tickets. Gotta keep the economy going I guess. I said bye to the girls and then we put on our helmets and took off. I at this time became rather adept to riding through traffic. I was weaving in and out just like the locals. KB and Nick trailed behind me.

We road back to the beach to park our bikes; and then proceeded to go on foot. I found a space to the left of the road nearest to the beach. KB rolled up next. Nick somehow got stranded on the right side. After a few moments he decided to brave the traffic and cross to our side. He sped across right in front of this bus and that’s when it happened. The sand made him spin out just a bit and he lost controlled and went belly first into the pavement as if he were trying to steal a base (baseball). He got up rather quickly and we saw that he was ok. That gave the cue to laugh because that shyt was hella funny! I was laughing uncontrollably for at least 5-10 minutes. Nick has scratches on both legs and a nice red cherry on his left knee. Classic!

I immediately pulled out the video camera and recorded the whole ordeal. We had no first-aid kit so KB took out some mouthwash and told Nick to put it on his wounds. Nick took a swig and then doused his leg with the wash. At this point we were all laughing about the accident and then headed off down the boardwalk.

The boardwalk was bustling with tourists and people selling any and everything. We hit the main walking street that leads towards the other road parallel to the boardwalk. Lady Boys are an attraction here in Thailand. They are basically drag queens. We thought that they looked funny so KB and I decided to take a picture with them for shyts and giggles. Little did we know it would cost us 100 baht. Everything is for sale in Thailand.

We pushed all the way through this madness and arrived back at the point where we received our citations. Nick wanted to find a shirt with all Thai writing on it. I saw the girls again and they told us to hit the mall across the street. It was similar to the malls back home. KB and I stopped in the New Balance shoe store and were immediately impressed. They didn’t have these types of kicks back home. They didn’t have our size though. No big feet people in Thailand I guess.

We wandered through the mall and then headed outside. Nick got some Burger King and we kept moving. We finally turned right onto this street to get back to our bikes. We affectionately named this street Boner Boulevard. There were nothing but saloons and massage parlors down this street. It felt like a scene out of the old west to me.

These girls literally jumped on us as we were walking down. “Sexy Man! Sexy Man!” is their calling card. Nick and KB were just ahead of me. I was slowed mainly because of my hair. KB was stiff arming hoes left and right wile nick got straight tackled by 2 or 3. They would literally block our paths through the alley as we would try and walk down. After I fended off like 5 of them and put a mean juke move on one of them this drunken girl came out of the blue and wrapped her legs and arms all around me applying all her strength in her grip. She was expressing her willingness to do anything for 300 baht in the room upstairs. The liquor on her breath was pungent. The girls were pressing so hard on us trying to give us erections. I speak for myself when I say it worked. I had to do a swim move to get this girl unshackled.

Somehow we made it past the hookers and through this narrow shop full of items back onto the main boulevard. Lets get the hell outta here we all thought. It was night time now and we faced a challenge ahead. We had to brave the treacherous road through the mountains on the way back. Let’s do it. After a few minutes on the road back to Karon I felt at ease and was ripping through the street. I kept KB in my rearview as not to leave them. When I arrived at Karon I finally realized that it was not KB and Nick that I was seeing in my rearview.

I was immediately worried. They were nowhere to be found. I rode back up a quarter of the way through the mountains and realized that they had appointments with their tailors for the suits. I rode back to Karon and was relieved to see KB standing their trying on his suit. Phew.

The tailor named Harry was a very cool guy from Nepal. He offered us a beer and we stayed and kicked it for awhile. This was some strong beer. After 2 we were buzzin big time. It was a holiday for Thailand. Harry explained that he was going to pop firecrackers on the beach. He asked us to join him. We were poppin firecrackers for about 10-15 minutes and then walked back. Harry wanted to get more. We didn’t want to be rude.

