Life begins @24

Apologies for not updating in nearly three weeks but I’ve lost the motivation to write since I’ve returned from my travels and pretty much lost motivation to do everything else as well.

Since returning to this hell, sorry, home, I’ve had the ‘rose tinted glasses’ (about settling for a standard life) forcibly removed and it’s given me the determination to ‘get the hell out of dodge’ as soon as possible; I’ve decided to emigrate!…to New Zealand!! But that’s not until 2012. First, in 2011, I plan to do a US road trip for a month (with a lot of luck and money) and get that out of my system before I start settling down.

And if you’re wondering ‘why New Zealand’, I couldn’t tell you. I’ve never been, it just looks amazing On a serious note though, they’re an English-speaking country, offer 2 year work visas, are known as a ‘backpacking destination’ so there should be a lot of people my age and it’s relatively close to a lot of good dive locations (yes, I’m hopelessly addicted). I’ve checked and I’m already eligible for a visa there but I have a lot of research to do and plans to make before I can leave. Hopefully in that time I will have won a writing competition and made a lot of money (one can always dream).

To answer your next question about the US road trip (well, I hope you’re interested in it enough to ask but I’ll tell you anyway), I plan to hit:
New York City (spending my 25th birthday there like I did my 18th)
Yellowstone or Yosemite National Park
San Fransico
Las Vegas
Grand Canyon
Los Angeles
Washington DC (this is my last stop so I can break up the flight time from LA to home)

Lots to think about right? Good job I like to plan and organise things is all I can say.

Being back has given me a lot of time to think and it has dawned me on that I actually should be very proud of myself for travelling for three months solo around a continent so ‘alien’ to my own life. Jess, one of the girls I met in Bali, has 6 brothers and sisters and they all went travelling for a year before her so she had a lot of people throwing in advice and opinions etc. Me? I had no one. Not one person in my family has been backpacking, they certainly haven’t done it solo and they haven’t been to the places and did the things I did which made me realise just how much I achieved by myself. I researched it all, planned everything important (insurance etc) and accomplished so much that I had been chasing such as diving. So not only am I the only member of my family to have backpacked but I am now the only diver and I am the first person to be able to say that I have climbed a volcano. Some big achievements that I didn’t have time to realise and accept until I had returned but they’re enough to put a smile or two on my face.

I only hope that I can recreate that success and achievement with my trip to the US and my eventual emigration.

So that’s my life-altering news. I hope you stick around to watch me achieve it…right after I take my cousin and her friend to see Twilight Eclipse!

Have a good weekend everyone,
Aloha!

Passport stamps – wooo!

Originally uploaded by Toniwoni

…I was diving off Tulamben, Bali around a USS warship. This week I’m not and it’s that realisation that can bring a tear to my eyes.

But anyway…to finish my story from Bali about Brandon. Not much to tell in the ‘private party’ kind of way (a lady never tells…details anyway lol) but more about what happened afterwards. We’d had a ‘kiss and cuddle’ to put it in a polite way hehe but afterwards, he lay his head on my shoulder, wrapped his arm around my waist and fell asleep. He had a great night. Me on the other hand? I seemed to wake up every 2 hours on the dot (unintentionally) to make sure that he was okay and still breathing etc because he’d had a head injury (and I was feeling guilty I hadn’t forced him to go to hospital). Was lovely to wake up next to him though but you could tell that he was still pretty upset and shaken about the accident. I hadn’t told him I kept waking up to check on him but after I confessed to Francesa who replied ‘aww you’re such a mum’ she went and blabbed to him. I thought he would think I was a stalker or something but he actually thought it was really sweet and I got another kiss out of it so it was a pretty good thing Francesa did for me after all hehe

And now I’m back…and planning my next escape. Remember I was talking about heading back to New York next year for a holiday? I’m thinking of doing something a little more permanent instead. I’m not sure if that means simply moving towns or country but the research begins now. I just can’t do this anymore and I’m not prepared to. For aesthetics, my town is lovely and on a sunny afternoon over-looking the boats in the marina you could think you were in France. But when you look at the statistics…largest population of over-60s per km than anywhere else, highest bankruptcy rate and highest teenage pregnancy…it makes you take off the rose-tinted sunglasses. Before I could ignore it for the most part but after seeing/experiencing everything I have, I refuse to settle anymore. There’s more to life than this and I deserve to explore it whilst I still can.

