February 15, 2004

I recently had the pleasure of meeting and running with Gerry Lindgren in Kaipolani park in Honolulu on the 40th anniversary of his lengendary indoor 2mile mark which still stands at 8:40.00.

We walked from the beach to meet Gerry for our run. We couldn't see him from the spot so rang his cell phone, whenever someone calls him he pretends to not know who Gerry is, he's defiantly a joker. When we did see him he pretended to not see us, he is quite a comedian. We took a few pictures and then we followed the master for a jog that lasted about 15mins around a grass loop with him and a few of his friends/athletes from the coconut running club. As we jogged he was full of jokes the whole way "Nolan, you see that tree over there that's a hibiscus, what do you call the tree below it? me finally catching on to his humor, "its a lowbiscus Gerry" and he starts laughing again, he is a funny runner guy that Gerry. I found out he does claim to have run those 350miles for 6 straight weeks and also a 46min training 10mile run. He talks about them both like they are no big deal and he can't understand why people find it so hard to believe. I filled him in on the Letsrun debate about the mileage and if it was really possible. He laughed and told me that people are just too lazy and would never try and attempt that kind of mileage these days; therefore they would rather write it off as impossible. He told some funny stories about Prefontaine. He credits himself for getting Pre involved in running and away from softball. He also stressed how cocky Pre was; he did back it up most of the time though. He said sometimes Pres head was so big that he had to leave him to himself and go off before it really bothered him. He told me about NCAA x-county titles and beating Pre, his legendary 8:40.00 2mile indoor National High School record. He also spoke of racing some big races in Europe and USA and about his world record 6 mile run with Billy Mills. He said that Jim Ryun was very down to earth and a well mannered chap, not that anyone would disagree. He said jokingly how Jim Ryun was tall and powerful looking well he on the other hand was short and geeky looking. He explained to me why he ran so much, his main reasons were that: Seattle was a boring place in the 60's, he didn't have TV and he wanted to prove to everybody that the little skinny mite could succeed, "I was a social outcast with no friends or girls to chase around, so I ran a lot" he is defiantly motivating to a runner, even my brother Ryan was a bit inspired I think. On the 2^nd loop he said that we would pick up the pace a bit so I said sure and went with him, it was a lot faster than I had thought, the old guy surges and he was really moving for a 58 year old. Lots of spring and life still in him. I was thinking how cool it was to be sprinting with a former Olympic Gold medalist hopeful. He told the story of the 64 Olympics like it was yesterday. He said that he had been one of the favorites for the 10km building up to the games. Billy Mills was very confident when learning that Gerry had ankle troubles in the build up to the 10k @ the Tokyo Olympics and said now I can win�, he did end up winning. He speaks of the Olympics as if he would have won, I and many other people would probably not argue that. He asked why a kid my age knew so much about all the greats form the 60's and 70's, I told him that I wanted to know about everyone who had made noise in athletics and how they got there and what drove them to succeed. After the pick up was finished we did about a 10min cool down and finished off the run at about 42 mins. He had said 6miles on the phone the night before and that was about what we ran. I guess after running so much he must have a pretty good sense of pace judgment. I asked him about the marathon and if he had ever run one, he told me of his major attempt on the distance. He was in peak shape and was on a pace just over 2hrs and leading the field by a fair bit; he then collapsed about 300m's from the finish line and could not get back up. (This is the only story I have trouble believing because it seems almost impossible, I think he may have told the story wrong, his athletes looked at me when he was telling it and grinned at me) He thinks that the marathon world record has not improved as much as it should have by now. He really stressed that the mind can do great things for you once you fully know how to use it to your advantage. We had a quick stretch but he told me that too many people waste valuable training time stretching and doing drills. I'm not totally sure about that. If you're injured from lack of stretching you won’t be doing any running at all. We shook hands and exchanged e-mail addresses with him and he was off just like that. So there I was standing just like he never came…oh by the way Gerry drives an older Mercedes for you car lovers.

Bring, Bring Hello Grade 9 ..Oh you want your story back!!!

But here I go

August 1999

About 2 months after coming back from New Zealand.

I was in West Edmonton Mall the biggest shopping mall in the world if anyone cares about big shopping malls. James , Shaun and I bussed to the mall. I can't remember why we were there. We had been looking around the mall and were getting quite bored. We were standing on the 2nd floor opposite Far Side, Chapters and Below the Belt looking down into the submarine tank wondering how far down it was to the water. I can't remember if it was James or Shaun that brought up the dare idea of jumping into the water from the 2nd floor. As soon as I heard it I decided that I was going to do it for the right price $$$$$ we discussed it and they said they would pay me like $150.00 cdn and I said sign me up!!! That was a lot of money back in the day!!!!!

We went walking around and decided to plan the jump and the getaway, don't forget the pictures that are here for your viewing pleasure. We headed around west-ed talking to randoms and made a quick stop in Far Side the skate board shop and told the guy working what I was planning on doing. He said I was crazy but had seen it done once before in a skateboard video by ZERO he said he would pay me an additional $100.00 if I was to jump naked I said pegs not (but I do want to streak one day...I was planning on streaking for the New Years that year. It was the new millennium and all.. but there were too many cops around and it was (-30) or something ridiculous. So I ran around Church Hill Square in my boxers instead still got some pretty funny looks and laughs. But didn't get arrested and still woke up with a chance to have a family Lucky AMA came and started my car that night. Cold weather in Edmonton..shebas!!

