we heart tuk-tuks

our last day in kota bharu was jam-packed. not only did we check out the sprawling wet and dry markets, where women sit on raised platforms surrounded by piles of fruits, vegetables, knives, fish, household items and banana leaves filled with the sweetest thing we’ve ever tasted (we don’t know what it was. it was so sweet it hurt and the packages were swarming with bees, crazy for the sugar! buying them was dangerous), we also saw corey tortured by an old man for fifteen minutes. that’s right. autie’s massage therapist is a village secret. he’s old. he chews betel leaves so his teeth are red and he might be hallucinating. his style is a traditional malay pressure point massage. and it kills. we watched hilmy writhe in pain on the straw mat as the guy dug his fingers and elbows into the most sensitive and nerve-concentrated areas of his body. and he’s a tough guy. so, of course, auntie and the massage man find out that corey has a chronic sore hip and auntie convinces her to just let him check it out. so auntie holds her hand while corey now writhes in pain, yells, cries a little bit and laughs through the worst pain ever! it hurt. especially the rocks under the toes and the calf muscle shredding. he dug his elbow so deep into corey's left hip that it hurt the top of her head. the old man just grunted and smiled the whole time, ignoring corey’s screams of. “i’m gonna kick the old guy!” and “please pleasepleaseplease stop!” auntie was right though. it worked. corey is now able to stretch her left leg and walk like a normal person. all that for 10 ringitt (like 2 bucks).

leaving malaysia was bittersweet. we said goodbye to auntie and hilmy and ashyah (rina’s bro and sis). rina and thomas went off to bali. we had one last dinner with papa, daddy and our favorite little girl, diane. stacey went back to the states. we are finally on our own, no native speaker friends to do all the work for us! so we got back on our favorite airline, airasia and flew to thailand. we landed in phuket, an island famous for tourist beach resorts and general holiday mayhem. we had dinner at a slightly divey place with an aussie and a brit that we met in the street.
quickly learned that the thai language is way more complicated than malay (and way fewer english speakers), as expected. walked through phuket town a little bit and experienced some of the less-than attractive aspects of this tourist hub. fortunately our amazing friend michael from nyc was living in a beautiful house in chalong, away from all the craziness. we stayed with him for two days, relaxed in his super peaceful home and explored a little bit. michael gave us a lot of good advice and showed us the side of phuket that we wanted to see. it involved salsa dancing. that’s right. you know corey can‘t go anywhere without getting the dance on. (thanks for having us michael, good luck on your travels!)

thailand features one of the most fun transportation options: the tuk-tuk. a small pick-up truck with benches and a roof in the back. we heart the tuk-tuk. we’re considering buying one and driving around brooklyn with it, picking people up and encouraging the barter system. we also heart riding around on the backs of motorbikes, which even more ubiquitous than in malaysia. we took motorbike taxis to nai harn beach, where the thai ladyboys play volleyball, the tourists fill the sand with umbrellas and amazing choices in swimwear (string thong + big pink german = sexy) and the water is clear and just the right temperature. gorgeous. drank some coconuts, swam, lay in the sun. perfect. except for the crazy beach chair rental guy who fell in love with corey and wouldn’t leave us alone. it’s a long story, but for those of you who know the deal with corey and the freaks who manage to find her, you understand. annoying but harmless. she considered staying in thailand to sell beach chairs for a living, but he didn’t have enough to offer.

our last night in phuket, michael took us to latino’s, the new bar in town. it was a trip to hear our fave salsa songs and dance cuban style in thailand. fun night. phuket is good for that. however, knowing that we’ll be in bangkok, ho chi minh city and so many other busy places on our trip, we decided to head to a more chillaxed place for the rest of our time in southern thailand. so here we are at the amsterdam resort, just a few steps away from bang niang beach in khao lak. this area was hit hard by the 2004 tsunami, but people have been rebuilding and trying to recover. the beach is long, beautiful and almost empty. lucy comes to meet us tomorrow, we’ll stay here until the 10th, using it as a base to go on day trips to the similan islands, snorkeling and other exciting things. but we haven’t eaten in about three hours and that’s not acceptable. xoxoxcoreymaritara