Sri Lankans uncanny facts and my present steam of thoughts,

The world has been my new home for almost 4 months now. I stayed in many different places, packing and unpacking is becoming natural. It actually consists on opening my board bag and throwing everything I own in it. Like a snail I see my bags now as my new home. The more I travel the more I want to leave stuff behind. It is quite an exhilarating feeling to actually leave your apartment without being sure of where you will be for the next 1 to 10 years. So today well actually tonight I would like to write about what I learn about Lanka and also about myself lately.

Lankans are a bit rough on the first encounter; service is surely not in there first nature. They are smart and tough negotiator; some are quite the ‘filou’ type. For instance the owner of the place I’m staying at would tell the Russian couple that just arrived that the AC is broken in the all hotel in order to save the money from the electricity bill. But like Amsterdam, yes the city, Lankans will grow on you. This is something I came to realize in the past few days. As soon as they feel that you are coming back, try to speak their language and just be plain nice, you will see their true nature. You will always have a table even if it is plain busy, they will let you do your latte behind the bar the way you like it. Your Tuk-tuk driver will ask you to stop paying him and will negotiate prices for you and that is quite something to witness. They teach me words in Singali everyday and expect me to understand thing beyond what I have learned it is a really swell feeling. latte

Another thing I have learnt about Lanka is why the bus-drivers drive like Enzo Ferrari on crack. This is due to the way they are paid. They are actually racing each other in order to be the first one at the next stop. This because they are commissioned on the number of people they get on the bus and the amount of trips they do in a day. This makes the Galle road look like a game of Mario kart especially when your tuk-tuk driver thinks he is Yoshi and wants to overtake the bus by the third lane.

bus

What have I learnt about myself? Well lately I came to realize that the corporate world made me tougher than what I like. Don’t get me wrong I learnt a lot and met amazing people that I will keep as friends for a long time. But having to reach a target every week, the pressure of the last years, the vibe is something I do not miss. I believe that the capitalist world, system that has a lot of things to offer, place us in a sort of a rat race position that only a few can win or trick-out. Let me explain: You do great studies, get a well paid job that will allow you to go to the bank and ask for a loan for a beautiful house were your kids will grow… Then all of a sudden you need that paycheck at the end of the month and this is when you’re hooked. Again as any other 33 years old dude I like to drive a nice car, buy hip clothes, party with my friends but not at the price of being in a golden cage. There is a quote from Buffett that says something like: ‘Find the earliest you can, different ways of financing your life’. I think this is something a lot of us don’t do, hence my point about the golden cage…

So yeah you may ask, am I still a bit sour with people? Well I feel that everyday makes me a bit more mellow and old part of myself that I welcome again. May be the waves are washing the suit of my skin ;).

By rereading this post I do realize I’m fing darn lucky enough to have the chance to reflect on this issue.

See you soon in the world yours truly T Bagous,

Windows boat

SRI LANKA what to pack

Hello my dearest, My hopes are that you are doing awesome! I have been living, eating, dreaming and laughing in Lanka for a month now. This is what I think you should pack in order to cruise in this beautiful country. What to pack general:

  1. SUNSCREEN, you know the song from Baz Lhurmann – Everybody’s Free To Wear Sunscreen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTJ7AzBIJoI&list=RDsTJ7AzBIJoI#t=24. This is most definitely true in Lanka as a matter of fact a lot of this song is true for the rest of your life ;). Anyhow the sunscreen you can get here washes off as soon as she sees a drop of seawater. I was lucky enough that one of the caring people in my life gave me Daylong sunscreen swiss brand that avoided me to look and feel like a red lobster. You can see a lot ofInstagramCapture_f2e4c652-7670-4e59-9569-22e11ef84f29 those around the beaches here.
  2. SILK SLEEPING BAG, if you travel around Lanka you will at some point probably see, certainly smell and sleep in the worst bed you ever did. At this time if you have read this post, travelled to Lanka and taken this advice you will most def want to pay me a beer the next time you see me.
  3. MINI SWISS ARMY KNIFE, indeed you surf over some reef and rocks a lot of the time this means that at some point your delicate feet will be caress by urchin needle. Facing that specific encounter you will be more than pleased to use the tweezers hide in the side of the knife.

Daylong What to pack for surfers:

  1. EXTRA SET OF FINS, I didn’t see any FCS2 fins in the look a like surf shops that crossed my path. Lankian reef is really keen to chew on some brand new your fins especially if you don’t know the way out… You know that feeling when you go full speed back to the beach after a good session just lazy lying on your board letting a small wave carry you. Then you hear a big “CLUNK” this the sound of the reef grabbing a byte at your new set of FCS ;)…
  2. REPAIR KIT OR SOLAREZ, some of the repair I have seen here makes my own repair look like the work of Leonardo Da Vinci.ding rep
  3. WAX, not easy to come by as soon as you go out of Hikkaduwa and the local one rub of like butter under the sun. Check the smile on the local’s kid faces when you give them a piece of your imported wax, priceless…
  4. LAST GENERATION AWESOME FLEX BOARDSHORT, you know what I mean the one you wear and that you don’t even feel: The Phantom from Hurley or the Psycho freak from O’Neill… The empire of capitalism and the surf dollar industry has not yet reached the shore of the island. You will find fakes for sure but they aren’t flex at all and they are ball’s rash in one session guaranteed…

Sincerely yours Tony Bagus Windows palmtreees

Review and tutorial Rip Curl GPS watch

Hey Surfers,

This is a review and tutorial of the Rip Curl GPS watch. I have been using it for 4 months now and I have to admit that I do like it. It is a bit pricy dough!

What does it do?

  1. It gives you the time, well duh! It’s a watch hey!
  2. It sync and set-up via one push of a button trough GPS connection. Anywhere I have been (Spain, Portugal, France and Sri Lanka).
  3. It actually monitors your surf session by:
    • Counting the number of waves you catch. (It’s a bit generous, if you paddle fast it might sometimes counts it as a wave).
    • Monitoring your surf speed, my personal record is 26km/h.
    • Sum-up the distance you did in the water, paddling and surfing.
    • Count the time you spend in the water.
  4. As soon as you connect the watch to a computer it will link-it to Facebook. You can share this with your close ones meaning that they can know if you are safe and sound. This is displayed in a nice Search dashboard mixed with google maps. The look and feel is neat.

Pros:

  • It is the easiest watch to set on the market one click of a button.
  • It helps you monitor your surf (Numbers of waves, Speed, distance…).
  • Link with Facebook.
  • Seems to be quite reliable so far…

Cons:

  • The price around 350 euros.
  • Sometimes it doesn’t synch, once every 2 weeks.
  • 85% accuracy.
  • It doesn’t include a magicseaweed function to let you know how the surf will be the next day.

Thx for reading me talk to you soon