lunes, 10 de noviembre de 2008
miércoles, 27 de agosto de 2008
Accounting Students!
One of our best nights in Penang was spent dancing with these girls from Botswana.
lunes, 4 de agosto de 2008
Meet Our Reggae Homeboy, Anhas
Guitarist for the house band at our favorite Langkawi nightspot. They were really nice. They called us onstage to play a few songs every time we went there.
domingo, 3 de agosto de 2008
Langkawi
I am on a little island paradise with white sand and a sunset over blue waves, a green cluster of misty mountains jutting out of the ocean horizon, rows of rectangular prawn pools, and a few longhorn buffalo grazing beneath my window.
Langkawi, Malaysia, has been my home for more than two weeks, my stay extended by a day here, a day there as we synchronize with the slow vibration of this place. It's a community filled with travelers who have come and gotten stuck on purpose. Years pass as they stop aging and settle into the rhythm of the sun and the afternoon monsoons and the reggae nights. Tourists come and go. You make a group of friends for a night or a week until they pass along to the next island, or return to their jobs back in Australia or Holland. The next night brings a whole new batch.
We spend our days writing and recording music, taking breaks to walk down the beach to get lunch at a little burger shack. We eat while watching Muslim men being readied for parasailing, the harness strapped on and adjusted, the chute ordered, the cords straightened, while their wives stand by in full burkas, flowing black in the wind, cameras at the ready. Then the boat driver guns the engine and the man begins to run. His feet lift from the ground and he flies off, trailed by a puffy circle of bright red against the pale blue sky.
We spend our nights dancing and drinking with the friendly strangers we meet. Having befriended the house band at the Reggae Café, we typically get invited to the stage to play a couple of songs, usually pairing an original with a tongue-in-cheek cover like "Gin and Juice," or something by Nelly. If we play Bob Marley, then they go bananas.
The food here is delicious, but it doesn't compare to Thailand, where we stuffed ourselves with the most flavorful, exotic dinners and walked away having spent $6 between the two of us. And the SPICE! Oh my, oh my. It took days of physical adjustment. But I didn't shy away. I persevered with gaping mouth and open pores and tears streaming down my cheeks. Very unpretty; kind of hilarious to the locals; but totally worth it. For the rest of the month I was dousing my food with chopped chillies without thinking twice.
Langkawi, Malaysia, has been my home for more than two weeks, my stay extended by a day here, a day there as we synchronize with the slow vibration of this place. It's a community filled with travelers who have come and gotten stuck on purpose. Years pass as they stop aging and settle into the rhythm of the sun and the afternoon monsoons and the reggae nights. Tourists come and go. You make a group of friends for a night or a week until they pass along to the next island, or return to their jobs back in Australia or Holland. The next night brings a whole new batch.
We spend our days writing and recording music, taking breaks to walk down the beach to get lunch at a little burger shack. We eat while watching Muslim men being readied for parasailing, the harness strapped on and adjusted, the chute ordered, the cords straightened, while their wives stand by in full burkas, flowing black in the wind, cameras at the ready. Then the boat driver guns the engine and the man begins to run. His feet lift from the ground and he flies off, trailed by a puffy circle of bright red against the pale blue sky.
We spend our nights dancing and drinking with the friendly strangers we meet. Having befriended the house band at the Reggae Café, we typically get invited to the stage to play a couple of songs, usually pairing an original with a tongue-in-cheek cover like "Gin and Juice," or something by Nelly. If we play Bob Marley, then they go bananas.
The food here is delicious, but it doesn't compare to Thailand, where we stuffed ourselves with the most flavorful, exotic dinners and walked away having spent $6 between the two of us. And the SPICE! Oh my, oh my. It took days of physical adjustment. But I didn't shy away. I persevered with gaping mouth and open pores and tears streaming down my cheeks. Very unpretty; kind of hilarious to the locals; but totally worth it. For the rest of the month I was dousing my food with chopped chillies without thinking twice.
jueves, 10 de julio de 2008
Chinatown in Penang, Malaysia
Incense burns in front of the temple where locals (lined up at right) come to pay respects to . . . their ancestors maybe? We didn't ask.
lunes, 7 de julio de 2008
Miami Café
This little restaurant is across the street from us, right on the water. We make a visit every day. This particular spot was hit hard by the tsunami of 2005, when the 22-day-old child of the owners was swept out to sea, borne on a mattress — and then swept right back in to be deposited safely at the restaurant. She is hailed as "Miracle Baby" and is a minor tourist attraction. We're told by our British friend here that the girl is spoiled beyond repair, but we've witnessed her to be absolutely charming and cheerful—always scampering around the restaurant with a wide smile. I'll try to get a picture of her next time we're down there.
viernes, 4 de julio de 2008
Bangkok Miscellany 2
Caught a baby.