Don’t confuse what I’m saying. Just because I’m upset that I’m back, it does not make me ungrateful for going in the first place. Liken it, if it you will, to the saying ‘it’s better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all’…’it’s better to have traveled and returned than having never traveled at all’. I’m simply saying that I can no longer accept the status quo when it makes me so upset and angry. My town, for me, holds 10 years worth of painful memories and I want and NEED to escape them. Call it running away if you like but if it makes me even an iota happier, I’m all for it.

Speaking of happiness…I didn’t think my trip had changed me much and certainly didn’t think I’d had any ‘life epiphanies’ (as people expect when you backpack) but when I was flying home etc I realised that I had to a certain degree.
The first being that my most important goal is to become a mum. That’s not to say that I’m going to go out looking for a one night stand just to give me a baby but I know that, when the person is right, it’s what I want. I really think I’d be a good mum and I have so much love to give it’s unreal. All my life whether it be school friends or random car-accident travelers, I’ve been a ‘mum’ to them whether I mean to or not; it’s just who I am and I know that having a child would be the best gift I could ever wish for.
Secondly, I realise that keeping people in my life that make me unhappy is not healthy and will do nothing but bring me down further. For years I have allowed certain people to take advantage of me and, in turn, make me miserable but I’m not willing to put up with it anymore. Whether they’re a friend or family member, it doesn’t matter; if they’re not with me, they’re against me and if they’re against me then they’re gone. It’s as simple as that. I shouldn’t and don’t deserve to keep people in my life that make me unhappy.
And thirdly, the biggest realisation I came to was about my career and that is that I want to write. When I was traveling I had a lot of friends and family that, for the first time, were reading what I had written. Meaning that, before they had started to read my blog, they had never really seen anything I had written and all of a sudden they were reading every time I updated and they were, I think, pleasantly surprised by what they came across. Before I knew it I had many of them telling me I had great talent and, for the first time in my life, I began to believe them. Usually I would pass the compliments off saying ‘it’s just something I like to do’ or ‘thanks but I’m not that good’ but you know what? I think I am (a little bit anyway!) My ‘problem’ is that I also love to help people (whether it be volunteering, walking a drunk guy home or listen to a friend at 2am) and I have yet to figure out how to encompass that into writing…but I’ll work it out; don’t you worry

And as for the rest of the crap in my life right now; I’d like to tell you how I really feel (lord knows I need to) but I made that mistake before and got burnt badly; I don’t intend on making the same mistake again. Let’s just say that I’m finding it incredibly hard having to learn how to live back in this country, my town and my home again.

So until next time…
Aloha!

Yes ladies and gentleman, it’s that time for the last post of my journey. No more tales of private parties or wacky people I’ve met along the way, no more talk of climbing volcanoes or diving in incredible waters. From now on it’s back to reality and a big dose of it it will be.

What have I been up to since the last time we spoke? Well, the girls Jess and Laura and I departed company which brought about some sadness at the thought that we now won’t see each other for 7 months (in Laura’s case) and a year in Jess’s case. But that’s the good thing about the internet and Facebook I guess!

On Saturday I went diving on the North of the island at a place called Tulamben which is where the famous USS Liberty warship wreck is and boy was it worth the money! It was amazing and I actually think I was more interested in the wreck itself than the fish haha. It’s weird but because I dove in Thailand so many times, you see a lot of the same fish and then when I got here I saw so many others…think I’m going to have to buy myself a fish book when I get home just so I can take a nice, slow look at everything I’ve seen…can’t wait! It was also pretty cool to see the black volcanic sand and be able to swim through the wreck itself.

Yesterday I spent the morning down at the beach topping up my tan for the last time before coming back to the hostel and chilling out at the pool with an American girl called Francesa that I’d met the night before. Then, Dutchie (who slept in the bed underneath me) showed up…he and an American guy called Brandon had gone on their scooters with the intention of going to Uluwatu temple but Dutchie lost Brandon pretty quick in the rush-hour traffic. Next thing we know, Brandon comes round the corner and the whole left-side of his body is covered in bruises and cuts….he’d been hit by a car and was bleeding pretty bad. So I went to reception to ask for a first aid kit thinking one of the staff would be trained but no…muggins here got the job. So I sat Brandon down, started cleaning him up etc and he was in so much pain I thought he was either going to cry or pass out which was weird to see as he’s a 6ft muscly, strong-looking Americano. In all honesty, I got a bit emotional seeing him in that much pain knowing there wasn’t much I could do for him. But anyway, I got him patched up and gave him some pain pills to help. A new guy from England had showed up as well and after Brandon had relaxed for a bit we all headed out for dinner together….Dutchie, Brandon, Francesa, me and English Boy and we had fun though Brandon was still suffering and had odds flip-flops on because his other got trashed…we felt so sorry for him. But I had a great cocktail called a Devil’s Shooter which was yummy!