Anyway enough about that and back to the story so the guy in Far Side had also warned us that the security guards by the submarines would chase us if we were to go through with the whole jump and said that we could get arrested Its not like theres a no jumping sign or anything hahahaha

I decided that I could get out of the water quickly enough before a security guard could catch me ( Well Nolan you had a run a 1:59 as a 15 year old and only Mark Lynch and your brother have run this fast as 15year olds in Alberta..this is true!!) jokes!!! so my chances of getting caught were pretty slim or were they?

I bought a green wrestling mask from San Francisco for disguise and James bought a disposable camera and we were ready to go!!

James was standing on the bridge to be ready to take photos and photos he did take!! Shaun was on the 1st floor waiting for me to chuck down my clothes before the jump. He was wearing a green wrestling mask as well; the whole scene must have looked so funny for onlookers!!!! With my adrenalin running rich I through down my clothes, put on my wrestling mask and got over the railing in nothing more than a pair of board shorts, had one last look to make sure that there were no submarines doing the rounds, glanced at the dolphin tank and then jumped. As soon as I hit the water I wondered if I would touch the ground, but I didn't. I began to swim towards the side of the water towards the rocks as fast as I could. I grabbed the rocks aggressively but slipped a few times I was panicking at this time thinking oh sheba it would suck to get caught right about now! I couldn't see very well with the mask all wet over my face, I finally made a firm grab and pulled myself out of the water. Shaun was waiting with my stuff and handed me a sweater and I slipped my shoes on and we were off running as fast as our legs would carry us. Trying not to bull over any casual shoppers well running...by this time we had created quite the scene and there was an audience that had grabbed the security guards attention but we were away clear before they could get to us! It must have looked like we had just robbed a store with our masks on and sprinting through the mall! We sprinted towards the doors below the movie theatre and got into our getaway car...wait weren't you guys like 15 and had to bus there?..Oh ya. I mean ran outside pretty far away laughing like the little kids that we were and caught a bus home after meeting up with James. Not a bad way to make a $150...here I am!
 

Pictures ..enjoy!

When I did the jump I was only the 2nd person to have done that. I believe it has been repeated by a few people in funny costumes, a few that I know and by a drunken guy who never did make it out of the water and died. (RIP) Story was in the papers a few years back..

Kids don't try this at home!

Hawaii in mid February 2004

This trip was a very interesting one for various reasons; the main one is that the trip came up at the last minute because the flight was cheaper with a stopover in Hawaii. The plan was to get by on like 100 bucks for the week, to ensure that we would have plenty of money to train well in New Zealand. We spent our first night in the airport in Hawaii as we couldn't be stuffed paying $10 American for a shuttle to the beach, we were going to get in on one of the hotels free shuttles in the morning. We arrived at 12:30am in Hawaii so we camped out in the airport for 8hrs. We went outside and found some comfortable grass to sleep on but it turned out to be uncomfortable and we ended up getting kicked off the grass after like an hr or so. Then walked around the airport for a bit and found some sleep on a hard cement block outside, I found a telephone book to take the sting off my ass. It was a horrible sleep and at 6am we ended up paying for a shuttle to leave the airport any ways whoops. We were lucky and pretended we were staying in a fancy hotel and so we got our bags locked up for a measly $10 a night. The first day was spent at the lobby just hanging out and feeling pretty bagged from the previous nights sleep what sleep? Dreams of “any baggage left unattended .ya save it!. Anyway the plan had been to sleep in parks and on the beach to save money. Hotels were a cool $100 a night and the hostels seemed dodgy…not that sleeping in parks is safer but I wanted abit of the Gabe Jennings effect and also see what being a bum really felt like, well I got more than I had asked for. The first night we tried to sleep in a park and it seemed to be working until at like 11:30 it started to rain and we had to flee for cover. We tried to hide out in a shelter in the park but gave up after an hr and got really tired so we headed to the Marriot hotel and passed out in pool deck chairs till like 6:30am, not a bad sleep maybe 5 good hrs, a security guard woke us up and told us to split, so we did. We hung out on the beach till the sun came up and started our day. The day was spent bumming around and feeling pretty bagged, fitted in a 30min run around Kaipolani Park, there’s a nice route just off the main stretch, felt pretty bagged but made it through barely. We killed the rest of the day lying around at the beach soaking up some sun. The night snuck up on us soon enough so we found some comfortable deck chairs in another hotel near by the beach and attempted to pass out, we were successful for about 1 hr and then got in trouble from the security guard at the hotel. We lied to him at first and said we were staying there, he checked our name at the desk and we split before it got ugly. The next step we had planned was to try and sleep on the beach so we found the typical beach mats and made what seemed to be comfortable beds, but actually turned out to be the beds from hell. The sand kept getting everywhere and would form big lumps after just getting comfortable and then the worst part was the bugs we encountered, Ryan looked like he had the Chicken Pox, and I also got my fare share of bites. So we snuck into another pool deck on the 3^rd floor of a fancy hotel on the main drag and moved some deck chairs out of the pool area off to the side and actually had a pretty good sleep of like maybe 5 hrs but still a bit broken up.... Baggers can't be choosers though! Up at 6am again and off to the beach to start our day after a quick nap in the valet parking of the hotel we had stored our main luggage in. Bummed around most of the day at pool decks and caught another 1-2hrs of sleep but pretty dam hot weather to be napping in 25-35'C. Ryan and I headed out for a 30min run in the park again at a pretty pedestrian pace, but pedestrians running on low reserves of sleep from the previous weeks leading up to the Hawaii marathon. We decided that we should pull an all-nighter to get on NZ time and save ourselves from the bugs and the security guards lol. So we chilled on the beach till like 1:30 watching the hard cores play speed chess, that got boring and we headed to the valet parking and played chess till like 5:30 and then having serious problems trying to stay up gave in to 1hr of beautiful much needed sleep in those chairs in the lower lobby. Started the day again at 6am oh by the way today is Thursday . After an abortion breakfast that we stole from the buffet the previous night it was to the pool decks and sleep. We headed to a new hotel and a really fancy one and slept in their pool lobby area for like 3 solid hrs, we had to wake up a couple of times as the sun can feel like a fire when it sits on you for a couple of hrs. We eventually decided to move to another hotel, as all the shade had run out and we were feeling sun burnt. We headed to the Marriot again and slept on and off till 3:30pm and then cleaned up and headed to the usual Buffet that we have been hitting up for dinner the whole time we have been on Waikiki, it was satisfying as usual, maybe it was just the fact it was the first real meal of the day. That evening we went back to the hotel lobby and called Gerry Lindgren (Former Olympian and world record holder from the U.S of A and also claims to have run 350miles a week for 6 straight weeks, that’s over 50 miles a day, 5hrs of running) and organized a run with him for the next day. Went to another fancy hotel deck and chilled for an hr and tried not to scratch our pox or bites? At 12 am Ryan headed out for his lactic threshold run for the week. When he arrived back we headed to various hotels to look for somewhere to chill, we headed across the street to the Marriott and tried to sleep just in chairs in the hallway, that lasted for a about 3 hrs and then got booted from there at like 5am.