You've all seen Asians eat entire fish before. It's weird. I did it once. Once.
Can't name a single one.
You've all seen Asians eat entire fish before. It's weird. I did it once. Once.
Can't name a single one.
jueves, 3 de julio de 2008
Restaurant Row, Bangkok
At the end of our street, Soi 38, there was a string of restaurants. Cart-kitchens in the front, seating in the back. Best food in Bangkok. Entree = $1.30.
This was our favorite, featuring a conglomerate of five different carts, all serving different dishes.
Sweet girl selling mango sticky rice. I probably ate twenty that month.
Don't even think about it.
With dinner most nights, I drank a whole coconut. The spoon is for digging out the coconut meat afterward.
This was our favorite, featuring a conglomerate of five different carts, all serving different dishes.
Sweet girl selling mango sticky rice. I probably ate twenty that month.
Don't even think about it.
With dinner most nights, I drank a whole coconut. The spoon is for digging out the coconut meat afterward.
jueves, 26 de junio de 2008
Bangkok Miscellany
The pair of hands at right boiled each piece of meat separately for us.
Braille for giants.
The Third Place café, where we spent our working hours in Bangkok.
Again, ladies and gentlemen, the inimitable Joey Rubin.
Braille for giants.
The Third Place café, where we spent our working hours in Bangkok.
Again, ladies and gentlemen, the inimitable Joey Rubin.
martes, 24 de junio de 2008
Final Days in Buenos Aires
Jabber jabber jabber, please take me seriously.
The calm before the storm. We've set up my despedida and are waiting for the guests.
Caught one! This is Claire Williams, founder of Hope Runs and author of some dating book, maybe.
The inimitable Joey Rubin.
Can you feel it?
When the party had progressed to a certain point, Trini began her special dance of celebration.
The calm before the storm. We've set up my despedida and are waiting for the guests.
Caught one! This is Claire Williams, founder of Hope Runs and author of some dating book, maybe.
The inimitable Joey Rubin.
Can you feel it?
When the party had progressed to a certain point, Trini began her special dance of celebration.
CentralWorld, hair champion, Chippy, gecko, All Hail King of Thailand!!
This beautiful, gigantic paper cutout hangs in a seven-story space inside the CentralWorld mall in Bangkok. The pictures don't quite do justice to the sheer size of it. The space is cylindrical, edged by a spiraling arrangement of escalators.
The next several photos feature more of the large-scale artwork in the Bangkok malls. I never thought I'd care about a mall, but CentralWorld was definitely one of my favorite places in Bangkok. The Thais really put a lot into the design of this tremendous building. I wish I'd gotten more pics of the interior architecture.
Click on this one to see a larger version (more detail).
Zack briefly considered getting a haircut from the International Creative Haircut champion . . . until we saw from the competition photos that he might end up with a few extra colors and a few more layers than he was interested in.
Glowing Acorn Heart
Instead of roaches in the apartment, we had geckos — a trade I was happy to make.
In Thailand, they *ADORE* their king. Pictured here is a huge collage of scenes from his life on the outer wall of CentralWorld. One never speaks ill of him within the hearing of Thais, one may not place posters of other things higher than one's poster of the king, and one must stand during the King's Anthem at the start of every movie showing (there's an accompanying montage!). His face is on EVERY SINGLE PIECE OF CURRENCY.
The next several photos feature more of the large-scale artwork in the Bangkok malls. I never thought I'd care about a mall, but CentralWorld was definitely one of my favorite places in Bangkok. The Thais really put a lot into the design of this tremendous building. I wish I'd gotten more pics of the interior architecture.
Click on this one to see a larger version (more detail).
Zack briefly considered getting a haircut from the International Creative Haircut champion . . . until we saw from the competition photos that he might end up with a few extra colors and a few more layers than he was interested in.
Glowing Acorn Heart
Instead of roaches in the apartment, we had geckos — a trade I was happy to make.
In Thailand, they *ADORE* their king. Pictured here is a huge collage of scenes from his life on the outer wall of CentralWorld. One never speaks ill of him within the hearing of Thais, one may not place posters of other things higher than one's poster of the king, and one must stand during the King's Anthem at the start of every movie showing (there's an accompanying montage!). His face is on EVERY SINGLE PIECE OF CURRENCY.
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