When we got back to the hostel I patched Brandon up again with more anti-septic cream etc and bandaged him up before we realised we were all shattered enough to go to bed at 10pm…talk about party die-hards lol. When the rest of the guys were out of the room cleaning their teeth etc Brandon stopped me, gave me a hug and said that I was a ‘life saver’ and that he really appreciated everything I’d done for him. The night ended, not with a private party, we’ll call it a ‘get together’…but you’ll have to wait for those details because my battery is running out on my laptop lol

And today I’ve just been chilling out with the guys and getting some last minute things done and bought…not to mention packing which wasn’t fun because I’ve been feeling physically sick for the last two days knowing that I’m going back. If I’m honest I’m dreading it. Not because I have to go back to a job or the same old routine but because of the people. I’m not sure I’m ready to ‘forgive and forget’ their reactions so easily. I don’t mean that I’m holding a grudge, just that I think my feelings towards certain people and things have changed and I’m not sure how it’s going to work any more. Despite all the excellent and fun times I’ve had and the amazing people I’ve met, I’m still heartbroken. You may think that I would have ‘learnt to let go by now’ since it’s been 3 months since my miscarriage and Mr Officer but until you go through it yourself, you have no idea how painful it is and I’m not going to pretend that I’m ‘back to normal’ just because you think I should be ‘over it already’. I’ll be fine; I know I will…hell, at one of my lowest points of recent years, essentially, I ran away from home to travel solo around Asia…whether you are prepared to realise it or not, I am an incredibly strong young woman and I wish people would start to believe it.

Anyway. better go…have my dress to go and pick up and a 27 journey ahead of me.
Talk to you on the other side!

p.s. currently I’m sat in Hong Kong airport after a successful flight from Bali and I’m crying at the thought of going back…the reality of it all is beginning to sink in and all I can think is where I can run away to next and how quickly…who wants to come to the travel agents with me?

Aloha!

And if you’re wondering where that title comes from it’s because there are penis’ EVERYWHERE hoping for good fertility but when it’s on the end of a bottle opener or keyring, I’m not sure how ‘cultural’ it really is.

But anyway, what have I been up to since my birthday? Well wouldn’t you like to know! Ok, I’ll tell you but only because you asked so nicely.

Saturday Jess, Laura and I headed to Ubud for four days and we walked around the rice paddies, nice cafes and the insane market they have. I managed to get myself three pieces of genuine Suarti Silver for the same price as one piece from QVC. Not only that but one of them was a huge piece of sandstone which I had been after for ages – so happy!

Our accommodation was a ‘home stay’ and it looked like a grandiose temple…you’ll have to wait until I get home for the photos I think but it was stunning!

Then on Tuesday, Jess and I did the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever done in my life…we got up at 2am to climb 685m over 5km up an active volcano to watch the sun rise over Bali!! Yes people, Me, I, Toni White, climbed a volcano! So proud of myself! I told people before I left that I was going to do it but I’m not sure they believed I would actually go through with it and in all honesty, I’m not sure I did either but I did it and what amazing bragging rights I have for the rest of my life!

We had another day to recover in Ubud and now we’re on the East Coast at a place called Padang Bai which is the port to go to the Gili Islands. I’m not going there (can’t afford the time or money) so I’ll leave the girls to go over whilst I head back to Legian (where my adventure started). I’ve booked to go diving on Saturday around the USS Liberty Wreck which I can’t wait for! Then on Sunday I’m going to try and get to Tanah Lot temple for sunset which is the famous temple over-looking the sea. In between that, I plan to have a dress made, get my laundry done and say goodbye to my three months of adventure. What a shame it’s almost over!

