I Want to See The World ! : Still in Koh Tao.... and enjoying this mellow holiday!

My yummy breakfast, tofu veggie Thai basil complete
with ginger tea (^^)

January 23.... All pictures at the bottom of the page again.... (-_-) I had the worse sleep last night. Apparently the door wasn't closing properly due to people coming in and out of the room from parties, so the mosquitos also having a feast, and that feast would be me. The air conditioner was on, but because the door was not closed the room became very humid, and with that came asthma attack. I figured out how to close the door finally (the knob need to be replaced I think because the latch didn't spring all the way out... wish they let me fix it (^^)) Asthma gotten better after ... umm... a while of sitting underneath the air conditioner, the cool air helps. After that, the mosquitos kept waking me up, however, once I figured out the problem with the door it was all good. The room cooled down and the mosquitos less active due to the cold. So, today gonna be a lazy day for me. It's cloudy, very humid, but not too hot.... just the way I like it. Vivian was doing his Discover Scuba Diving class, all day, so I have basically all day to myself. Was thinking about taking a walk somewhere, but I guess it's raining now, so I'm just gonna sit here where I found fresh coffee... Not Thai coffee, but Americano. As long as it's fresh coffee and not instant, this girl is happy(^^). When I'm travelling, one goal I have is to taste local coffee (kinda like one of my couch surfer, he likes to taste local beer). In Japan it's basically not doable, because Japan is not coffee producer, however, Japanese green tea is AMAZING. In Indonesia, it is a must to try the local coffee. The coffee grounded to powder, only need about a teaspoon and a half or two teaspoon for a cup of coffee, put hot water, then let the powder settle to the bottom. It will wake you up in the morning for sure and one cup is all you need to start your day. In Singapore, same as Japan, they're not famous for coffee producing. So my coffee start in the morning is always Balinese coffee (^^). In Thailand, the Thai coffee tasted very different... Somewhat of a sludgyness taste, however strong and ideal to give you that kick in the morning! I have a feeling however, coffee is not really part of the culture in Thailand. The coffee shop owner I talked to doesn't seem to know, she said Thai people do drink coffee but she doesn't know where the crop usually grown or how significant coffee is to Thai people's morning life. My first coffee savior however, seems to know a lot about coffee in Thailand... maybe next time I visited Thailand I shall dig her head a bit to find out. Or how about tea (^^)?
I went to the next restaurant where I could try to have some breakfast. I love this restaurant because it gave you vegetarian options for ALL the food. So this place will be my hang out place for breakfast and lunch or dinner :D. I think, as a vegetarian for few years now, the toughest part is when I'm travelling. At home, I can make my own food, however, when travelling, this had become a big challenge. Especially when most of the population in the country don't understand vegetarianism or if you don't speak the language. It will not make me cave in though (^^) Neva, because my tummy is not as important as the lives of the animals :( To me, I am glad to tell people that I don't need to kill animals to survive, and that is something people can do too. The problem I have with eating meat and seafood is that we overkill. In the past, people consume what they need for the day, but nowadays.... we think we need that much meat and seafood that we overkill the animals. Just wondering sometimes if we really need that much food ..... Too bad their coffee is instant in that restaurant... otherwise I'll hang out here all day :D. My new favorite now though is ginger tea.... thanks to my guesthouse owner in Bali who served me ginger tea when I said I got a headache :D. The restaurant owner played guitar and he was too shy to sit with me and play... hard to hear him with all the hullabaloo. Got back to my place just in time to pick up Vivian and feed that child. Obviously he was starving, evidence from how he gulped my fried banana with ice cream (my treat for the day but definitely has to share with someone). Then he ate the whole plate of pizza.... kinda worry he'll feel sick during diving cuz he ate so much.... funny, in Canada that kid never eat that much. Seems like when we're travelling he constantly munchin on something. I also don't feel sick or bloated even though I ate almost 3 times a day, unlike in Canada, I could only eat once a day. I wonder if it has something to do with GMO food that we have so readily available ... I mean the ones we are forced fed by biotech corporations in North America. Allright, maybe we're not forced fed but just the fact there's no mandatory labeling on GMO in North America I consider that force feeding. My precious soy already ruined in North America.... I think, all consumer ready food are frankenfood in North America. My mom noticed how bad corn oil, sunflower oil and canola oil are after she was trying to clean my sister's kitchen. My mom said it was so hard to clean, can't imagine how it sits in the body.... make sense to me. After lunch, he sat around for a bit before continue his dive again at 1140. As for me, my plan to lazy around didn't really happen. I got bored and decided to take a walk. Went up the hill to one of the viewpoint of Nangyuan Island, a pretty little island just off Koh Tao. It was nice to see locals and dwellings other than resorts along the way. On my way there, it is a bit sad to see bulldozer clearing up the trees to make room for new development. Such pretty little island... I wonder sometimes how it would look like in 10 years? Will we still have green lush vegetation, or will we have mostly resorts on this island? I guess we will see.
I am quite surprised to see a lot of the similarities between Indonesian snacks and Thailand... I found tamarind snack, that I used to eat when I was growing up in Indonesia. Most food are similar too, but I found.... they have no gado-gado or similar thing :( They also have some sorta peanut bar snack that we also have in Indonesia.... wow basically most snacks are similar!... must be some sort of similar root where we're from!
Vivian finish with his diving and he's gonna go for another one tomorrow at noon. We headed out to the same restaurant again... pretty sure the owner kinda sick of my face (that has a first degree burn to the lip.... not cuz a fishie kiss me.... it was a very hot thai snack :( ) by now. But as I said before, he has amazing choice for vegetarian so that's where I'll go ^^.

Nice to see actual houses and not resort :D

More houses.... people's houses and not resort :D

The night was uneventful, had a nice quiet night with no mosquitoes in the room cuz I made sure people close it at all times. Found out that the very nice receptionist here actually from the Philippines, no wonder she was a sweetheart. Most Filipinos I met are so generous with smile and very very kind. Her husband works here at the dive center. The other nice receptionist is from Burma. Internet wasn't working.... Very tired tonight, and tomorrow will be last night in Koh Tao. I think I'm much happier now because I went out for walk and see some real life here, not just resorts. Not the kind of holiday I like, but I did it so Vivian could have his dive. Next time I have a better plan (^^) Well, bedtime and I hope I have a night without mosquitoes feasting on me :D

Many of these big rocks all around the island

Nangyuan islands

Played with her ... I can't help it she 's so cute :(

Keekee cat (^^)

Local's houses

What a beautiful lush tropical island :(

No spicy mango salad for me :(

He sang a song that I couldn't remember the title
but I like the song... one of the oldies ^^ (btw, I had to go through this resort to get to the viewpoint... scary fancy :( felt like a hobo going through there )