Good morning, it is currently 4.30 am, day two of being back on British soil and I’m jetlagged as hell! I can’t stop thinking about the last 6 weeks so figured what else is there to do on a Thursday morning at 4.30 am other than get this blog up and running again! I have so much to catch up on on here. A few projects have come out since I’ve been away so I will blog about them, probably in the coming mornings of being wide awake at silly o’clock. My little brain is bustling with new ideas for this exciting year ahead, so that’s totally not helping the sleeping issue!
So, Jonny and I just got back from a 6 week travel around South East Asia. We concoured Vietnam, Cambodia, North Thailand and the Eastern Islands. Was truly insane. Because we didn’t have months travelling, more of a “speed” trip we were doing something new that we had never seen before or done before, every single day which was just exhilarating. For the first three weeks we were travelling a lot more, then the last three weeks was more of beach bumming, learning to dive and just chilling out and partying which was perfect. Naturally our path changed when we met people and they told us to visit certain places, and where not to bother. If you can do it,do it. Even if it’s for two, three weeks, you can do so much, as long as your not going out and getting lashed every night, as you certainly loose a day then, or in my case two!(I’m only 23?!?!) It was the biggest adventure of my life, we did things I never thought I’d be able to do like diving and meeting the elephants!
I have always been so interested in anthropology, cultures and different ways of life. I LOVE learning about people who have lived in a different country to me, or someone from a completely different ethnicity or class than me. What they did growing up, their habits, their different fashions. That’s probably why I love my jobs so much, being able to meet people with completely different lives to me is just fab. And as my lovely mum says
If everyone was the same the world would be a very boring place
Which in my eyes could not be more correct. So this trip, culturally, was just perfect.
Don’t get me wrong we did the western partying and ate western food every now and thenand went to Koh San road in Bangkok….We did the backpacker bits and bobs, but tried to stay away from it on a daily basis. Found secluded beaches rather than going to the “popular” ones which were no way as nice as the little private ones anyway and eat Thai food as much as possible, it was so good!
The people we met were all amazing, Thai, Vietnamese and Cambodian people are so lovely..not all mind, but generally they are so sweet. Before we got a tan, I was very clearly pale, practically see through. All the women kept commenting on how lovely my skin was. This isn’t down to having flawless skin or anything , just that it was as white as a sheet.The whiter the better. In their eyes, if you have pure white skin it emits wealth, it shows that you don’t have to work outside. They all wear masks over their faces for two reasons, to protect from the moped fumes and to protect from the sun. They will wear full trousers and long sleeve tops in 35degree heat teamed with socks sandles, gloves and a hat and stroll along the beach. And there’s me dieing of heat exaustion in a bikini!
They had the worst fake makeup ever,which was entertaining to see them try and sell, you’ve got to give it to them, “genuine fake, same same but different”!
We had to really check if when we brought moisturisers,face wash or any general skin products because they all have whitening agents in them, which would have cramped our tanning style. Cosmetics wise, makeup trends were, as whiter skin as possible, straight brows and a pink or red stained inner lip. It was great to see the Asian version of having a foundation line, as the girls would have white faces and brown necks, a reverse of the westerners poorly applied makeup, which we have all been guilty of in our teen years.
Another fascinating element was the ladyboys. Whilst we were in Koh Tao there was a lady boy competition where all the best ladyboys come and get judged. This was amazing. These girls had better figures than most girls I know, and that’s not an insult these girls were beautiful. Very very confusing. Their makeup and hair was on point every single night, flawless. Obviously some better than others, some were clearly a man in drag…
These were some of the mediocre ones…the two either end, not my clearly female friends!!
I did ask to come and watch them do their makeup the following night, however something came up and I didn’t make it. Also they wanted money to have their photos taken so god knows how much they would have expected from me to watch them do their makeup!
Koh Tao was my favourite place, so many lovelythings happened. One night we were sat at a bar and this little Thai girl came over with them dads phone. She was watching frozen makeup tutorials and trying to get me to show her how to put mascara on! I nearly stole her and ran away with her, but Jonny won’t even let me have a puppy let alone steal a Thai baby!
We also managed to get o the full moon party in Koh pang yang which was just the best fun ever, the he best way to start the year. We brought some paint from a 7-11 and painted ourselves to save some dolla, needless to say, we got extremely carried away after two buckets, and we were all covered head to toe in neon paint. Not well I may add but an intoxicated me &co managed to sell my services as top makeup artist painter on the island and someone actually paid me 100baht to write 2016 on their arm. 100 baht is about £1…enough to buy a drink! I even decided to paint my hair, and the boys as well. It’s now the 7 th January and I still have some paint too stubborn to shift…all part of the adventure!