And instead of the ‘Dear Mr’ letters, today you will get ‘Girl Conversations’…stupid chats the three of us have had together over the last week…

When deciding what Disney characters we all were I admitted that I did the ‘test’ in Disney World and came out with Mrs Potts from Beauty and the Beast…
Laura: Is that the one with the purple rim?
Me: So where exactly is my purple rim Laura?

We bumped into an older lady from the US when standing at the ATM and got talking about how long we all had in Bali when she told us she had six months…then the conversation got weird…
Mrs USA: My son is a pilot and asked if I wanted to go to Bali but I wasn’t sure so I went home, lay on my floor and asked the forces whether to go or not. Suddenly, out of nowhere the Goddess of Compassion came to me and told me to go…even though she’s Chinese.
Laura and I (after she’d gone): Wow, what a crackpot.
Jess: I really want to meditate with her.
Laura: Why am I even friends with you?

Laura and I were in the shower together (with our bikinis on by the way) rinsing the sand off ourselves…
Laura: It’s so funny, we’ve only known you a week and we’re already showering, eating, sharing money and sleeping together…I wouldn’t even do that in a relationship!
Me: So what you’re saying is that you only slag it up for lesbian times?

Hope that made you smile?!
Aloha!

Dreamland Beach

Originally uploaded by Toniwoni

Hi guys,

Sorry I haven’t been in touch but the internet over here isn’t that reliable and to be honest, I’ve just been too busy to stop by. And if you’re wondering about the title of the post it’s because on every tour or pick-up I’ve had in Asia, I seemed to have changed sex lol.

Sooooo….my birthday. Actually, just before I tell you about that, I should tell you that the day before (Wednesday) I met two English girls called Laura and Jess and we got on so well we decided to travel together about the island. Anyway…back to Thursday…

I went white water river rafting in the morning and as soon as I got on the van that picked me up I got chatting to two Americans…Korina who works in Jakarta and her nephew Ivan who was on holiday after just graduating from high school. We drove about an hour through the ‘real Bali’ i.e. rice paddies, immense traffic and crappy roads before arriving to get kitted out and head down the 425 steps to the river…our legs were shaking by the time we reached the bottom! But anyway, there were just us three and our guide on the boat which was really nice and our guide sat me at the front by myself because I was the birthday girl.

The Ayung River was gorgeous and looked like something because Jurassic Park and Lost…endless carvings in the river bank rocks, waterfalls everywhere and unspoilt bamboo trees 60ft tall! Amazing! And when we stopped our boat to get out by a waterfall, the guide and the rest of my boat decided to dunk me under the waterfall and get me drenched – great fun! The 1.5hrs were over far too quickly but for the last 25m we got to jump out of the boat and just let the river take us which was awesome. Lunch was over-looking rice paddies and before we knew it we were off to the Elephant Safari Park.

We went straight on the elephant and I got the ‘King of the Herd’ – Mr Wongo haha. Apparently he’s a complete playboy…has three wives and has fathered all three babies in the park hehe. He’s also the most famous elephant in the park and everyone from Tony Blair to the Beckhams has been on him…yay for bragging rights haha. I got to feed the elephants, touch them and have flowers put over my head – VERY cool! Absolutely loved it and the whole day…but it wasn’t over yet…

Got back to the hostel and the girls had booked us in for full body massages which we had talked about and when we went to the spa they had my name up on the wall wishing my a Happy Birthday – how cool is that?! Even better was the fact that Jess and Laura paid for my massage (a grand total of 5GBP for 60 mins!!) as a present…sweet or what? After that we headed for dinner at a really posh resort over-looking the beach and as a ‘cake’, on the way home, we bought a chocolate doughnut from the supermarket and used a lighter for a candle as the girls sang ‘Happy Birthday’. It really was a GREAT DAY and I won’t forget it in a hurry!

On Friday we hired a driver for the day to take us around the South of the Island which is the blue sky, white sand you always see in brochures (but actually, probably isn’t a very true representation of Bali) and we did a little ‘beach safari’. We went to Dreamland, Padang Padang and the famous Uluwatu. Turns out that on Wednesday President Obama will be here for an official visit too – how cool is that?! Very cool I think We ended our day by watching the sunset whilst at Uluwatu temple watching a traditional Bahanese dance as the sun was setting in the background – great stuff!