The start of the final day!!!!!, feel pretty bagged but not to bad I guess. Ate an Egg mc muffin from Mc shits just for fun and to be different and then went to church on the beach, it lasted only 20 mins but its the thought that counts, right mom? Then went to the hotel on the 3^rd floor and slept there for 1hr and then it started to get too hot and noisy outside so I went to brush my teeth and get cleaned up for another day. When I got back Ryan was standing with another security guard who didn't look so happy at all, I guess Ryan had lied to him and said we were guests and then changed his story afterwards. He tried to scare us with the police and stuff but ended up being a nice chap and just warned us and escorted us out. We grabbed some lunch at the convenience store, bread and meat. I rented a surfboard and went out surfing for 2.5hrs. I had a decent board but no wax on the board , so as soon as I would get up I would slip off, I rode a couple but nothing to exciting developed. My arms got really sore from the paddling. I came back to the beach and had a quick bunch of sandwiches and got into a big talk with a priest about God, running injuries and the world in general, he was a nice guy from Singapore that loved to talk , but also knew when to be quiet. He prayed for my leg to heal and that I could have a successful career ahead of me, so hopefully his prayers will be answered). Then rechecked the surf board and headed to the park to meet Gerry Lindgren.

We walked from the beach to meet Gerry for our run. We couldn't see him from the spot so rang his cell phone, whenever someone calls him he pretends to not know who Gerry is, he's defiantly a joker. When we did see him he pretended to not see us, he is quite a comedian. We took a few pictures and then we followed the master for a jog that lasted about 15mins around a grass loop with him and a few of his friends/athletes from the coconut running club. As we jogged he was full of jokes the whole way...Nolan, you see that tree over there thats a hibiscus, what do you call the tree below it?â€� me finally catching on to his humor, “it’s a lowbiscus Gerry � and he starts laughing again, he is a funny runner guy that Gerry. I found out he does claim to have run those 350miles for 6 straight weeks and also a 46min training 10mile run. He talks about them both like they are no big deal and he can’t understand why people find it so hard to believe. I filled him in on the Letsrun debate about the mileage and if it was really possible. He laughed and told me that people are just too lazy and would never try and attempt that kind of mileage these days; therefore they would rather write it off as impossible. He told some funny stories about Prefontaine. He credits himself for getting Pre involved in running and away from softball. He also stressed how cocky Pre was; he did back it up most of the time though. He said sometimes Pre’s head was so big that he had to leave him to himself and go off before it really bothered him. He told me about NCAA x-county titles…beating Pre, his legendary 8:40.00 2mile indoor National High School record. He also spoke of racing some big races in Europe and USA and about his world record 6 mile run with Billy Mills. He said that Jim Ryun was very down to earth and a well mannered chap, not that anyone would disagree. He said jokingly how Jim Ryun was tall and powerful looking well he on the other hand was short and geeky looking. He explained to me why he ran so much, his main reasons were that: Seattle was a boring place in the 60's, he didn't have TV and he wanted to prove to everybody that the little skinny mite could succeed, "I was a social outcast with no friends or girls to chase around, so I ran a lot�" he is defiantly motivating to a runner, even my brother Ryan was a bit inspired I think. On the 2^nd loop he said that we would pick up the pace a bit so I said sure and went with him, it was a lot faster than I had thought, the old guy surges and he was really moving for a 58 year old. Lots of spring and life still in him. I was thinking how cool it was to be sprinting with a former Olympic Gold medalist hopeful. He told the story of the 64 Olympics like it was yesterday. He said that he had been one of the favorites for the 10km building up to the games. Billy Mills was very confident when learning that Gerry had ankle troubles in the build up to the 10k @ the Tokyo Olympics and said now I can win�, he did end up winning. He speaks of the Olympics as if he would have won, I and many other people would probably not argue that. He asked why a kid my age knew so