He told me to hop on the back of his motorbike so we could go and find some more firecrackers… big mistake. I should have noticed how drunk he was when he almost blew me and KB up with a rocket earlier on the beach. That thing fell over and whizzed a few feet right by us before it exploded. Glad we could have a laugh about it.

I hopped on the back and we rode a few blocks into the village. We could not find any firecrackers so Harry decided to pick up a 4 pack of beer. I now see why it comes in a 4 pack instead of 6. That shyt is potent. When we hopped on the back of his motorbike he tried to peel off with out getting proper balance. We fell and busted our ass’s right in the muddy water. I was now fearful for the few blocks we had to travel back to his shop. I was literally flying by the seat of my pants! Remember how I say that they drive with no rules? Now imagine that at night on a 2 lane road with all sorts of twists with a drunken dude. It was a rush to say the least, but we made it nevertheless.

KB had split so we decided to part ways. Harry gave me 3 out of the 4 beers and burned off. Harry is a nice dude. With beers in tow I hall ass back to the hotel. I am buzzin hard at this point but not on Harry’s level. At the hotel we decide to go to Ging’s. We go by three on the motorbikes and pull in. Nick needs to play catch up to me and KB’s buzzed state.

Ging, Som, Puhn, Beau & crew are all too happy to see us. Ging orders a round of cocktails on the house! Seriously, you gotta love Ging! She is awesome! She had no idea how tossed we were though. This was by far the most rambunctious we all were at Ging’s this night. We were laughing and boisterous and it soon effected the entire restaurant.

We stayed until close and pretty much rolled out with the entire restaurant crew. I swear these people loved us! We needed to gas up the bikes before we pulled in so we followed Beau to this Shell gas station. This wasn’t your normal gas station. It was literally some guy sitting on a stool next to what looked like an ice-cream stand that housed his gasoline. The gas was in three different containers no larger than 5-10 gallon jugs. Your car is bigger than this dude’s entire operation. It was funny.

After we filled up and used his bush style bathroom we hauled off. Halfway back to the hotel, we saw Puhn scootin down the boardwalk. We asked her what there was to do around here. She said follow her to one of the local bars. KB said he was gonna head to the hotel because we had to get up at like 6:30 to catch a bus to go to Phi Phi Island. Nick and I were feelin too good to call it a night so we followed Puhn.

Side Note: There was a Lady Boy that stopped behind us before we pulled off. As soon as Nick and I scratched off he approached KB. When Nick and I found this out the next morning we were dying laughing! He said the Lady Boy grabbed his arm and said, “What’s up?” KB snatched his arm back holding back his punch and fled the area. LOL

Once Nick and I caught up to Puhn at the bar she caught ghost, not 1 minute after we got there. That shyt was weird. Nick and I decided to have 1 beer and leave.

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2. Touring Thailand: Day Three
3. Touring Thailand: Day Seven

Day Five: KB was feeling pretty frisky I guess because he woke us up at like 6:45am to go and eat breakfast. Good thing we went to sleep early. Surprisingly we were the first people down to eat breakfast. There was rice, pancakes, all kinds of fruit, cereal, some nice potato mixture, ham, bacon, toast, and some white goo that I wouldn’t dare touch: not for breakfast. If you walked outside there were two omelet chefs with these long chef hats ready to whip you up your style of eggs. For refreshments, there was milk, water, orange stuff, or coffee. That orange stuff tasted like a much improved version of Sunny D. We affectionately called it Sunny T. KB brought back some mini bananas from the fruit section. I mean these little bananas were the size of your fingers, but tasted no different. Think of oranges to tangerines except there is no taste difference.

After breakfast we retreated to the room, put on some swim wear and then headed to the beach. Before that apparently there was some sort of miscommunication between KB, Nick & I. I think Nick said lets got to the pool. KB just wanted to go to the beach and was gonna catch up with us after the pool. But on the way to the pool somehow Nick & I ended up at the beach. I’m not entirely sure how that happened. I just had a 10 minute conversation with KB asking him why that did, because for some reason it was in my mind that KB was set on doing something in the room while we were headed to the beach. Bottom line is, we went to the beach at separate times for a reason I clearly cannot remember.