We’re now in Ubud which is the ‘cultural capital’ of the island and more towards the centre. We’re hopefully going to walk around the rice paddies and explore etc and with any luck book the tour that takes us up for the sunrise hike of Mount Batur which is the second highest volcano on the island – yay! After that, who knows!

Aloha!

Arrived safe and sound in Bali (after an hour going through immigration!)…my last destination before hell, sorry, home haha. To be honest, I’m not really thinking about going back at the moment; feels a bit too surreal that my time is almost over already. It’s cloudy and dark and there are thunderstorms forecast on Thursday for my birthday so I’m not sure if I’ll be doing anything but we’ll wait and see.

Singapore was great fun though I walked so much I wanted to chop my legs off by the end of it lol. Not to the mention the fact that I STILL had my cold (and still do!!) which made things harder but Swan, the girl I met up with, made everything perfect.

She met me at the airport, carried my small (but heavy) bag and even bought me a prepaid travel card for the MRT…she was an absolute star! And kept me in constant supply of tissues which was very much appreciated haha. I dropped my bag at the hostel and quickly changed before heading to Lau Pat Sat for dinner as she had been craving food there for the last month haha. And afterwards we took a long walk from Clarke Quay to the Esplanade and back again, taking in the sights of the city in lights…Swan said that I’d made her feel like a tourist in her own city haha.

Friday was spent going around Chinatown with a cute Irish guy from my hostel (as Swan was working) which was nice. He was going home after a year of travelling and it was fun to swap travel stories. We also went into a Buddhist temple which was stunning!! I said ‘goodbye’ in the afternoon and Swan and I went over to the Night Safari in the evening which was great!! Like going to the zoo only you walk around in the dark watching animals act like they would in the wild including seeing flying squirrels actually fly haha. It was heaving though because it was a public holiday but it added to the atmosphere. The walk around the trails takes about an hour so we were happy to jump on the tram for the last 30minutes of our tour before heading home…we were sooooo tired!

And Saturday. God, what a day. I haven’t walked that far since I went to Paris last year. We went to Orchard Road for the whole day!! Though the only good grace was that we were in and out of air conditioning to cool us down And yes I bought a couple of things…so sue me…it was a shopping street and the Big Sale (two months of sale shopping) had begun lol. We ended our day at sunset on the Flyer which is a bigger version of the London Eye which gave us great views of the city! After that we grabbed some dinner in a HUGE food court – I’ve never seen anything like it…so many people! lol.

And before I knew it it was time to leave Singapore and my new found friend Swan. She was amazing! She’s absolutely obsessed with the UK and everyone and everything in it and can’t wait to move there next year bless her. I miss her already and am so glad that she decided to e-mail me that day and start a new friendship!

Love you Swan!!

And here are a couple of overdue Dear Mr letters (as far back as Koh Samui)…

Dear Joke of a Man,
It was bad enough seeing your girlfriend with shoulder length hair having it in braids…she looked about 27. But you have the same length hair AND you had it braided. If that’s not bad enough, you’ve braided it in Reggae colours; how ridiculous are you trying to make yourself look? God help you if you show your holiday snaps to your friends.
Love, Laughing Before Your Friends Do

Dear Cold,
I would really appreciate it if you would just FUCK OFF! It’s been almost 10 days and you’re still affecting my ability to do anything requiring eating/drinking and keeping up my strength. It’s getting beyond a joke though at least it’s not malaria!
Signed; Too weak to be angry

Dear Boobs,
Where in the hell do you think you’re going? I mean, I know I’ve lost a little weight but nowhere near enough to warrant you disappearing! You SUCK! I was just beginning to appreciate your nice new size as well
As Always; Bee Stings aka Fried Eggs

Dear Home,
I’m not happy that I have to see you again so soon but there are a few things about you that have got me really excited! Tuna mayo/cheese mayo sandwich’s, a classic English BBQ, watching movies on MY t.v in MY bed, sweets and, most importantly of all, painting my nails!! Woo!
Lovingly, Eyecant Weight

Well, that’s me done for the night.
You probably won’t hear from me until my birthday on Thursday when I’ll let you know what I’ve done to celebrate. Other than that, despite being in a hostel, my cold is making me feel pretty unsociable so I plan on just keeping myself to myself for a couple of days and trying to get myself somewhere that resembles ‘better’.

Aloha!