much about all the greats form the 60's and 70's, I told him that I wanted to know about everyone who had made noise in athletics and how they got there and what drove them to succeed. After the pick up was finished we did about a 10min cool down and finished off the run at about 42 mins. He had said 6miles on the phone the night before and that was about what we ran. I guess after running so much he must have a pretty good sense of pace judgment. I asked him about the marathon and if he had ever run one, he told me of his major attempt on the distance. He was in peak shape and was on a pace just over 2hrs and leading the field by a fair bit; he then collapsed about 300m's from the finish line and could not get back up. (This is the only story I have trouble believing because it seems almost impossible, I think he may have told the story wrong, his athletes looked at me when he was telling it and grinned at me) He thinks that the marathon world record has not improved as much as it should have by now. He really stressed that the mind can do great things for you once you fully know how to use it to your advantage. We had a quick stretch but he told me that too many people waste valuable training time stretching and doing drills. I'm not totally sure about that. If you're injured from lack of stretching you won't be doing any running at all. We shook hands and exchanged e-mail addresses with him and he was off just like that. So there I was standing just like he never came...¦oh by the way Gerry drives an older Mercedes for you car lovers.

Ryan and I stretched and then I went for a quick dip in a nearby swimming pool and cooled off. Grabbed supper at the buffet place and talked with a fellow Canadian I had met there the other night, we talked about NZ and Edmonton and exchanged phone and e-mails and then it was off to the lobby to meet Ryan and get ready to go to the airport. What a trip!!!!! Now I'm at the airport writing this at like 11:30 local time. This trip defiantly was an experience; I think combining all the sleep from the last week would barley break into double digits. It had a bit of the Gabe Jennings effect I was looking for and I met some interesting people also. I find putting yourself in extreme situations helps you learn a lot about yourself, maybe thats why I like running so much as well as a really unusual life style with traveling and other activities, everything is an experience, some bad and some good. I'm bagged so enough for now, later

More Pictures

So one minute Thailand, Kenna, Brett, sore legs with crutches...next working like a mofo...who said training?  Bikes from NZ to Seoul...trance and then cut legs!

Oh about Kenna leaving on the 15th at 10pm..well wishful thinking, more like airport hotels and 'BLOW' with Depp and Cruz and greasy pizza...(try and enjoy it...ricies) coke, choc bars, ice cream, Pop eyes....so about those 6packs Nolan????   good talks in airports looking at the ceiling, then lonley shuttle rides home on   Oct 16th!

2hr rides, killers and then cooking up the meaniest Christmas feed! Then spoil ourselves with a glass of nicely chilled white wine!  Here I am....some people always come to Seoul and it changes there life.... whos next? (ricies)

Today is quite a cool day in Seoul but apparently not as cold as Edmonton's snowy weather....pegs not be in Edmonton...Kenna and Lily have to! Lily always gets cute pink 'Hello Kitty' vests from Korea for Christams and 7000 this summer. Today is the 1st Sunday I woke up with a solid sleep...try like 10hrs and felt really alive and refreshed. It feels like a part of my stay in Korea has ended and its phase 2 now, ....."what does phase 2 entitle?"......"Princess Bride if you were listening when I started this journal you would understand...now clean it!"...ricies

So about those Jr. celeb singers..see you on Wednesday or Friday...I'm quite excited to start another job here as I have lots of time to fill in real heaps! I've decided to jump aboard the band wagon of not drinking as well, I had my fun with partying for awhile but its time to get those socks up as high as they can go and keep the dream alive...small and big!!!!!

"A dream will always be a dream unless you have the courage to make it reality"

settle down there Nolan...Have you been reading quotes on message board threads?...lets just say that I made an appearance or 2....whoops but that one was just sitting there waiting to bust out

Horray.....

plot losing will be back with bicycles and trance...stay tuned

Well to sum up Thailand in one journal could become abit of a marathon but here we go...

