It was time to read through the third draft of my book, in order to begin work on the fourth. This is necessary because you want to understand the whole picture before making edits, rather than just editing chapter one, chapter two, etc.

So, to combine this necessity with seeing more Thailand, I walked up to Wat Khao Tham, a Buddhist temple known for its silent meditation retreats. After walking what seemed an endless amount of uphill twists and turns, I arrive at the temple. It seems like a series of tiny huts and cottages, none directly on the ground and most on stilts and such. I walk through and find the scenic spot where you can see most of the south of Phangan at once, as well as the mountains and rainforest.

With this amazing backdrop, I started reading my book. After an hour or two, it started raining, so I retreated into the closest shelter, which happened to be a small square building with paintings of Buddha on all the walls, and a small altar with incense and candles you could purchase as an offering. No lighter available, and I didn’t have one, so I didn’t light anything.

I ended up reading with Buddha for another hour, as the rain poured down. The only inhabitants of the temple I was not as happy with were the red ants. There weren’t many, and with my help and Buddha’s guidance all of them have now moved on to their next life.

After the rain, I went back out and read some more. At some point, I’d had enough and toured the rest of the grounds and made my way back down the hill. With the heat and humidity, my shirt was soaked through, so I of course turned in the opposite direction of my resort and headed to Wat Pho, another temple down the street. I already had the long pants on, so might as well.

Wat Pho is known for its herbal sauna, where lemongrass and other things are infused into a hot steam that is piped into the sauna. I didn’t think I could sweat more. I was wrong. First, you have to rent a cloth to wrap around you (unless you’d planned ahead and brought a bathing suit), and then lock up your valuables.

At first, I chatted with a local who goes in the sauna once a week for 15 minutes. Then, another tourist happened in. Kostadin is 24, Bulgarian, but spoke great English, having gone to college in Portland and in Thailand before starting graduate work in Vancouver. He was gay, as well, and traveling alone. Yes, I know, what a gay stereotype to meet in a sauna, but this sauna is part of a religious practice, connected to a Buddhist temple! Heh.

When Kostadin arrived, I was at the end of my endurance for the steam, though. We did chat awhile, though, and I told him I was getting a Thai massage right outside the sauna, so we could talk before we left. After I had my hour-long Thai massage, he had an hour-long oil massage. We made plans to hang out that night, although he wanted another round in the sauna, so I gave him vague landmarks to find my resort and he said he’d stop in on his way back to Thong Sala, where he was staying.

An hour or so later, he showed up and I showed him the resort, and we decided to have dinner at the Milky Way resort up the beach. We had a nice conversation, a slightly overpriced dinner, and then he went home to Thong Sala, as he was leaving for Kho Tao to get diving certification in the morning.

Today, I am about 100 pages from finishing reading the third draft, and will start on the fourth tomorrow. Lazy day today, barely leaving the resort.

(This is actually being posted a day late, as the Internet was down when I had this ready… today’s update is I finished reading my draft, and start editing the fourth draft tomorrow.)

Finally feeling settled in now… the need to be doing something, wondering what I’ll be doing after I finish what I’m doing now, and all of the other things that are commonplace at home, but foreign here, have settled down. A case could be made that they should be foreign at home, too.

I’m in the process of reading the third draft of my book, which should finish today or early tomorrow. It’s something I need to do to start work on the fourth. I need to have a sense of the whole, and not just start editing Chapter One blindly. There’s incentive to finish that read ASAP, though, since a) I want to get writing the fourth draft and b) I want to read something else. I have a stack of books here to get through.

It was very windy last night, and after I called my grandmother for a quick call, I put on my headphones and listened to my iPod for the first time since leaving the U.S. It was kind of nice, just laying there listening to music and settling in to really encounter it. It wasn’t background noise or something to listen to while walking or in a taxi, but just for the sake of the song itself. Again, something that shouldn’t be unique to Thailand.

It’s kind of overcast today, so I’m thinking I might head up to the Wat Khao Tam, where people go for silent meditation retreats. I like quiet when I read, so two birds, really. Just have to wear long pants, since they don’t like you wearing shorts and such in religious buildings. Of course, they are also too nice to mention it if you do, but since I know…

I went to the Night Food Market last night, and found… that’s it’s pretty much the same stuff that’s there all day, so no reason to go at night for it. And, of course, that most of it is either meat-based or suspicious as vegan food. The one stand has all food that can be deep fried, different sausages, etc., and at the end I see what is clearly tofu. Normally, fried tofu isn’t something I’m drawn to, or at least I keep telling myself that, but here… it is one of the few things I know I can eat. Of course, it is put in the same oil that all the other sausages and such have been fried in all day, which isn’t the best. And then she asks if I want sauce… I opt for the sauce, but the whole thing definitely has a fishy taste to it. Could be the sauce, could be the oil, who knows. I did have a nice corn/coconut thing that was sweet and nice.

