THIS IS…

by brokenrecordbaby

…THE STREET I LIVE ON.

THIS IS MY ROOM.

THIS IS MY ROOM MATE

AND THIS IS WHAT I DO ALL DAY

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Bless You, Andy!

by brokenrecordbaby

“Say…

by brokenrecordbaby

…what have ya done to your shoes, kid?”

“Heck, I don’t know. I guess I agitated the gravel.”

Cool Hunter’s Amazing Places

by brokenrecordbaby

Only just back from traveling I thought my wanderlust had been satisfied but then I saw the Cool Hunter’s list of amazing places in the world. I need to get to at least half of these places at some point.

 

Fuck Face Roommate Part 2

by brokenrecordbaby

So, in the morning I tell the hostel’s owner about what happened. Thankfully I had spent a couple of hours talking to the owner before so we were friendly with each other.

I tell him the story and he offers me a private room for free which I obviously refuse because it’s not his fault the guy’s a freak. He ensures me though that he won’t let him stay another night. He will tell him that all the beds are booked and that he has to go. We sit down and have breakfast together. Suddenly Fuck Face appears, I think he can sense the unwelcoming vibe and if not right away then definitely when he is told that he can’t stay another night.

He requests to speak to the owner in private, then he comes back, sits down at a table right across from me, gets out his laptop and starts typing, making sure to glance at me every so often. I give fucking evil glares.

When he leaves to grab something from our room I take chance to find out what he told the owner. Apparently I did not wake up from the alarm (oh right, the alarm that was set at 6 am but decided to go off at 1 am) and he didn’t realize it wasn’t 6 am so he went to wake me. Leaving out the detail that he was touhing me.

He comes back and keeps staring at me. I didn’t want to regret not saying anything to him so when he yet against stares at me I say:

“Are you just going to keep on staring at me or are you going to apologize for last night?”

His face takes on a puzzled look. “I don’t know what you mean. Sorry, I’m busy right now,” he says pointing at his screen. “But we can have a drink later and talk.”

Unbelievable. “I’m not having a fucking drink with you. And you might be trying to work right now but I was trying to sleep last night.”

“Oh, yeah it was so hot last night. I had a hard time sleeping.” he replies innocently.

What a twisted bastard. I just shake my head in disbelief.

I go for run, a shower (which freaked me out because I imagined him standing in the room waiting for me to leave the shower in just a towel) and went back to the reception area to write this. He is still there on his lap top probably perving on people online. He gets up to leave and heads over to my table.

“I’m going out for lunch now. Would you like to join me?” In what fucked up world does climbing into a sleeping person’s bed, scaring them, basically forcing them to sleep on the floor score you a lunch date??

 

 

Fuck Face Roommate Part 1

by brokenrecordbaby

This blog is pretty much always positive. We talk about the amazing people we met and things we see when traveling. But it’s not all fun and games in this crazy world we live in. I don’t want to have a blog where travel, or anything, gets sugar coated. The matter of the fact is that you don’t “find yourself” every week, have a mind boggling epiphany or meet inspiring people at every stop. Just like in real life there are irritating factors and fucked up people. I’d like to share some examples of this…

I’m currently on the Perhentian Islands, 2 beautiful, tropical islands off of Malaysia’s East Coast. I’m staying in a dorm of a super cheap hostel in the jungle wedged between Long Beach and Coral Bay. I’v been having an immense time just taking things slow. I get up before 6 am, do yoga on the jetty, go jogging along the beach, snorkel, read and suntan all day, catch some live music with people I’ve met out here after dinner and go to bed pretty early. So far so good.

Last night I got into my dorm around midnight to find everyone asleep posing a problem for me; I needed someone’s alarm to get me up at 6 am to meet my yoga friend. Thankfully the guy sleeping in the bed next to mine had his eyes opened so I asked him to set his alarm for me which he gladly did and asked if he could join me for yoga. ‘Course he could. So, I head into bed and fall asleep.