The beach was very nice. We are on the more quite beach in Phuket so there was peacefulness about it. I don’t usually enjoy going out into the water, but I must have walked at least 100 yards out into the ocean. The water was very clear. You can see all the way to the bottom. After about half an hour or so just floatin around in the sea, we decided to head back where we met KB. We then headed to the pool and KB dipped in the ocean. The pool was nice and not over chlorinated.

After we all dried off a bit we decided to go back to Ging’s for some lunch. Ol Ging was delighted to see us and even called us by name. We were the only one’s there when we arrived. She then turned on the Thai song, “Bong, Bong” that we liked and served us some free mango shakes. These mango shakes were heavenly. I think I had three to KB & Nick’s 2. KB and I ordered some seafood most likely fresh from the nearby ocean. They put the whole damned fish on KB’s plate. After awhile the restaurant filled up and was again a very cozy atmosphere for which we indulged for more than an hour.

Now fat full, the guys decided to take a nap. I needed to use the internet so I decided to go and look for a connection. I decided to go and ask Ging where I could find a hot spot and she pointed one out across the street. I had to buy a drink so I chose a Thai beer that tasted pretty good. The internet connection was to slow, so I ended up buying 3 beers without getting much business done. I was a little upset, but I had to go. We were going to the Vegetarian Festival that only happens once a year in Phuket and I needed to get back.

Once in the room we got up and out. On our way to find a took-took we saw a Thai volleyball game going on. It was interesting because they were playing with their feet. (click on this link for video) We rode a took-took all the way to Phuket Town for the festival. With the traffic it took us maybe 45 minutes to get to Phuket Town. The took-took driver ripped us off though because we weren’t in Phuket Town. We ended up in the Phuket version of Rodeo Drive. It would have been nice if we were shopping.

What’s worse is my flip-flop broke and I was walking one foot bare through the mall with everyone staring because of my hair. I would have been embarrassed if we were in America, but I knew I would never see these people again. I thought that it was fortuitous that we landed in a mall, because I could replace my sandal. But like I said before… we were in the High-Class section of Phuket and the flip-flops were damn near a thousand baht when I knew I could get them for 200 or less!

We found another cab and rode to Phuket Town. Uh oh… Nick has that sick look on his face again. I have no clue on how he got that way, but he was lookin like crap. Phuket town was crowded for the Vegetarian Festival. The Vegetarian Festival is a religious ritual of sorts where the monks decided to show how dedicated they are to their faith. In order to do so, they walk across hot coals and pierce themselves through the cheek with a sword from the outside through the inside. I mean this sword is half an inch around.

We luckily got off right outside a pharmacy so Nick could get some meds. This was interesting. The pharmacist was practically a doctor and gave Nick a mini exam. He then wrote Nick 2 prescriptions and gave him a cream for his sun burn. No doctor’s visit cost and no insurance needed. Nick felt better pretty fast.

Now we were looking for some shoes for me because I am at this point bare-footin it through Phuket Town. I mean the streets were filled with motorbikes, cars and people. Firecrackers were poppin off everywhere! Kids running around with lighters… I mean it was crazy! Video coming soon.

We happened up on this shoe store where there were no shoe sizes higher than 10 ½ US. I wear 12-13. I had to squeeze my big feet in some small flip flops that ended up tearing the skin off of the insides of my 2^nd toes. I was initially irritated but I soon got over it due to what would happen next.

We entered into the town square and the shear number of people was awe inspiring. I mean it was easily 30,000 people in the near vicinity and maybe more. The monks were preparing for their rituals and getting psyched up. You could sense the feverishness of the crowd as the moment was getting close at hand. I saw to people that looked as though they spoke English and asked them what was going on. To my surprise they were French. One guy and one blonde woman with some of the most beautiful blues you’ll ever see. She was so fascinated by it all, that it became infectious. I kinda broke away from KB and Nick because I had the camera and chased the action with these 2.

