Hard Core Bowl - Koh Tao Confidential Vol. 7

Greetings faithful followers and endless apologies for my recent lack of posting.

      I have started two posts over the last week but have yet to finish either, I guess my new island "laziness" and the appeal of the sand and sea has taken the spot at the top of my priorities list. The plan for today was to complete my highly entertaining and eagerly awaited "One Night in Bangkok" post about my epic journey to the Big Smog a few weeks back. However, last night I was privy to a rather interesting and blog worthy experience which I felt I would treat you all to before the "Bangers Diaries" makes its brief appearance. 
     Big Blue Diving where I currently spend my days toiling away behind the reception counter is one of the biggest dive schools on the island and as such, has a fair share of DiveMaster Trainees who come to Tao and spend 1-6 months learning how to be a DiveMaster (something yours truly will be doing in Bali very soon!!). Most DMTs (as they are called for short) arrive alone so Big Blue does what it can to make them feel at home and make some friends. Of course, there are many ways to make friends and meet new people here on the island, simply take a walk down the beach after dark and you're sure to make a friend or two...but if you want a real, bonafide friend cementing experience, one needs to look no further than...bowling! Yes ladies and gentlemen, K.Tao may not have motocycle taxis, diapers for your baby or a selection of clothing which spans beyond board shorts, fake Havainas and Singha tank tops but hell ya, we gots us a bowling alley! Every once in a while the DMT mentors organize an evening of beer, food and of course bowling so that the DMTs can get to know each other and the other staff at Big Blue (yup even the lowly receptionists) and have a bit of non-diving related fun.
     Now anyone who knows Thailand, especially the islands, knows that things here are often "improvised" at the best of times. If you have a vision, a few coconut trees and an army of underpaid Burmese migrant workers, you can build palaces out of mud and hotels out of...well I'm not sure by the looks of some of them. So a bowling alley is nothing! Piece of cake!

Bowling with a human touch

     Being that the island isn't known for breeding bowling champions and has yet to be written up in Lonely Planet as a mecca for bowlers, the facilities are well... improvised... but hey, they do the job. I mean who really needs a perfectly flat alley? The bump in the middle that makes the ball jump into the next lane presents a challenge that only the most expert of bowlers would dare to tackle. And who really needs a perfectly round ball? Only wimps use round balls! The chip out of one side and the bolt holes once again present an extra challenge which only the bravest bowlers would even think of navigating.  Finally, what would anything be on Koh Tao if it weren't for the previously mentioned army of underpaid, and under appreciated Burmese workers. In the case of the bowling alley, their job is to stand at the end of the lane, dodge bowling balls and set up the pins (which are of course of varying sizes and weights) once you've knocked them down. As an added bonus, if you give them a wink or pop a 20baht bill in the finger hole of the ball, they'll kick the pins over for you to ensure victory. Once again, the "occupational hazards" of K.Tao employment are like nowhere else. I'm pretty sure "being hit by flying bowling balls" is not something alley employees back home have to worry too much about.  Sadly, there were no bowling shoes to be seen at the Koh Tao Leisure Park's bowling alley, but there were several dogs running along the lanes and plenty of glow in the dark paint (it is the islands after all).... 

Wimp...look at you and your fancy flat lanes and round balls and fancy shoes.... lame.

This is where the "real" bowlers practice their mad skillz.

    Make sure to stay tuned for future thrilling posts which will include but not limited to:

- My recent trip to Bangers
- Moving house
- trading in roomates who belong on "wild kingdom" for real human roomates
- My first trip back under the waves post-surgery
- Exciting news about my upcoming adventures in Bali
- probably a little bit more whining about my broken heart (but I'll try to keep it to a minimum)
- my upcoming visa run to Burma
- general K.Tao mayhem and magic

Cheers from the uneven lanes
J