Etienne LOVED the Ladyboys lol

Originally uploaded by Toniwoni

I feel the need to write something but as for the purpose or theme, I have no idea so let’s just start and see where it takes us…

Koh Samui with Petula was great and I miss her already though she didn’t stay as healthy as she wanted after she spotted the carrot cake haha. She is such a lovely girl and we really enjoyed getting to know each other; turns out we have a lot in common too! Unfortunately my cold prevented me from sleeping, eating and going on the beach but she always managed to make me feel better. We (well she) ate great food, we shared stories and generally just relaxed. Especially as my cold was nasty so I wasn’t up to much anyway. It got so bad that I barely ate or drank anything for two days and became so weak I could barely walk down the street but I think (and desperately hope) I’m getting a little better each day.

In some lovely news…my friend Flip over at Flip Nomad ‘interviewed’ me a couple of weeks back and I’m now on his front page! Go and check out the interview; it’s all about travel and it’s pretty cool even if I do say so myself. Flip has a great travel website of his own especially about the Philippines so it’s well worth a look.

I’m off to Singapore tomorrow until Sunday before I fly out to Bali for my last two weeks. The day I got off the dive boat, a lovely young girl called Swan e-mailed me and we’ve been talking almost daily since…she’s going to be my personal guide around the city and has already come up with an itinerary for us haha.

And on a much crappier note, Alex my dive guide turned out to be just another lying twat of a boy. He’s refused to be my ‘friend’ on Facebook and never replied to the message I sent. Not only that but it turns out that when we got together on the boat, he was ‘in a relationship’ though he’s single now. Being the ‘other woman’ is not what bothers me however. What pisses me off is that he went to all the trouble of almost begging me to keep in touch and wanting to see me again. I was quite happy to just have our fun on the boat and leave it at that but he seemed to want more so he made all that effort to lie for no reason. I’m just so fucking embarrassed that I fell for more lies by a guy when he never gave me any indication he was anything but honest! Do I have a tattoo across my forehead reading ‘if you’re a guy you can lie as much as you want because I won’t figure it out until it’s too late so go ahead, walk all over me’?!

And don’t tell me that Alex ‘isn’t worth getting upset over’ because he’s just the tip of the iceberg; it’s everything. It’s every shit thing I’ve been through over the last 18 months and the thought of going back to a mountain of painful memories, places and people which I don’t feel ready to face. I’m sorry; I don’t want to talk anymore.

Speak to you in a few days.

Yes, I really have been that busy people and it pretty much happened all in one night – my last night on Koh Tao on Thursday.

After Jessica (French Swiss) left on Wednesday, I wondered what I was going to do with myself but got talking to her ‘replacement’ straight away – Rachel from England! We got on really well so she came with me to the beach for the afternoon where we bumped in Petula (girl from Holland, remember?) and hung out all afternoon. Then Etienne (cute French guy) walked past so he joined us as well and we arranged to go out for dinner later.

I said that I would take them to the posh resort I went to the other night where you cook your own food. Petula didn’t end up coming but the other girl from our dorm (Rachel’s friend) did so there were four of us just relaxing, cooking, eating and having fun for a couple of hours.

Then we headed to my favourite bar – Lotus which is right on the beach and has the fire show. There is one fire thrower, every time I went, that I just couldn’t take my eyes off. He usually had his shirt off and although he was small, the body on that guy! And when listening to chilled out dance music, watching this guy so relaxed with the fire was so incredibly sexy and had me mesmerized lol. But this night he kept his shirt on for 2 hours – SO annoying since I’d been telling Rachel and her friend De about him lol. Anyway, the night went on and one by one the rest of my dorm just happened to turn up and sat with us which was really nice. Then came the buckets of drink and the rest is history haha.

We played drinking games, laughed at travel experiences and generally just being tipsy/drunk. That’s when I kept saying to Rachel ‘why hasn’t he taken his shirt off? Doesn’t he know it’s my last night’…’go and tell him to strip for me’ lol. It must have worked because 30 minutes before the end, he stripped – woooo! Mesmerized for one final night on Koh Tao.

Anyway, whilst all this was happening, a woman sat above me (talking to two of the guys that worked at Lotus who I had become friends with) asked to use Etienne’s lighter so I gave it to her and to say thanks she said ‘give me a kiss’…thinking it would be a peck on the cheek. Well the drunken idiot turned out to be a lesbian and proceeded to try and stick her tongue down my throat – eeeeeewwwww! Moving on….