We didn’t witness the actual piercing, but we saw many devoted monks engulfed with the spirit of Buddha or something. It was amazing. They made this huge fire and were prancing around it. (See Pictures|Video)

They then brought out some huge figures of men and carried some sort of mini shrines or something through this line on there way outside. My French and I friend jumped in the line with them at the end passing right by the fire. That fire was hot. Just before we could exit with them we were stopped by a huge wall of firecrackers that they lit up. The sound was so loud and deafening. It sounded like a relentless barrage of gunfire being poured into the screaming crowd. It consumed all of your hearing sense to where you couldn’t help but be immersed into the spirituality of it all.

After all of that, we parted with our French comrades very much at my dismay. I very much wanted to have a drink with them to reflect on the events that just took place. Instead we went to McDonalds. I of course did not eat any of that American food. I was kinda down for a bit, wanting to go drink with the Frenchies. On the took-took ride back to the beach I sort of got over it.

Once back to beach, Nick opted to go to the room because he had already eaten and was sleepy. KB and I instead wandered over to Ging’s. This night, we got better acquainted with the staff. The one’s we talk to on a regular basis are Som, Beau, and Puhn. Som is like that cool older sister who is like the second mom in charge (That mom being Ging). Beau is that girl who just likes to hang around and gets her enjoyment from seeing others have fun. Puhn’s English is not that good, but you can tell she is a very fun girl. She’s long and slender standing at about 5’5” with a very long Ponytail and a never-ending smile. Its fun talking to her because there is so much of a language barrier that we must use gestures for everything we communicate. When we get back to the hotel, we try and decide are we going to go to Patong Beach that night. We are all too tired and decide to call it a night.

Related posts:

1. Touring Thailand: Day Eight
2. Touring Thailand: Day Four
3. Touring Thailand: Day Six

Day Four: I am rudely awakened by my comrades down the hall telling me that we are leaving for Kosami very soon by way of train. I’m workin on like 3-4 hours sleep from the previous 2 days combined. After about an hour of prep time we leave out and grab some Subway from around the corner. I vow that this is the last “American food” that I’m eating while in Asia.

We crammed ourselves into this tiny cab to get to the train station. The traffic is horrible, but what’s worse is the style of driving. I must say that these must be the best motorbike drivers in the world. They were cutting in and out of traffic like nobody’s business. One guy went right through two cars with no more than a foot of space on each side at about 40-45mph.

We got to see downtown Bangkok, which was nice. There were a few temples that looked amazing. The cab ride took us through some interesting looking streets. It was about 45 minutes to the train station. This place was crowded. There were so many people waiting for the train.

We tried to get a ticket and found out that the train was booked. I was relieved because the trip was going to take 16 hours and the name of the train was “Death Rail!” Seriously… the name was Death Rail. Hell no. The people were very helpful in accommodating us with new plans. We decided to go to Phuket by plane.

We had a good time at the train station because the people were so friendly. They asked to take a picture with me and my crazy do and nicked named me “Tiger.” Well at least 2 of us were having a good time. Nick looked as though he had the flu. He was sweatin all over the place and his forehead was cold. We let him sit outside the office inside the train station so he could try and maintain. Poor guy.

After we booked our flight and hotel (5 days in Phuket) we had to wait around 20 minutes or so for the ticket. At this time I decided to go exploring the grounds to rustle up some grub. I found some weird waffle treats, mangos, pineapples, watermelon, & some meat on a stick. Everything was good except for the meat on the stick. That shyt tasted like meat foam. The lady told me it was chicken. Chicken must mean “Shit Stick” in Thai. I have video.

Once we got our tickets, we met one of the funniest characters outside for a taxi ride to the airport. This guy was nice, but he was very funny looking. He spoke very little English, but he very much enjoyed us. I can’t remember what we were talking about at one point, but we were laughing hard and so was he. We started laughing harder because he was laughing and didn’t know what the hell we were laughing at. So then we are all just laughing because it felt good.