Since I was downtown, I ate at a restaurant there, and they had a page of vegetarian food. Well, it was stretched out to fill a page. I think the first three items were the same dish, but each time they added another ingredient. So, the first one was whatever, then whatever and cashew nut, then whatever, cashew nut, and tofu. I settled on a dish with a confusing name and no details, hoping for the best, although I didn’t know why the title was “Fried Noodle Wide Noodle Broccoli and Tofu,” and apparently there was some sort of selection on my part between the fried and the wide, although whenever I picked one, the waitress asked more questions about the noodle. I finally said, “Yes.” I don’t know if there was a question in there, or if she’d had enough of us going in circles, but at that point I had placed my order.

I posted on FaceBook, but should mention here as well that the big news is that Britney Spears is going to be staying on Koh Samui next month after she wraps up her European Tour. She booked an entire resort for a whole week for her dancers and everyone in her entourage. It is kind of funny thinking that she booked an entire resort to not be bothered here. In a lot of cases, it seems like all you have to do is book a room, and you’re the only one at the resort anyway. To be fair, I do have neighbors here now, they arrived last night. Didn’t meet them yet, but I am no longer the sole guest at Awe Resort.

This is a vacation to me, no doubt, but it’s really about writing. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have settled in one place for 6 weeks. Ironically, I’ve been to Thailand twice now and the only thing I’ve done is flipped my view. Last time I was on Samui, looking north to Phangan. Now I’m on Phangan looking south to Samui. One could make a case that I’ve not seen Thailand and, to a large extent, they would be right.

If anything, my last trip here is what sort of got me off on this whole path. When I was here last time, I had no itinerary, and ended up on Samui because a friend was here and told me to come down. Within a week, he left, and I stayed for the next month.

The reason I stayed was that I started writing. And, it was the first time I had the hours and freedom to just write without interruption. I left with multiple notebooks and a handwritten first draft of the novel I’m now here to finish. It was also the point at which things changed, and ‘If I weren’t at this job, I could be writing my novel’ became something I realized was true, and not just something that had a nice sound to it, but had never been tested. To say it soured my disposition upon returning to work 6 weeks later would be putting it mildly.

But that’s when it truly started. Now, I’ll be the first to admit, the novel has taken an inordinately long time to complete, but as the only person who’s seen the countless drafts, it has been worth the time. Many of the lessons learned will never be repeated, one hopes. The first draft was basically a Chuck Palahniuk novel. Which, don’t get me wrong, I love Chuck, but I needed to find my own voice. So, every draft has been about removing the Chuck and removing the Jeff. The latter being the autobiographical musings that might be on topic, but not something the character would say or think. Since I am the keeper of both the character and myself, it’s difficult to pull back enough to see when that is happening.

But now that I am unemployed again, which won’t last long this time, I need to swing for the fences, and bring a draft home from Thailand.

But it does bring up an interesting point, of why go somewhere beautiful with lots of things to do with a plan of writing and not doing much? It’s an excellent point. But I’m here for 6 weeks, and I don’t think there are six weeks of unique activity here. I think I can do a lot of what the island has to offer and finish the book, just with the occasional day trip here or there.

Now that I’ve settled in, and have breakfasts handled, and know where the markets are, etc., I have my bearings. I’m still getting over the frenzy of having a job, but with every day the need to have an itinerary subsides.

What I’ve come up with so far is that I wake up and swim in the infinity pool for an hour, usually ending around 9, which is when the sun makes its appearance over Villa #2. I got a burn straightaway upon arriving, so I’m trying to get that handled, as I’m not quite Thai massage-friendly right now, and that is an unacceptable condition.

After swimming, I have breakfast of tropical fruit salad. I have a big tupperware container of it already cut-up and seeded in the refrigerator downstairs. It has pineapple, watermelon, purple dragonfruit, mangosteen, banana, and mango. I also have longan, mangosteen, and tamarind for snacking. And, when I’m really up for an adventure, there is fresh durian in the freezer (because it’s the only place where it doesn’t smell up the joint).