Most of the night at Lotus, I had been talking to Chris, from Holland who was also from my dorm. The first night he arrived in Koh Tao he’d had everything stolen (after a similar experience in Phang-Nan where he was drugged and had money taken) so I’d lent him so money to go online and block his card etc. He was a really nice guy and quite cute too. At one point I got up to dance a bit on the sand with Rachel and when I sat back down he said drunkedly, ‘I want to say something but it might embarrass you’ (cue my intrigue growing)…’watching you dance then was the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen’ lol. Can you guess where this is going? Yep.

He walked me back to the hostel (leaving Rach and her friend De to carry on) and we ended up having a private party outside our hostel by the trapeze lol. I think we were there for about an hour but we could still see our dorm light on and wondered why they hadn’t gone to sleep. Well, we walked in and Rach and De had come back so the first thing Rach announced was ‘where have you been? You left before us’ haha. Cue everyone in the dorm (only Etienne was asleep) realising what we’d been up to :p Everyone was still wide awake at 1am so for the next 45 minutes we laughed more, talked loudly and I kissed Chris in front of everyone Certainly made my last night unforgettable.

And now I’m back in Koh Samui but with Petula this time and I have a horrible cold so am currently sat in my air-con room whilst she’s on the beach…sitting in the sun when you already have a fever makes you feel a million times worse so I’ve discovered. But we’re really enjoying ourselves. We decided before we left Koh Tao that we wanted to be healthy so we’ve been eating well, drinking plenty of water (instead of alcohol and fizzy drinks) and exercising which has been really good. We also have a lot in common so there’s never a quiet moment

We went back to the Reggae Bar last night and listened to the live band which was nice. The lead singer and I were flirting all night :p Every time I looked at him he was smiling at me wanting me to come up on the stage hehe. I definitely wouldn’t have said no but we left before the band finished because I was feeling so rough.

So anyway…Petula and I have one more full day here then she’s off to Phang-Nan and I’m off to Phuket for a day before going on to Singapore. I really wish I could stay where I was and get over this bad cold but with only 3 weeks left I don’t have time.

Speak soon!
Aloha!

The Four Musketeers

Originally uploaded by Toniwoni

Click on the photo – it’s the rest of Hong Kong!
Weird – 7 weeks here has flown by. Speaking of flying. Since I’m not going to Chiang Mai or Bangkok (so my family can stop having a heart attack) I have to fly to Singapore from Phuket which is a bit of a pain in the ass. So I’m going back to Samui for four days of rest tomorrow then on to Phuket for a couple of days before flying out. All rather complicated etc but it avoids going to Bangkok.

The people in my hostel are lovely – one girl and 6 guys of different nationalities and ages. Jessica (French Swiss) and I have been hanging out since the day I arrived (Sunday) which has been really nice because as they say, a change is as good as a rest and I needed to see different people. I think that’s why I was feeling so ‘out of sorts’ in my last post because I needed to do something different and yet have time to myself. But Jessica and I went out the next night with some other people I’ve met to a gorgeous restaurant over-looking Sairee Beach where you cook your own food on a small barbeque. It was devine. We got in late this morning and then spent the day on the beach after the rain had stopped.

OMG, the rain, or should I say, thunder that day was horrific! When I was in Phuket I’d never heard thunder so loud but when I got to Samui I realised it was even louder a few days ago but Tuesday? There was a ‘clap’ so loud (the hostel is made of concrete) that I thought there had been a bomb outside and the whole building shook for 10 seconds. It scared the absolute hell out of me; well, all of us really. Especially when a child outside began screaming and crying which only added to my thought of a bomb but it wasn’t. Scary stuff though; trust me.

And through Jessica, I met a girl from Holland called Petula and she’s going to Samui as well so we’ve decided to stay together and just chill out. We both need a bit of ‘detoxing’ as we’ve drunk so much we’ve put weight back on Will be nice to have some different company.

Last night was fun. We had a new guy come into the dorm – French called Etienne (tres cute!) so Jessica and I went out with him and we took him to the LadyBoy cabaret (Jessica wanted to go as it was her last night) and he loved it! So funny haha. We even had our photos taken with them!