There was this other weird fruit that looked like light green blueberries (if that makes any sense). I tasted one of them and it had this crazy sour taste. I tried to say that it was good so that KB & Nick could share in the nasty taste. Nick, being wise, showed the fruit to the cabby and gestured to him as to ask him was the fruit good. The cabby was a late 30’s early 40’s darker skinned Thai dude that hasn’t been to the dentist since he was 6, but had this genuine friendly demeanor. He looked at nick and gave the nastiest face possible giving him the “ugh” sound. He busted me and we all laughed.

Moments late Nick dropped a silent bomb on us. I thought the smell was coming from outside, but nicked laid claim to the fame. Now I see why he was feeling sick earlier. Whatever demons were trapped in his stomach were rudely making their way out of his ass! Nick, KB & I quickly lowered the windows. Little did we know, the cabby was suffering the most, because Nick was sitting in the front next to him. He obviously didn’t want to offend us by reacting to the funk, but as soon as we let the windows down he did the same; and he let out this gasping for fresh air sound as though he had been holding his breath. We were crying laughing and so was he. He was saying something in Thai to the effect of that was some stinky shit and we had a great time all the way to the airport.

Once there, we had to wait almost 2 hours for our plane. The wait for the plane was longer than the actual flight to Phuket. Phuket is a small island off the southwest coast of Thailand. Thailand is a peninsula. It is also an island that was affected by the tsunamis. We got there around 7:30pm and it was raining. Before we landed I witnessed the most beautiful sunset above a bed of clouds. It was absolutely breath taking seeing the sunset in the sky in the land of the rising sun.

On the ground we got into this van with about 7 other passengers to make the hour long drive to our Karon Beach. It was a little further down from the more popular Patapong Beach. We chose it because the hotel was nicer. It was raining. This is when I really started to realize that there were really no rules on the road. They drive on the left side here, but really it was like where ever you wanted to. It sounds chaotic, but they make it work. I haven’t yet seen anyone getting pulled over for a ticket, harassed by cops, or any authorities (outside the airport and train station) what so ever. I bet you know one is spending time in jail for stupid traffic warrants and such. We always tout on how free of a country America is, but I tell you these people do whatever the hell they want but are respectful about it.

One chick got sick on our way to the beach and had to throw up. I just had to throw that in.

Once at the hotel, exhausted, we decided to go and find some food. We walked around the corner and found a nice little restaurant called Ging’s Restaurant. The owner was this boisterous Thai lady that knew how to accommodate guests. She was a diva and that’s for sure. The atmosphere was very comfortable. She brought us free frozen drinks and gave us a 30% discount on the food just because she was that cool! If we weren’t so tired we would have stayed longer. I could tell if I lived here, I would be there all the time. I had an omelet over rice with some sort of chicken and cashew combination with vegetables. Before that we had a free offering of the salad trey. I grabbed some pasta, corn coleslaw, and a delectable potato salad. All the food here was very good. The service was even better. They entertained us with conversation and they were even playing games at some tables. I mean, this place was chill.

We finished our meal and headed back to the room. I must have been tired, because I went right to sleep at around 11; and so did everyone else.

Related posts:

1. Touring Thailand: Day Six
2. Touring Thailand: Day Five
3. Touring Thailand: Day Two

Day Three: What a night. The Thailand nightlife seen is crazy! I was told that this was the transvestite capital of the world. I would have to concur. Some of these shemales are painfully obvious, but quite a few are pretty good knock-offs of women.

Lets see, this day begins with the front desk ringing our room to let us know that we need to come down and make arrangements if we wanted to stay another night in the hotel. We said ok, but our drunkenness kept us sleep way past check out time. We then were kicked out, but very kindly kicked out. We spent the next couple hours downstairs in the lobby trying to figure out where we were going to stay. We ordered something from the bar so that could use the internet.