Arriving in Bangkok with our tour package with a bus full of Koreans and not understanding where we are going and whats going yoll.. Lonely planet and I were on our way. We arrived at our first hotel and ate like kings...whats kimchi again? Passed out early after massage ladies were done lying to us..you asses!

Woke up at 8am and fitted in some breakfast and some pretty armwork outs with really heavy weights...Koreans always stare at me when I do pull ups...sorry about the show..

head to Airport and mett up with Brett after 2hrs of not being sure if Brett even left europe...thanks for the great e-mails Brett...it all worked out though...booked some tickets to Phuket island and then headed to pick up Lonely planet's swimsuit and package..haha ...Got into abit of Thai food at a resturant and not to mention a few refreshments..whoops! Headed back to the flat got a bit hyper...fine lost the plot and got ready to head back to the airport to board our flight...and flights and airports they were....7-11/bars in airports, here I am...Nolan aren't the customers supposed to be on one side of the counter and the bar tenders on the other...I don't even know bro? Losing the plot in airplanes with Brett and Kennas...catching up with Brett while Kenna was polishing pages in lonely planet THAILAND...(jokes Kenna) naps and flights that turn into marathons...stop buzzing and let the children sleep...( I'm sorry...Jeff style!) Arriving in Phuket ..running in the rain and then spinning yans with an Israel dude about life,...Pegs not lead a boring lifestyle... putting Brett to bed and then lighting up the beach...1-3am swimming, sprinting, flirting, sand angels, and abit of body surfing....sign me up...

Could we pack more into a day...we tried..here I go...

waking up at 10 bells...eating at our local hotel resturant...renting scooters for 6 dollars ( I guess that means sleeping on the streets for our remainding time in Thailand...Ricies) Just about to head for a cruz before we get pulled over by the Thai police..what do you mean we need lisences to drive...whooops....$10 fines ( no food for our stay either ricies..haha) brett and I mission to police stn and hotel and clear our fines up...head out missioning for a bit ...run across a bungy Jump site..here we go...back at 4pm..shibas but ok.....head to Mexi resturant grab some food and french water..whoops, then head for a dip in the ocean for some body surfing...some shopping chucked in there just to keep the day interesting..... oh so its 4pm well I guess that means pin drops from 50m's up...pay our 1400bahts about 40cdn...and take the plundge...Bretts up first with an around the waist effort, followed by me with an ankle jump...Kenna ? she pulled the pin on the jump...In Europe or NZ were going tandem dear... random swims in fishing holes and then with my adrenalin surging I jump on a scooter on a side path covered in shale rock crap " I'm going to light up a few stunts here" .....settle down Nolan...here we go... before really getting going I slam on the brakes and try to do a skid....well thats exactly what I did except instead of the tire skidding it was me..whoops... I put my right foot down for balance but trying to fit in iiin Thailand I wore jandals..big mistake...my sandal slid up my leg instantly and then it got ugly with my foot getting cut up and my ankle caught under the scooter .... stunts gone bad real heaps.... little did I know about my fat ankle to come

I'm lucky it happened not on the road and with limited speed...it also makes me swallow abit of my convidence on a bike which is a good thing, pegs not be out of control on a bike...the rat pack on whyte has to!

not to spoil a good day so headed back to the hotel with a bleading hand and foot and cut the sandal off my foot and cleaned up my cuts a bit...thanks doctor kaklin. Headed into town and ate at a random thai resturant, not a bad feed at all..then headed to town for some shopping but turned into a beach session well actually more like Brett and Kenna got ricied session ( 1st big sign for Brett's turn around)then brett tried to call his cdn lady and Nolan and Kenna get sensual massages for $6hr (pick you're girl)..hey whats going on heRE? (shaun u would have loved it dude!) Pegs not take off my boxers.....lady you are the one who is married so why are you arguing with me, did I mention that you're English is very good, did you go to OXford by any chance...ricies.....keep your hands to yourself you ass....the actual massage was not bad (-) a few slips...sure they were slips....can I go pee...Brett hahah and what about hearing whispers " 200 baht for happy ending" jokes, but pretty much how it was!

walks home and then Kenna pulled the pin and brett and I headed to a pizza joint with the proper attire of course... Nolan- cut up feet that you can barley walk on, short bright orange Korea footbal shorts and a white school uniform shirt unbuttoned ...Brett- barley legal length nike running shorts and shirts..who can say ? shoes..pegs not for either of us... we did spin some pretty good yans for about 2hrs in between hookers approaching us...well I guess we were the only white people in the whole city not taking advantage of young thai girls....seeing this going on makes you sick....pegs not let money corrupt me ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!! after the yans were spun, we took a taxi back to the hotel and crashed real heaps.......busy days or undies? busy days