One of the nights in the hostel (can’t remember which – too much drinking) I got into a really deep and meaningful conversation with someone I wasn’t expecting to have anything in common with and it was a poignant reminder that you can always find ‘common ground’. We said we would keep in touch which is nice

And when I went out on Monday night aIhad three people tell me three very different things about myself:
1. I am a lovely/nice person that ‘gets’ even the most complicated person and understands them
2. I talk slowly. Well I don’t but when I was introduced to a girl at one of the bars (she was English) I answered slowly to which she replied ‘How long have you been travelling?’ Too long apparently. I’ve adopted the slow talk so that foreigners can understand me haha.
3. Apparently my face lights up and I almost ‘glow’ whenever I talk about my liveaboard diving experience – great stuff
Turns out that not everyone’s opinion of me is bad despite finding out that a couple of people I’ve met over here have then ‘bitched’ behind my back…

Dear Bitches…You are TRULY PATHETIC. You’re diving on one of the most beautiful islands I have ever seen surrounded by great people and a lovely atmosphere and yet you find the time to sit there and have nasty discussions about me? I think your priorities are extremely screwed up and I feel sorry for you if life is that mundane you can’t think of anything else better to do than be two-faced hideous people.
(I’m not signing this letter because you’re not worth it).

Dear Gecko,You scared the absolute shit out of Marie and I the other night. I have NEVER seen a ‘creepy crawlie’ 10 inches long before and how did you even get into the house? And whilst we’re talking about the house – were you high? We’re chasing (and screaming) you around the lounge with a spatula to an open window and you still won’t bloody leave! It took two French guys in their boxers at midnight armed with brooms to get you to leave and you still insisted on trying to stay. I’m glad you left but I didn’t enjoy the taunting croak of ‘gecko’ right outside the bedroom all night!
Signed…I have a spatula and I’m not afraid to use it!

Anyway, this post is ridiculously long already so I’ll sign off and speak to you in a few days!
Aloha!

Freedom Beach

Originally uploaded by Toniwoni

I have finally uploaded all my photos from Thailand starting with my day trip to Phi Phi, my whole week on the dive boat and ending with Koh Tao (though there’s more to come). I’ll warn you now that you may have to avert your eyes every few seconds because of jealousy!

I’m staying here on Ko Tao for another week as it’s just too beautiful to leave; not to mention cheap. In Phuket, I was lucky if 20pound lasted me two/three days…here it lasts me about 6 days! Though I’ll move out of my friend’s and stay in a hostel for the last week as I’m sure she’s itching to have her bed back to herself!

I can’t even remember what I’ve done over the last week as it’s all rolled into one lol. Marie and I went exploring for a day and climbed over rocks and waded through water to get to a beach we wanted. I’ve seen fire shows, drank buckets of alcohol, tasted food so unbelievably good and watched LadyBoy cabaret (don’t ask). I’ve made some good friends and on Monday spent the whole night with two guys partying and flirting with each other…it’s so good for the ego to have two guys after you! lol. And no, neither of them got a private party but it was good to know they both wanted one

Two of my photos have also made it on to the front page of the STA Travel Website I belong to which I’m really pleased about considering the effort it’s taken me to get the damn photos online in the first place (an hour a day in the Net cafe!) haha.

I wasn’t planning on going diving here as everyone said that it would be a let down after everything that I saw on the dive boat but since there are a couple of Whale Sharks currently swimming around the island, I think I’ll ‘dip my toe in’ maybe tomorrow with Jack (friend of Marie’s I got talking to).

This post is a little ‘all over the place’ isn’t it?! Not sure why – just don’t really feel like myself at the moment. Maybe it’s the thought of going back. Seems like only yesterday I was saying that I’d just hit the halfway mark and now I’ve only got a month left…scary thought. Yeah, so today’s post is awful and I’d even go as far to say that I’m embarrassed by the lack of flow and purpose to it but as I said, I just don’t feel right. Maybe it’s lack of sleep…not for going out but things on my mind. I don’t know. Hopefully the island will help. It’s got a really ‘hippy’ feel to it…no one wears shoes (or if you do, you take them off before going into shops and restaurants), we wear next to nothing clothes-wise because it’s so effing hot, we all have ‘slouch bags’, cool sunglasses and watch sunsets on the beach before drinking the night away at beach bars staring at the star-filled night.

Pure. Heaven.

Aloha!