Then I write, which is what I’m doing now, albeit it will normally be the novel. This blog posting is actually a test of a new writing area, because…

Today, I broke down the downstairs kitchen and moved it upstairs. One bench is under the TV area, with the TV pushed off into the corner, for an inside writing nook. Then, I moved the table and another chair up to the balcony, giving me a breezy view of beach and palm trees from which to write.

So, the idea is to stay here, write, venture a small distance to eat, and then, when I start feeling a bit locked-in, go do something. I’m near a few temples. One day when I wake up early, I will take a taxi to Haad Rin, and then catch a boat over to the Sanctuary, where I stayed last time, and have some veggie meals there, and take a yoga class, then head back. There are options.

But I’m also here to break patterns, one of which is the unending cycle of drafts. Until I start publishing, there is little hope of leaving the corporate game. And my last stint at eBay, albeit great for the debt reduction, goody buying, and savings, was sort of bad on the novel and worse on my body. So, I have a novel to finish and weight to lose. The latter of which is also a patter that needs breaking, but I’m not sure I really believe that anymore.

When I think of when I was unemployed, writing, not yet in debt, and productive, it is also when my weight was at its lowest ever. So, I think my weight is a barometer of how well I am treating myself, and when I was creative, and going to the gym, and eating well, it was not about a crazy regimen, but just something to break up the day.

At eBay, I made sure to do my job well, but most everything else suffered. And I also don’t like the pace at which balance and full time work has to occur, with everything wedged into tiny timeslots. I just don’t like that. I like getting to the movies 10 minutes early. I like being in the yoga class and meditating 15 minutes early. So, when it comes down to working down a regimented schedule, I’ll sooner miss the gym or yoga than squeeze it in like that. The problem is that the pockets of time that are open tend to be small and fill up with nonsense.

So, I’m following Stephen King’s plan when I’m here, as I finally have the time. In his schedule, the mornings are about a new work, and the afternoons are for revising an old work. That sounds like a good plan, although I’ll switch gears if I think the revision needs more attention. That’s as much detail as anyone needs about that, though.

In front of me, palm trees sway in a palpable wind, and Koh Samui looms large to the south. I can see the archipelago of Ang Thong marine park off to the distance in the west, as foreign birds and animals make noises that are starting to seem familiar. It’s time to begin…

Finally posting from Thailand… arrived last night after countless hours of waiting and flying. Slept some on the trip, but nothing consistent. I was pretty worn out when I arrived on Koh Samui and had about two hours to wait until the boat for Koh Phangan, but that was the end of the trip, really. The boat ride is only about 30 minutes, and then I’m about 2km from Thong Sala.

I had been traveling for more than 24 hours, but I tried to stay awake as long as I could, to acclimate as soon as possible. I don’t know how long I made it, but it didn’t seem to matter, as I woke up around 7 a.m. this morning.

AWE Resort is pretty much what the website shows. If anything, it is bigger than I expected, with the villa holding two king-sized beds. It will be interesting to see how well I can use the kitchen, but first I have to get food anyway.

If anything, AWE seems to be the only modern-looking villa on our beach. So, with all the other huts and guesthouses, it’s easy to find. I’m the only person renting a villa at the moment, I think, which makes sense given the boat over here, which can hold hundreds only had about a dozen people. I read that tourism to Thailand is down, but this is ridiculous. The restaurant I’m in right now didn’t even stay open last night, since no one was here to eat.

One thing that makes more sense now than before was the reflecting pool. When I saw it, I kept wondering ‘Why would you need a pool so close to the gulf?’ But now that I went into the Gulf, it makes more sense. The Gulf near us was described as having shallow beaches, and considering this area is known for diving, I didn’t think much of it. But this is beyond what I expected of shallow. You have to walk so far out, and it only gets up to your knee.

Then, when you are out near the buoy, further out than you’d expect to be, but still only a little more than knee-deep, where the waves just start forming whitecaps, each wave has a bit of a pull to it. So, you’re finally where you’re starting to feel waves, and expect it would get deeper soon, but not if you’re going to be pulled further out into the Gulf.

There are a lot of varieties in beaches here, it seems. Last time on Samui, it was a lot of stones. At the Sanctuary on the other side of Phangan, there wasn’t much of a beach, and the shore was all shells and other small white stuff that had washed up. Now I have sand, but 18 inches of water.

So, the pool makes sense now…

—

When I was packing for the trip here, I found the ring Dae gave me the last time I was here. You can read all that stuff here. When he gave me it, the idea was that I would remember him by and come back for him. That’s unlikely to happen, since I’m on a different island than last time. Although, we did meet on the Full Moon Party last time. I’ve got it on.