the next day we woke at 10:30

the day turned into us looking for Brett...Kenna always sits by the pool and read her book..Nolan runs around on his scooter with a sock on his right foor..what do you mean blood is soaking through your sock...who knew... ATms and cleaning scooters...there you are Brett you monkey..return scooters plus a bit of cash for the scratches ( Nolan u monkey) Then meet up with Kennas and board a bus with out eating yet..polsih some water and realsie our bus is full of lonely planets on honeymoons (I robot for 40 mins or why not cards on boats or better yet just read a book well making babies...some people cant ammuse themselves for 5mins on there honeymoons...(nolan thats dirty,,first stuff that came to my mind...Maybe you need a new roommate....ces't possible) Boarded a boat after a long ride..Polished some dry fruit + pringles   breakfast of champions if your training to be a bodybuilder(Jokes Mel) or a slob! Then caught some pretty intense rays ..what do you mean we got burnt ( sorry spf, won't make a habit of forgetting you!)  Arrived on PIPI Island with some extra baggage from Brazil ..which would become to heavy to carry that we would have to ditch it later that evening...grabbed some food and headed to our hotel which Lonley Planet booked for us..Kennas I'm just kidding!  Dropped bags off and then next headed to a cool bar along the beach and polished some buckets of red bull with a kIck..what do you mean Kick...you'll see,,,added a couple mexi shooters just for good luck ...don't worry BOB we'll be back!...headed to a weird club with a cool stage and a pole...Nolan loves poles...and I don't mean polish people. Ok now I see the kick from the Red Bull..Nolan lost the plot..what do you mean I have ADHD..save it! One min sore ankles and then brand new feet..well so I thought..dances that left me limping and out of breath..at least I couldn't get kicked out for not wearing a shirt I came in, in just boardies...after poles and stages got boring headed down to the beach for wee a swim and it was more than that..drama here we go.....Brazil the world cup ended 2 years go..let some of that hot air out of your head and go to sleep...not a ladies man at his best, stick to bartending dude!  Kennas that needed big talks..Nolan loves talking, here I am! Talks that make you feel like hugs are the best,..well they are..sex just complicates things...or is meaningless...what about no sex before marriage..Brett...could be the best choice you ever make?  Take Kenna back to the apartment she was getting tired..after all it was a long day for a "Lady"....lied down for awhile and was spinning yans real heaps..what do you mean you were sleeping kenna ..talking to youself is healthy isn't it? tomhanks pulled it off when he was on an island?......wilson  Met up with Brett and headed back to Hippies..told you we would be back BOB and then mexi drinks what? and then next minute spinning yans and listening to pretty cool music...Well Kenna and I were talking Brett was meeting up with Randoms and what about his wee little canon feeling like he was missing out and going swimming..the memories are all in your head Brett...don't poison it and you'll never forget anything.. (2nd big sign for turn around).

'so weren't you guys getting hungry?, its been awhile since you guys last ate?...settle down there Princess Pride I'm getting there..   Met up with Brett and headed to a night spot and polished some sandwiches and smoothies and don't forget about dessert and a few good laughs...whos broke?  Bed some time.. busy days again

Woke up at around 9:47..hah and made some phone calls before limping to breakfast...is Brazil talking?  Foot was getting swollen and decided I should check up on this Hospital talk..took a taxi to the other side of the island..(yes it was a boat now just relax and listen Princess Pride)  the hospital was quite funny...the doctor just riipped open my cuts and cleaned them..brett always gets told to sit down beacause he was laughing too hard. Why are those speakers so big? Taxi back and then meet up with Littles..well brett and Kenna are out swimming I'm sitting all bandaged up thinking ( I'll just sit here and watch him move in on my family...Mrs. Doubt Fire wants her lines back from the pool scene) lol  Ate some thai resturant and ditched Brazil..made some phone calls and came back to the hotel and tried to have a nap but turned into me and Brett spinning some serious yans about life..who said Long distance relationships are impossible.... Impossible is nothing ask BECKHAM... Chantelle..I feel like I know her now...Hello Chantalle...good luck with school!  Time was getting on and we were supposed to meet littles in town at 6pm... so me not wanting to walk alll the way there..we payed these Thai guys to push us into town on these little baggage trollies...300 baht..fine we'll starve for the rest of the trip...stop...I'm thirsty...ignorant foreigners...well yes the thirsty part was ignorant but really we were pretty banged up..brett with a broken ankle and me with a  possible one..met up with littles......Brett and I ate a whole chicken for dinner...Nolan why do you have an appetite you're not training...this is true... Studs in eyebrows...whoops (mom it will be gone when I return home..hopefully)  Walk to  the beach with some mexican goodness and Brett polished abit too much and spent the majority of the night catching some much needed zzz's Brett just beacuse youre in europe dosen't mean you don't need to sleep!  Kenna and I went swiimming bandages what?   Nolan you've been out there in the ocean for like a good hr..well I don't wrinkles on my hands yet..here they are...big swings and carrying brett home in the rain (3rd reason for turn around)  debate whether to eat..too much of a misson with foot...head to bed and snore I did!

