Our Rooty Tooty Fresh and Fruity Update

So... to our 31 faithful blog followers (and even to our unofficial followers, strangers, and friends who occasionally peruse our page during moments of extreme boredom or via a misguided search), we offer an apology for our slackin' on the blog. It's all Ty's fault you see...

Ty's been just too busy educating these cute and enthusiastic Thai pupils on the many tonal nuances of "5 Little Monkey's" and "Heads Shoulders Knees and Toes" to come up with the copious amounts of free minutes needed for periodic blog upkeep.

Considering the fact that merely one week ago these little scholars-to-be had never heard of a "toe" or a "bumped head," Ty has deemed week number one of "October Summer School" a victory, and I agree. Way to go Ty! Ty will continue her five-days-a-week full time gig for yet another three weeks to come! I, on the other hand, am "between jobs" (that's what they say right, "between jobs") at the moment and ultimately contributing to the dire American unemployment rate (sorry Obama).




The second justification for our bloglessness is due to the fact that the virtually incessant rain during the last couple of weeks has left Ty and I with a scarcity of activities that we have deemed blogtastic enough to share with you people. To tell the truth, the majority of our "free" time has been filled with pretty exciting stuff: movie watching, internet surfing, and strange and exotic fruit eating (hence the title of the blog). Sorry we're not more interesting.









But before we get to the fruits. Let's talk ice cream and modeling at the Bophut Fishermen's Villiage. We've logged and noted that according to their own sign -18 Below "probably" has the best ice cream in Samui so it's worth a gamble, right?









During one of our brief respites from the weather, I jump-started my modeling career. I'm not a big deal in Samui yet, but I'm building my portfolio so.












Easy ladies. Relax. I'm taken.









So, can you believe it, shortly after the modeling agency snapped these jaw-droppingly sexy photos and I received my gratuities, the monsoons rolled in yet again. Back to the fruit.

These grapefruit-like babies are called Pomelos. They are DELICIOUS but require effort. The following breathtaking photographic adventure features Ty harvesting the mouthwatering flesh of the Pomelo. Don't blink.

It starts with a precise spiraling incision into the 1/4 inch-thick skin (Dre Rivera Cartright, I'm talking to you, she pretty much "severed" it)...













Sinister.









Next, the technical gives way to sheer brute force. Look at her! She's savagely relieving this fruit of it's handsome scalp!

















I shudder when I recall the heinousness of it all...

















The sadistic delight on her face chills me to the bone! The Horror. The madness!! And finally...











The remains.













WTF? I know, I thought it too. It's not an alien egg, it's a Rambutan and the little freakish orbs are creepy, juicy and quite delightful.










Confession. I was a little terror stricken before the tasting.













Okay, so it might be an alien egg after all. The texture can best be described as solidly gelatinous (can I say that?) but the flavor is inexplicable. You gotta try one asap! Next time you're at Albertsons, ask the clerk - they keep them in the back.







After having conquered the Pomelo and the Rambutan, these little suckers looked pretty standard. They're called Langsat and I'm pretty impressed by their normalcy. Kinda look like a bunch of grapes. I like grapes.








I didn't even mind sharing them with the stowaway ants who hitchhiked home with Ty from the fruit stand.











These guys are easy to peel. They share a similar texture with the Rambutan and are equally fantastic but they're juicier and taste a little like grapefruit.










The final product is pretty cute. It kind of looks like a mini albino pumpkin right?

Are you tired of the "fresh and fruitiness" yet? Okay, let's move on.







This picture has nothing to do with anything but it's cute of both of us so there! Boo Ya! Oh, and it was taken at one of our favorite restaurants "The Lazy Coconut." True to it's namesake, the food takes ages (lazy chefs?), so we take pictures to pass the time. On this particular day they were offering a Sunday Roast with a mix of lamb, chicken, and beef with sides of stuffing, mashed potatoes, and Yorkshire pudding (Bridget Shee, it gets us out of moods too!). We're thinking of going there on Christmas. Does Christmas fall on a Sunday this year? Depressing.


After dinner we again find ourselves at the "Three Legged Dog" (getting bunny suit flashbacks). The proprietor of the establishment, Mark, was a bit freaked out when a mad woman came stumbling in. She was mumbling inaudibly and talking to the black light sensitive Bob Marley poster. Yikes.













Later that evening, Mark showed us this book that he borrowed. No explanation necessary.

Ty and I got a giggle over the fact that it is Vol 1. How many volumes does it take to teach a person to say pretty much the same thing?