—

Gaydar is tricky here, since everyone seems kind of gay yet. Still have to adjust that. Being American, though, everyone that isn’t American always seems somewhat gay at first, since there are always different cultural clues. There used to be an online quiz asking people to look at photos and determine if the person was gay or European. I was never good at it.

Already passed some Ladyboy bars on the way in. As my songthraew drove by the bar, they all waved and told me to come visit them. One kept waving until I was a half-mile away, it seemed. Not sure what it is, but even in San Francisco, Asian trannies are drawn to me.

While I was waiting for my boat, the waiter was cute, and the restaurant was dead, so we were chatting. I thought of it as basic small talk, telling him about my trip here before, asking if he’d ever been to the Full Moon Party, etc., and he would smile and rush away, saying something to the other workers in Thai.

Right before one of his dashes from my table, he said maybe he’d go to Full Moon if I took him, smiled, and walked away. While he was waiting on another table, a waitress came over and handed me a piece of paper. The paper said his name is Neo, gave me his cell phone number, and said “Call when you go to Full Moon Party.”

This possibility must have been discussed in Thai already, because on his next pass, he asked how he could get in touch with me. So I gave him e-mail and the number of my villa. Then he said he’d give me his information, and I showed him the paper, and he got embarrassed and ran off, yelling at the other wait staff.

So, yeah, make what you will of all that…

—

I was thinking of going to Haad Rin tonight, since it and Thong Sala are the two ports I’m between and I went into Thong Sala this morning. But after reviewing the map, the fresh market and night market are both on Thong Sala, so I think I’ll head back there in late afternoon and try and catch both. I’m starting small, my initial hope is to start having tropical fuit salad for breakfast every day, which is a pretty easy thing to make happen. I’ll work up to full meals.

(Oh, I call this a quick update, for people who keep wondering why I’m not on Twitter, heh)

Went through and picked through some of my books tonight, just trying to figure out how many books to take. Last time I was in Thailand, the list was far more skewed toward classics, but this time, most of the titles that jumped out at me were modern.

Since the trip is about writing, reading is a component. I’m intentionally not loading up a ton of iPod video to watch. So, books will be the main activity. I may run out and get a book I’ve been meaning to read as research for my next novel, may as well get started.

The other criteria was that I mainly wanted books I can abandon. There’s something interesting about reading a book in a foreign place, and when you read the last page, just setting it down and letting it find a new journey.

I think I was on a ferry to Koh Phangan last time, after a month on Koh Samui, when I finished reading Life of Pi, and just asked if anyone wanted it. Some girl said she’d been wanting to read it, so I said “Enjoy it” and handed it to her. Just something nice about that. So, books I’m certain I want to retain are less likely to go with me. (* indicates the ones that will return)

Also, a few of these books will never make it to Thailand, in that I’m in the air so long getting there, it’s quite possible that 2-3 of them will be left in the Taipei, Bangkok, and Koh Samui airports. To be sure, this whole stack won’t be going with me (I don’t think), this is just round one:

Definitely going:
– Then We Came To The End, by Joshua Ferris (first book that will be read, since it is humorous and about corporate America and I’ll just be detoxing from that)
– Catfish and Mandala, by Andrew Pham (recommended, and about Vietnam, so close enough)
– Bangkok 8, by John Burdett (Thailand theme)
– *Excuses Begone, by Wayne Dyer (vacation theme, heh)
– Brief History of the Dead, by Kevin Brockmeier (been wanting to read this)
– *Speak, Memory by Vladimir Nabokov (been too long since I read him)
– *Brideshead Revisited, by Evelyn Waugh (never read it)
– Gutterboys, by Alvin Orloff (saw him read recently, and he seems fun)

On the fence:
– *Moby Dick, by Herman Melville (obsession themes, ties into novel, heh)
– Clown Girl, by Monica Drake
– Vernon God Little, by DBC Pierre
– Being Dead, by Jim Crace
– The Book of Revelation, by Rupert Thomson
– Lisey’s Story, by Stephen King
– The Breakdown Lane, by Jacquelyn Mitchard
– This Book Will Save Your Life, by A.M. Homes
– Remainder, by Tom McCarthy

Thoughts? Anyone not feeling any of these? Any obvious omissions (I read The Beach last time, heh). Speak up soon…

We’ll see how many end up going with me… there is an incentive to read, though. Otherwise, I have to carry them all back with me.