The next day we woke up and called Korean air in Bangkok to find out about flights...but nothing really caught resolved..Nolan always satys an extra day in bangkok when he should really be back in Seoul..whoops   Eat breakfast at local and get packed up and ready for our next Island or Islands I should say...checked our bags and took a taxi boat to meet kenna at the main Peir...we found out that we could rent a boat all day for like 3 g's each...sounds cheap enuf...thats like 30cdn...I brushed the bugs off my cuts ( world vision style ) and jumped on the boat only to roll off because it was so hot...then grabbed our bags and Grabbed some lunch for the road or I mean water...ricies  We laxed out on the boat and stopped at mui Bay..the sight where the beach was flimmed..it was beautiful and everything we had hoped...exceot for the untouched part.. it was covered  in asian tourists and more boats than lily could fit in the bath tub..hahah We made the most of it..took some pics and went swimmming..Kenna played over by the rocks ( wheres kenna ,..me and Brett always get worried...Kenna don't run off without your body guards...geez) I'll have some photos once kenna scans some from her water camera and sends them to me... Load up and head to our next Island actually it took quite awhile..brett and I spun some yans well Kenna got into that book...the rays were quite nice and the temperature was comfortable beacause of the wind created by the boat. Our boat driver had the blues...cheer up dude....laxing out on some boat in the middle of nowhere on a beautiful day can't be that bad..can it?  I'll never know... Our next stop was Chicken Island..what a name but it was pretty cool had like a strip of sand connecting two islands together and was perfect for lying in the water and spinning yans..there was some beautiful scenery..especially from europe..Brett always gets busted!  Packed up the boat and our stomachs were making funny noises....(ryan come on now!)  Crusied by another couple of islands but pegs not stop Aujourdhi... Arrive on Krabi  the main land of Thailand but also a tourist spot...Get a pretty average feed with Jam drinks..pegs not order them some other wet behind the ears tourists have to!  Check into a hotel..then check out about buying some drugs as my foot was starting to hurt real heaps and get very inflamed! Checked some e-mails and started to spin yans at this pool deck with Brett while Kenna was reading at the hotel room... 1hr turned into 3 and days turned into nights...finally made our way home after a big limping session...showered and cleaned up and caught up on some journals while Brett caught some quick Zzz's then we headed to go and try and find a feed...realising we were in a pretty rude area and everything closes at 10pm...where are we back in canda?..even then we have wendys or pita pitt..I love a good pita pitt...they should expand into Korea real heaps!  Hobble back to Room and try and kick out annoyning light in our rooms...sorry Kenna Forgot about you sleeping there...Nolan what was in those pain killer pills that you took..whoops     Tried to catch up journals but who was I kidding I was bagged real heaps and pulled the pin after 1 journal....headed to Bed..Oh by the way Kenna, Brett and Nolan always share king size beds on Krabi island..Nolan trying to spoon with Brett and Kenna but had little luck with ethier of them...sure make the cribbled guy sleep in the middle with no pillows or blankets...finally got comfortable..but leg was bothering me in the night which affected my sleep alot..but I still managed to sleep as Brett said I was snoring real heaps...whoopsies

Woke up at 11am with a 12 check out time..cleaned up and headed to the fron t desk and Brett and kenna booked another room for there last night..This day made me hate Thailand but wtf...like I could really hate it after everything that had happened over the week.  Found a resturant and ordered 2 dishes which were bothpegs not..Kenna seemed to love the food there..prob just still happy to be eating normal food compared to Kimchi and rice like in Korea...after that the drama began..aren't last days supposed to be fun..hey they were fun once I arrived in the airport....before that....Brett and I went to check out flight for me to fly out to Bangkok today but the tour agent real didn't want my business or anyone else beacause he kept me blowing us off and being very rude..well fine save it you asshole....So we head on a big mission to the other side of the island to try and find an ATM but it just happened to be that it was out or service...shiba..so spun yans in a resturant and debated what to do..tried to book a flight on Visa but buddy said they were all sold out for the day and I would have to stay another day....well Like I was really going to give up like that.....we headed back to ouyr side of the island and found out there was a first aid area...rented crutches so I could stop limping around and then found out that the closes atm was on another island...so Brett and I rented a boat with our last few dollara and missioned it to another island.....finally got some cash out and found a travel agent that was willing to help me book my ticket...and wasn't useless...com ca me da sweet heart...  so booked a ticket for 8pm but the bus was leaving at 6:45 so quicky had to hire a boat and sprint across the island Speed 2 style and pickup my bag..well brett returned the crutches...say good bye to little kennas..see you in a week,  grabbed a banana pancake for the rd...sped across the island and jumped aboard my own tour van....Waved good bye to my good friend Brett, not sure when I'll see him again ( we started off our journey in Queenstown and then biked a good portion of the south Island and next mintute Canada together and had a pretty crazzy month...Nolan heads off to Korea for 3 months...while brett is falling in love and in hospitals..then Kenna meet Nolan in Korea and the 3 of us meet in Thailand and catch up...WTF..who could have predicted that...GOD thats not fair..you know everything)  well brett hopefully I'll see you sooner or later ...maybe Asia, Africa, NZ, or Canada..who can say right Thomas,....but isn't life just so exciting...I love a good life!!!

