Eat, Surf, Sleep

Cherating Village is a very small place, with a concentration of guesthouses, souvenir shops and restaurants along the main pot-holed street. On a scale of charming, it ranks about 2.5 Hugh Grants out of 5. I have a "chalet" on the beach, which is a simple hut-type room that has a great view of the South China Sea. I'm not gonna lie, it brings me joy.

The sky was overcast all day and there was a 3 hour storm that lasted most of the afternoon. Fortunately for me, I got my first 2 hour surfing lesson after a luscious 2 hour nap when I arrived at 7 am (sleeping on the 8 hour bus rides is a pipe dream that I should just let go of). My instructor was a 19 year old who'd been surfing for 11 years and goes by the name of Mad Mat (I don't know how you derive that from his real name of Muhamed Daud Bin Muhamed, but that's just me). He was great, I'm learning how to talk like a Malay, replacing my beloved "eh's" with "lah's" at the end of every sentence. We were in a spot that had very big waves crashing on the rocks 20 feet away, but most of the smaller waves were doable, and do I did. I was able to get up to standing on most of the runs although I have this nasty habit of falling into the water as soon as I do. Tomorrow will be better I think. I slept for most of the afternoon during the aforementioned storm which was good because surfing is a very tiring exercise. I've got quite a few sore spots and rashes from the board, which is only fitting considering that injuring myself continues a proud tradition from this trip.

Ate at a very good restaurant recommended by Lonely Planet...fresh lychee juice makes me happy. I was watching America's Funniest Videos' on one of the 3 channels on the tv in my room. I don't know when crashing a car into a crowd got so funny.