Feeling a bit lonely on the street of Phuket Town.
I tried to get a late lunch and was turned away from an adorable looking food place just near my hostel. I assumed it was because I was white, but know now that I've gotten over the hurt, I realize that I was in a negative mood which merits negative thinking.
After crying into the 4th book I've decided to conquer since I've gotten here, I went across the street to a 'safe' restaurant. Obviously catering to tourists, having english signs and advertising Phad Thai. I know now being here, that it is the most commonly ordered dish here in Thailand, as it is the only one that most Westerners recognize. I'm not even sure if it's a real Thai dish, or if we invented it ourselves. Needless to say that tourist restaurant across from backpackers= worst phad thai I've ever tasted. If I get food poisoning from it, that's just the icing on the cake. They probably poison it on purpose because they're tired of all the cliched tourists.
I'm a bit of a party pooper when it comes to tourism. I'm still trying to understand what it is for me. I'm never really interested in the real touristic tours offered everywhere, and would much prefer to stay in a place for a minimum of a week. I don't see the point in spending heaps of money on one day doing something really fun, when you could use that money and spend an entire week somewhere and really experience it. But on the same hand I'm here experiencing it and I wonder why. I don't doubt being here 90% of the time. I'm happy to be, but why come and spend it with other tourists doing things like tubing (a popular tourist activity in Laos), when you could tube anywhere? Maybe there's something I'm missing.
I want to be superior to all these other 'tourists' that don't make any effort to experience the place, they're just hungry for these 'sights'. I spoke to a girl that went to see the famous beach from the movie with Leonardo Dicaprio called "The Beach". She said there were hundreds of people there and tons of tourist boats and it didn't really look that beautiful considering. Sounds like a nightmare to me. I'm happy making jokes with the lovely lady at the front desk and listening to the monsoon rains going on outside while I peacefully read my book.
I'd love to hear someone's opinion on all my ranting if anyone cares to share.
I'm headed to Bangkok tomorrow. Not sure how long I'll stay, I feel anxious to get to Chang Mai and learn the city that I'll be spending 5 weeks in before my massage course starts. I want to find a guest house that I like, a favorite place to take my breakfast, settle in and mine my niche. I just want to fit in really. I hate standing out. I hate when people try to sell me things when I know that if a Thai person walked by they would be ignored. I don't like being paid attention to because of the colour of my skin or my race! How can I be upset though, when I'm new in another country and have that typical lost look on my face?
It's not all bad, and I don't mean to make it sound that way. I'm not a masochist if that's what it sounds like. I do truely want to be here, but it always takes awhile to settle in to somewhere new.
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This is an adventure I had yesterday which I very much enjoyed and wrote my boyfriend about:
I did venture out into town, but not far as I came across a market to explore. I scoured for good bananas and cheap purple garlic fruit, which I found and purchased. (purple garlic fruit are these delicious fruit that are round and purple and when you squeeze it open with both hands, the little fruit inside look like cloves of garlic, but are very delicious and sweet). The garlic fruit was 60 baht per kilo, around $2, while the other ones I saw were more like $10+ per kilo. I also found this other fruit that I used to eat when I was a kid, my dad's friend had a tree and gave them to us. We called them jabong and they look kind of like a citris fruit, but they're not sour. At the market they were already peeled and sectioned and put in plastic wrap with this spice made from chilli and sugar. Delicious!
I also tried to eat at the market, curry. When I approached the food stall another man was in the middle of his order, but he turned to me and pointed to the curry directly in front of us and said, 'spicy'. Without thinking, as soon as I was handed a bowl of rice, I took a giant scoop and smothered the rice with it. I sat down at the table, complete with the tolit paper rolls and random condiments, and battled through, trying to impress all the Thai people around me. They were all laughing at me and saying 'spicy, spicy'. God it was spicy. The spiciest thing I've ever eaten. I was practically crying against my will. I struggled for about 15 minutes or so and finally gave in with about 3 more spoonfuls of rice left in my bowl. You would think I could've of done it, but I was really suffering that much. I'm not really looking forward to my poo tomorrow.
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It was totally worth it by the way. I've been back to the market twice already today. Once in the morning and again after the awful phad thai, right away I passed a food stall that was selling freshly bbqed meats in all different delcious smelling sauces...lesson learned, no matter how homesick you are, do not trust tourist-trap food places! On both visits I got some more jabong. I ate one and the other is for my 13 hour bus trip to Bangkok tomorrow. Which reminds me, I need to go book my accomodation.
Thanks for listening my avid readers. I really means alot to me. Aloha.
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