have a bolly, bolly christmas- also, happy birthday jesus and KRISTY!!!
the past few days have been strange.
to begin, the celebration of the birth of christ our lord. so, my big plan to celebrate was to find a cobbler so that i could wear my boots again. said boots were no longer so much attached to their soles. the street cobbler i'd been banking on was gone and so i bereftly went in search of breakfast. i went into an indian restaurant (sidebar: they give you dahl with sweet banana pancakes- the first time this happened i thought they were mocking me but it happened again so perhaps this is a real thing?) and was greeted by the friendly owner, an old Malaysian man of Indian decent. upon hearing of my problem he insisted on taking me to his friend who is a cobbler. we got in his mercedes and drove to this insane market way out of the tourist area and indeed a cobbler we did find. we wandered the market and had some food and the boots were ready exactly at noon as promised. my new friend insisted on paying for all this, as well as buying me a bracelet for a christmas present. next he asked what i was doing for the day and i said i wasn't sure. this prompted him to take me along visiting three of his friends' houses to celebrate christmas. all were hindu households but had fake christmas trees, plastic snowmen and pictures of jesus up. apparently they just like having the holiday. now there was no vegetarian food prepared so instead i was given plate after plate of pancakes, half a bag of raisin bread and endless cups of nescafe coffee, tea and juice. i felt ill but didn't want them to be further offended, as i already snubbed the main meals. i eventually learned that you can't clear your plate or empty your cup because they will keep refilling it. a small portion must be left to deter the friendly advances. of course, i will probably get giarrhdia from the untreated water. all the while we watched bollywood movies and my new friend remarked, "if you spoke tamil this would be very funny". he then returned me to my hotel.
i was feeling a little strange and distinctly over sugared and caffeinated at that point, so i decided to take a walk. i walked for half and hour and this man in a white car kept following me! he would drive past me and then stop. after i walked past he would honk and wave. it was weird and i ran away from him. this may be my come uppance for stalking the orange man...
to top this all off- the day concluded with a huge parade that consisted of acrobatics with huge flags, dragon and lion dancers and gaudily decorated trishaws. this is apparently a georgetown christmas tradition. finally, sleepy phone calls at two in the morning, christmas morning to you guys, and then to bed.
now we're in southern thailand and trying to figure out what to with ourselves (other than eat banana pancakes). we're in krabi currently but we are probably leaving tomorrow for the east coast.
today we went to wat tham suah and climbed the 1200+ steps to a mountaintop shrine. we found giant moths, rhino beetles and a heap of sweaty farang at the top. the climb was intense- some of the steps with a rise of 2 feet and a tread of only 6 inches or so. my heart almost pounded out fo my chest but the view was beautiful.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY KRISTY- you are a princess and must be treated accordingly. remember- it is better not to tell barb things. just in general. remember telling her about the germans? you see, it is truth.
to begin, the celebration of the birth of christ our lord. so, my big plan to celebrate was to find a cobbler so that i could wear my boots again. said boots were no longer so much attached to their soles. the street cobbler i'd been banking on was gone and so i bereftly went in search of breakfast. i went into an indian restaurant (sidebar: they give you dahl with sweet banana pancakes- the first time this happened i thought they were mocking me but it happened again so perhaps this is a real thing?) and was greeted by the friendly owner, an old Malaysian man of Indian decent. upon hearing of my problem he insisted on taking me to his friend who is a cobbler. we got in his mercedes and drove to this insane market way out of the tourist area and indeed a cobbler we did find. we wandered the market and had some food and the boots were ready exactly at noon as promised. my new friend insisted on paying for all this, as well as buying me a bracelet for a christmas present. next he asked what i was doing for the day and i said i wasn't sure. this prompted him to take me along visiting three of his friends' houses to celebrate christmas. all were hindu households but had fake christmas trees, plastic snowmen and pictures of jesus up. apparently they just like having the holiday. now there was no vegetarian food prepared so instead i was given plate after plate of pancakes, half a bag of raisin bread and endless cups of nescafe coffee, tea and juice. i felt ill but didn't want them to be further offended, as i already snubbed the main meals. i eventually learned that you can't clear your plate or empty your cup because they will keep refilling it. a small portion must be left to deter the friendly advances. of course, i will probably get giarrhdia from the untreated water. all the while we watched bollywood movies and my new friend remarked, "if you spoke tamil this would be very funny". he then returned me to my hotel.
i was feeling a little strange and distinctly over sugared and caffeinated at that point, so i decided to take a walk. i walked for half and hour and this man in a white car kept following me! he would drive past me and then stop. after i walked past he would honk and wave. it was weird and i ran away from him. this may be my come uppance for stalking the orange man...
to top this all off- the day concluded with a huge parade that consisted of acrobatics with huge flags, dragon and lion dancers and gaudily decorated trishaws. this is apparently a georgetown christmas tradition. finally, sleepy phone calls at two in the morning, christmas morning to you guys, and then to bed.
now we're in southern thailand and trying to figure out what to with ourselves (other than eat banana pancakes). we're in krabi currently but we are probably leaving tomorrow for the east coast.
today we went to wat tham suah and climbed the 1200+ steps to a mountaintop shrine. we found giant moths, rhino beetles and a heap of sweaty farang at the top. the climb was intense- some of the steps with a rise of 2 feet and a tread of only 6 inches or so. my heart almost pounded out fo my chest but the view was beautiful.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY KRISTY- you are a princess and must be treated accordingly. remember- it is better not to tell barb things. just in general. remember telling her about the germans? you see, it is truth.
posted by natalie at 7:53 AM
4 Comments:
hello natalie. a merry christmas to you. mmm...banana pancakes. dahl sounds like a strange version of syrup to me but hey, to each his own. i am here in mission, lazing around, eating stuffing and mashed potatoes every time i wander by the fridge, drinking too much coffee and feeling oddly ill all day. well, not so odd i guess. anyways, off to refill my coffee cup (which i guess means i have to wander by the fridge again...)
much love
kerria
hey baby its monkey and goo- hi hi- we are drunk- it is good- we just talked to STARR on the phone! it was hrand- makes me sad i missed your calls though- but love you lots- mmmmm sushi
hey, wait a minute. what's all this talk of postcards and, more importantly, WHERE IS MINE?
humbug
monkey here- just wanted to say happy new years to you both- forgot my password so ooops- ........and where is my postcard? tear
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