Oh Snap! Mark and Heather Hickok. Lately, Ty and I have been scarfing these Seven-Eleven "toasties" which are the rough Thai equivalent to the Space Burger. You can get them in all the expected varieties like Crab Stick with Fish Roe, or Shredded Pork with Salad Dressing." We go with the Ham and Cheese or the Hot Dog and Cheese though. Yum.




Like I mentioned earlier, when it rains -and it does a lot lately- all Ty and I do is consume food.

Ty talked about this place in her last blog - the one that's next to the sewer remember? Well, this is a view of that place. She's obsessed with their fruit shakes.










<---- Ta Da! A mixed fruit shake (they're different every time based on local availability so it's kind of a fun surprise).











Keeping to the food theme. We recently found a slightly more upscale restaurant which offers a more ambient atmosphere and no sewer stench at only a small price bump. Thai's think we're blinking mad taking all these pictures of the food by the way and I don't blame them.






Remember my obsession with Papaya salad? Here it is in all it's glory! Som Tam I love you!












One thing about ordering fish in Thailand is that when it arrives at the table, it still often looks like, well, a fish.









So after we photographed and consumed more food, we hop on our hog and rode to this Chinese Temple to visit our cat. Well, it's not officially our cat but we've kind of adopted her.

In effort to avoid becoming eaten by the local dogs etc. she lives here after they lock it up in the evenings. Occasionally we make the short trip over to the temple and call for her; before you know it, out she pops for some Andersen pamperin!





The temple is right by the beach and it wasn't raining for a change so we cruised down and watched the sunset.









On days that the rain Gods take pity on us, we play! Here we are tearin' it up on the ole' kayak. Look at us go!












Aww. How romantic.











The day after the kayaking adventure documented above it began to rain again.

And then it rained, and rained, and rained until yesterday (Saturday). We took full advantage of the sun and jam packed the day full of fun. The day started with a jungle hike to Hin Rat Waterfall and ended in Ty and I doing some paid endorsements (you'll see).

Along the trail we saw some Langsat! Remember those?!








We had a blast goofing around in the jungle.

















This is Ty's version of the "Buddha Head in Tree" from Ayutthaya . Uncanny.





















This butterfly doesn't look all that impressive on film (film?) but it was as big as my hand in real life and quite beautiful.












In contrast to this guy who was also almost as big as my hand but quite ugly. What do red and yellow mean again? Touch him?











Now we're just getting gross.












Finally, we arrive at the waterfall and get a chance to relax among the hordes of hungry mozzies! Do you see me? Look closely.










Despite the bugs it was still quite refreshing to be out of the woods (and the house) for a change and in the sunshine.










Again, the picture doesn't do it justice, but these ferns have a glow reminiscent of the plant life on Pandora.











After our hike, we hit up this stall for some electrolyte rich coconut water.
















Refreshing! (ignore that crappy picture - I attribute it to bad lighting and dehydration, not homeliness).















So get this Dad, we actually got up early enough to complete a hike, get back to the house for a quick rest, and then actually make it to the beach all before lunch!

This kite boarder was fun to watch while we did more eating and photographing of food.






Pineapple fried rice in a pineapple? Who would of thought?












Here we go ordering something we can't pronounce again. They were tastier than they look.










So after lunch Ty checked her email and found out we had to work after all! Here's the deal, Ty signed up for this account on a website called "Fiverr" where you can offer different services for five dollars. Her advertisement promises the customer that we (meaning her and I) "will write any message the customer wants in the sand on any beach in Samui with or without us in the photo." Turns out the company owners of Beachout (an online social networking site) were all for it and hired us for a quick gig. Here we are tirelessly raking in the dough even on our day off.



Are you going to Beachout? We are!













We even threw in a couple extras pics just for kicks. After we punched the time clock we spent the rest of the afternoon bobbing around in the waves and playing on the beach - dang, we love Thailand!







Just as we were getting cocky and used to the sun again we saw some ominous clouds looming offshore and chose to to pack it in for the night...

This picture was literally taken an hour after the picture above! Crazy.

I was so flabbergasted about the whole ordeal I took a quick video. Reminds me of home!





At this point we're actually starting to get more settled into Mae Nam, Samui. We're meeting more people and making some friends, orientating ourselves with the island, working on the language, and, of course trying to mix ample play (and ample eating) with our work schedules (by "our" I mean Ty's of course).

For now, the plan is to stay in Samui for a few more months, work when we can, and get our place "homey" and ready for the gobs of visitors who will be arriving any time now right? Right? Around March or so, the idea is to uproot again and travel within and around SE Asia for the remainder of our trip which may be concluding in Fiji. But who knows? Our lives are like the Thai weather right now! We miss everyone and will try and be more faithful posters! Please comment on our blog or email us people ! We are curious and want to hear from you too! Missing everyone!

Nick and Ty