Headed to the airport arrived there trying to walk  but the Thai air lady could tell right away that there was something wrong with me... I had a plastic bag over my foot to cover up the scrapes and my swollen foot (Nolan u know that you've had that bag over you're foot for 3 days now...whoops). well better she did notice..listen up..she checked my baggage and offered me wheel chair service for the remainder of my connections...so here I am getting pushed around the airport by a cute little Thai stewardress...here I am... Pegs not walk on a sore ankle..Brett has to.. I get taken to the plane and get 3 seats all to myself with more than enough people asking me what happened. ( people save it!). Then after an hr plane ride and some Zzz's on the plane we arrive in Bangkok ( whats the capital of Thailand...bang...ricies ) I get picked up by an airport shuttle and driven around to my next gate while a Korean Air staff handles my Bag...(com ca me da!) I then meet up with my buddy for the next 3hrs,,the wheel chair staff.. I got wheeled to the Korean Air headquarters to change my flight ...that was no problem..then got wheeled to check in and reAlised that before I could fly to Seoul I needed an on going ticket to Canada and also that I would need to see a doctor before I could leave the country that showed That I was fit to fly..fit to fly...shibas   ....Buddy wheeled me to and ATM but it was broken then finally found one..payed the change fee and then got wheeled to the doctors office which was nowhere close to the area we were in..( settle down Nolan its not like you were pushing anybody or even walking...this is true) body had to push me up this steep ramp that 3 people needed to help get me up it was quite funny..(I thought I was light..whoops) Then the doctor checked me out and spent like a good hr getting all the sand out of my cuts and Bandaging me up and told me to see a Doc on the asap once in Seoul as my foot could be broken...I had no feeling in my toes or foot at this point..He was pinching my foot and for all I knew he wasn't even touching me..yikes..I was starting to worry abit at this stage...Doctors in Korea...shiba    Got the letter and they discounted my fee because they found me interesting or else knew I was broke at this stage... headed back to the check in and finally had all the right paper work...I was getting a bit hungry at this stage so I got buddy to push me to KFC...(what do you mean this guy gets to go to the front of the line "wheres you're wheel chair..asshole!!!)  polished some hard attack in a paperbag and waited to board my last flight....4hr flight and then Seoul here I am..it was very cold getting off the plane...but thats because I was in boardys and t-shirts...got picked up by a Korean air staff and wizzed through customs not saying a word,,,looked pretty banged up and tired when the immigration dude saw me so he just stamped my passport and didn't ask questions...getting pushed in wheel chairs is the shisnik!!!!! They helped me get on a bus and then I was on my way back to my apartment..got off the bus and Taxied home...called my director and said I was going to be a bit late for work today..she seemed cool with that...cleaned uP and headed to school...spun some yans at school with the teachers and then saw Innes my director( Lets just say that I looked a bit different then when I left..bandages, eyebrows, hair and sun burns...wheres Nolan..ricies  she said after class she would take me to the hospital and see whats up..didn;t say much else so thats cool...ate lunch with my home room and then taught 1 class....after that headed to the hospital with Innes for x-rays...  I was nervous ..but nothing was broken...sweet as bro... Then I got my cuts cleaned again and My dinosaur foot looked at by the doctor...he said that the swelling had developed into a dangerous stage and that I would need to stay in the hospital incase it got any worse.. the internal bleeding was quite bad and I would  need needles and constant elevation and that working was out of the question...tabernak st ... I then got a needle in the bum by a nurse she tried to pull down my shorts but made a week effort and it didn't work...I said don't be shy..she laughed and then next min needles in my rear..(.better than Q-tips..right Shaun...hahah)   came home and passed out real heaps and haven't really moved much in 2 days beside to eat or get things...

Hospitals pegs not..but I'll see how the swelling goes down over the week here

www.nolanisamessinthailand.com   when doing stunts on scooters goes very wrong...lucky I have travel insurance..actually I don't.bretts mom?..taxi rides on boats and random hospitals...the nurse telling brett to sit down becuase he was laughing to hard and what about those bungy jumps....swimming with the sharks , and the beach..ya been there as well..whoops

Nolan and Brett always have fat right ankles

photos and a couple more updates are on the way....here we go

Lets see ...today being Thursday and tomorrow being Friday that leaves like 3 days and we're off to Thailand.  What about Brett, he might be feeling some mixed emotions about traveling, training, love and to top it off his broken hand and ankle... www.BrettsamessinCanada.com just kidding brett! See you in Bangkok on Monday...Brett and Nolan always spin yans on the beach in Thailand

After a pretty funny night on the town..we came back to our apartment and I had a laughing fit for like 5mins...."do you're mother and I look impressed...hahah" and my friend Chris thought i was laughing at him and couldn't understand...so he wanted to fight me and thats where the night stepped up the weirdness a bit...but the next day we were out playing football together. Kenna and Nolan always fight on Sundays..ricies

Picture it a tall skinny white dude in the mix with a bunch of koreans half my size...lets just say it was funny real heaps... one minute breakaways and the next tangled with someones legs and took the spill of my life...well myabe Arcadia or NZ nats are up there but this was also a big one...cuts and rashes... it must have looked so funny when I fell!

Kenna and I always have picnics in Olympic stadium on Mondays..how about those stairs..what about those DVD rooms and pretty good movies

Cosby dropping @ school..whoops ... pegs not in a squater..Shaun has to YES! 

Vacations are the shisnik!

here I am