The Coffee Marxist

From 2004.

Borneo, Malaysia

Sabah

The time is 7:15 am, May 30^th, the place is Planet Kinabalu Backpacker’s Hostel. Like the rest of Malaysia and Southeast Asia in general, Sabah is fairly hot and humid, although by this time I have adjusted to the heat. I no longer drip sweat, but rather just become sticky. Myself, Tony & Jay took a dirt-cheap flight here from Bangkok yesterday via Asian Air. We are currently sharing a room full of bunk beds with 2 other guys, one Korean (even though he lives in Bangkok), and the other from um….somewhere else. He’s the silent type so I don’t know. Man, this is poorly written. I have been on this trip for 4 full days now and have traveled to 3 countries in that time, from Korea to Thailand to Malaysia. I didn’t write any entries for the days I spent in Bangkok, because we were having too much fun, plus we are going back so there will be time later.

I spent about 1000 Baht, which is almost exactly 25 dollars, on various meals, drinks and new clothes—a silvery-grey t-shirt with a Chinese (?) symbol on it that for all I know might mean “fuck off,” and some big, billowy sleeping pants they call sailor pants. I finally met Jay’s much-heard-about girlfriend, Magalee (god I hope that’s the right spelling). I found her very cool and down-to-earth, even though sometimes her accent is impenetrable. An exotic-looking, very pretty one that girl is. Yes indeed. She stayed behind in Bangkok though, she has an internship. Poor thing. Everyone from school left, and now she’s stuck at the New Siam Guesthouse alone for 3 weeks while we’re here.

Tried to e-mail home. Success questionable. Love the iced coffee they serve here. Went out for a beer last night and played pool. Lost game to Zow, but beat Jay. Traded dollars for Baht and Baht for Ringgit, which is the currency here. Goddamn, this is some pretty fucking good chocolate milk. Drinking my weight in bottled water every day. 40 Baht to the dollar, not sure how many Ringgit, although Malaysia seems to be much more expensive than Bangkok. Food mad good. Bangkok market exciting, Malaysian cities more toned-down. Stamps on passport accumulating. Pretty paper money. Tiger beer is the shit. No severe sunburn to speak of yet, sunscreen seems to be doing its job. J&T bought black Malaria capsules in a local pharmacy, even though it’s a bit 11^th hour. I am the only one awake right now, aside from the guy whose nationality I don’t know, who has already left as I write this. When he waved and said bye I noticed he had a pack like mine, for all I know he could be American. I want breakfast. Need coffee. Now.