This dude, from Saudi Arabia (I found out the next morning) and around mid forties, rips me out of my sleep. I wake up to him sitting next to me in my bed, touching my arm, shining his mobile in my face. I am startled but immediately remember that he wanted to wake me up.

“It’s 6 already?”

“No, it’s 1 am”, he replies showing me the time on his phone.

Then why the fuck am I being woken up? He is uncomfortably close to me. I’ve never heard of the need to sit on someone’s pillow to wake them up. He grabs my hand and starts stroking it.

“I want to talk to you,” he said softly.

I take a second to realize what’s going on. I don’t want to know how long he had been staring at me while I was asleep, contemplating if he should pay me a little visit or not.

I finally gain my composure and tell him to get the fuck out of my bed. He’s reluctant, stares at me and takes his sweet time. I sit upright as rigid as the bed post holding up the bunk above me, heart racing and body shaking. Then the dude has the nerve to get out of bed again, kneel beside my bed, tries to take my hand saying he wants to “talk”. I shift as far away from him as possible without falling off the bed and tell him to fuck off. He gets into his bed again and I sit there for a couple of seconds realizing there is no fucking way I can fall asleep again with that freak a meter away from me.

I grab my keys and head out. The reception was closed and I’m in the middle of a jungle. Thank god I spot a lit room and I can hear two girls talking. I gently knock on their door feeling like I’m the creep now, they open up and I start apologizing, my voice shaking and my eyes brimming with tears.

They invite me to sleep on their floor and I gratefully accept. I left my bag with money and camera next door though and I want my pillow so have to enter the freak’s lair again. I quickly grab my shit, see that he is still awake and get the fuck out of there. I have the hardest time falling asleep feeling seriously violated.

 

Thai Saying

by brokenrecordbaby

My CouchSurfer host Samart told me a Thai saying:

When you are with others be careful what you say because it can hurt others. When you are alone be careful what you think because it can hurt yourself.

And an Andorran saying for being an exaggerator: She’d drown in a glass of water.

New Article Online

by brokenrecordbaby

Just a minute ago my photo essay on East German Street Art went online on Matador Nights – a section of Matador Network I’ve been published in twice already. It be tres sweet if you’d check it out!

http://matadornetwork.com/nights/street-art-in-east-germany-pics/

There are no shortcuts…

by Lisa

… to anywhere worth going. This is the inscription on the compass shaped pendant given to me by my co-worker. Today was my last day at work and I celebrated by having sparkling wine and grilled cheese for lunch, which is a pretty damn good combination. Among my other gifts was a beautiful fountain pen, a balloon, an herb growing kit, and the Laurent Tourondel cookbook, Fresh from the Market.

While I was flipping through the pages of the latter gift I started to think about what the next few weeks have in store for me. I have a plan, but I don’t know how it’s going to unfold. In routine there is always comfort so, I guess it is only normal for me to feel a bit nervous. It’s so easy to let doubt slip into one’s mind when you are doing something you’ve never done before or going somewhere you’ve never been.

At the same time with all of the worries there is a feeling of pure excitement. It’s a feeling beyond that. I don’t know how many people in the world can say that they’re are doing exactly what they want to do. I realize that and accept that it’s not going to be easy and there are going to be days where I feel like I’m being tested. I know it will all be worth it though. I love to cook. I love to write. I love to travel. All three of these things are important to me because I have fun doing these things. To be able to say that I make a living doing what I love is the ultimate dream job to me.

Since I’m unemployed, at least until I head to Nashville, I decided what better time to take a trip! This week I’ll be in New York City for a couple of days before heading to Boston. I always feel like I’m the happiest when I’m exploring someplace new.

GDR Airplane Leipzig

by brokenrecordbaby

An old GDR airplane just chilling in a run down Leipzig neighborhood. I’ll be on a plane myself tomorrow – Oz!