The uniforms of the hotel staff (of the ladies) were very nice. They wore long purple & fuchsia colored skirts down to the ankles with a slit that ran up to their mid thigh. The tops were like suit jackets, nothing special, but the slits in the skirts made them look very sexy.

When they served us, they would kneel (both knees) and bow. The whole act just made you feel very comfortable. They were always smiling at you too.

We found a hotel a few blocks from our present location, so we hoofed it with our bags in tow to the spot. It was a decent hotel for only about 1,200 baht (about $35). KB & Nick were still tired from last night, but I was on a mission. I had to find those glasses plus I was starving. I walked down a few blocks with the music from my iPod making the whole thing seem unreal. “I’m in Bangkok on one of the busiest streets in all of Thailand half a world away from all I’ve ever known. Awesome” I thought to myself.

The weather was perfect. Everywhere you looked, the people were selling items. It went like this: street, cars, vendor’s booths, sidewalk (with walking vendors), and then the buildings with various businesses. I was once again smitten by the fascination of my damned hairstyle. I quickly bought a pair of the first Top Gun looking sunglasses I could find. Perfect. For some reason, it was a hell of a lot easier walking down the street now that I knew they could not see my eyes.

To foreigners, everywhere you walk they try to offer you a cab or a ride on a “Took-Took.” A took-took is like a half motorcycle half rickshaw. Watch the movie Ong-Bok if you really want a good feel for it (Or see the picture page). I am also asked to buy all sorts of items from necklaces & crazy looking jewelry to little wooden frogs (I bought 1).

I finally decide to sit down and eat outside at this little Thai restaurant. Its good food and its cheap. Most dishes were around 100 to 200 baht. That’s 3-6 USD. I ordered some mixture of chicken & vegetables with a plate of some kind of crabs with orange juice for like 480 baht (around $14). That meal would have easily cost me $40+ dollars in the US.

While eating, this very beautiful seductress sat next to me and kept me company. Her ultimate goal was to get me to hang out with her and her girls so that I would eventually end up paying for their time and/or sex. I tell you, these Bangkok women have game. Good thing I did a little research on the internet before the trip and knew what the gig was.

After the meal I went back up to the hotel, showered and started writing the first part of this blog. I laid down for a bit before we all headed out for the night around 1:00am. We stopped at a pool hall and had a few drinks. Then one of the girls told us of a spot that was poppin all night.

We got there around 2:30am. The place is called Spice. It was underneath this hotel and it was jumpin! They played mostly if not all American Hip-hop. I can’t recall seeing any cheap well-liquors. I was drinking Grand Marne, Remy, Jager and a slew of all kinds of shyt! I wasn’t feelin that f***ed up though. I think. I left KB & Nick at the club close to 6 in the morning and headed back to the hotel. The rest of this story is Vegas.

Related posts:

1. Touring Thailand: Day Six
2. Touring Thailand: Day Nine
3. Touring Thailand: Day Seven

Day Two: Now we boarded the Thai Plane around 4:30pm Japan time which is around 2:30am Houston. BTW, it was Tuesday afternoon! Our flight to Bangkok, Thailand was a 6 hour flight. Unlike the Continental, flying coach in Thai Airlines is like flying 1^st class in the states minus the close seating. First we were givin a snack. Some assortment of god knows what kind of trail mix. It was different, but overall tasty. Imagine having Sushi trail mix. The refreshments came next. Get this… OPEN BAR w/virtually no limit. What’s the Thai word for hit me again?

When it was time for our meal, me and my Japanese buddy sittin next to me had a good buzz goin; although he was only drinking beer… wimp. I was having an assortment of drinks myself. We had a choice at dinner time between pork and salmon. I don’t eat pork (except the occasional bacon crave). The Salmon was curried though. I guess that is an acquired taste. It came with 2 different kinds of noodles, a very good shrimp salad, roll, steamed rice, fruit, orange juice & some kind of coffee cake (I think) that was absolutely divine.

During the meal, servers came by offering either red or white wine. I had to keep the buzz goin. Next there was an offer of Green Tea, English Tea, or Coffee for the end of the meal. I decided against because I saw that there was also an offer of cognac coming up. I love cognac! After the Cognac and being that we were 40,000 feet in the sky, I was categorically drunk. Nice. Needless to say, I slept the rest of the way. I hope the 2 guys to the left didn’t have to take a piss .

We arrive at a very colorful looking Airport. There are all kinds of paintings and statues which give it a very artsy vibe. Once through customs I say to the fellas, “We are in fucking Thailand!”

Thai people are used to seeing tourists, but they were not ready for what I had in store for them. Hell, I wasn’t ready for the reaction myself. My Mohawk was garnering all sorts of attention; way more than from the states. I kinda felt what it was like to be a celebrity. All eyes were on me. Old eyes, young eyes, it didn’t matter. To my chagrin they were all marveling on how neat it was and were smiling and giving approval in Thai and with thumbs up.

We needed to get to our hotel. It was close to 11:00 pm Bangkok time (11:00am Houston). That’s 24 hours of travel time. As nice and kind as the people are in Bangkok, they are some hustlers too. There was a taxi/limousine service inside the airport, but we opted to go with the girls who were snapping their cameras away at my braided doo. What a set up, lol.

The girls tempted you outside, just to lure you into a taxi… er mini-van that took us to the airport (We have video coming soon of this exploit). It was cool until we found out we overpaid. Ah well.

Once at the hotel we really observed the relentless kindness of the Thai people. I mean damn, they were making Americans look like down right Assholes! Don’t want tips, bowing all over the place and just plain respectful of other human beings.

We got to the room, freshened up, and were out the door by around 1:00am. Let this mark the day that Pony Boy was born. When we stepped outside dressed in mere T-shirts and jeans/shorts we were garnering all sorts of attention. I’ll try to say this as modest as I can… my Mohawk had these Thai people sick! I couldn’t walk 5-10 feet (literally) without people smiling, pointing, wanting to touch, or asking me how much or how long did it take. I was soon overwhelmed by the attention. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t like all of the attention, but it was a bit much. Gonna try and get some video of the reaction on Wednesday though to show you what I am talking about. Nick started calling me Pony Boy. We were getting free beers and all of the ladies attention out of it, so it was cool. This little girl even gave me a rose. How sweet. I felt like Buddha himself if you know what I mean.

The rest of the night consisted of a lot of partying and drinking until and after the sun literally came up. Insert montage here. I’m getting some shades for tomorrow. I now know why celebrities always don the glasses. Its hard to ignore people when everyone you look at is making eye contact with you.

Related posts:

1. Touring Thailand: Day One
2. New York
3. Touring Thailand: Day Three

I’m writing everyday about my adventures in Thailand. A 10-day adventure embarked on with 2 friends, KB & Nick, October 15th thru the 25th. I will include pictures and video as they are produced.

Day One: It is 9am Houston time and we arrive at the Intercontinental Airport. We board sometime before 10:30 on our way to Tokyo (layover city). This is when I realized that I might get a little bit of attention in Asia. You see, I am sporting a Mohawk 3 inches high off of my scalp. It has a braided design on the side with an afro-like Mohawk going down the middle. I haven’t even gotten to my seat when I’m asked to take a picture; a pre-cursor of things to come.

Note to anyone who hasn’t been to Asia. The flight is hella long! It took us 13 hours just to get to Tokyo. We were not permitted to leave the Airport. Our layover was only 2.5 hours anyway. The airport was very nice. It was like a mall with planes parked outside. The Sony store had all of the products that haven’t made it to market over here in the states. Anyone who knows how much I love technology knows that I was in “Hog Heaven.”

Related posts:

1. Touring Thailand: Day Two
2. Touring Thailand: Day Four
3. Touring Thailand: Day Eight