Our first night in Krabi, that place was a restaurant called Mr. Krab-i's. Our friends from Peetim's house, Jess and Tom, discovered it when they were visiting Krabi and told us we had to check it out. We found ourselves hungry again after an early dinner and headed down the street to find this place.
Mr. Krab-i's is an Italian restaurant with a bar, so we started with a round of appetizers and drinks. As we were ordering, TJ jumped right in by asking our waiter, "Are you Max?" Surprised, he answered, "Yes. How did you know?" That got us talking about how we had heard of his restaurant. Max spent most of the rest of the evening sitting near our table, chatting with us, suggesting his favorite foods for us to order, and telling us stories about how an Italian guy ended up in Krabi, Thailand.
My favorite part of the night was as we were getting ready to go, and Max called us back to the bar for one more drink. He explained the origin of "Mr. Krabi-i" (Mr. Krab-"eye") was a tequila shot we call the pirate shot: you snort the salt, drink the tequila, and squirt the lime in your eye! He poured us each a tequila shot - on the house! - during the story, then told us to enjoy the shot the normal way. Cheers! If you're ever in Krabi, you have to go by his restaurant. The food is delicious, but the company is even better.
Our next night out was on the island of Koh Phi Phi (pronounced "Pee Pee"), after our boat adventure. We napped in the afternoon, and then wandered out to explore the town for dinner. Just around the next corner, we found Reggae Bar, the bar we had heard of where they allow (encourage) tourists to participate in Muay Thai fights against each other. TJ was so excited about this opportunity, so we grabbed a table up close to the action and let the staff know he was game. Then we waited.
It took ages for the rest of audience to drink enough to think fighting was a good idea. They even paraded TJ around the ring for a few minutes, daring other tourists to step up.
Just when I was starting to the think it wasn't going to happen, a Canadian guy decided he was brave enough and signed up. He and TJ headed to the back to suit up and drink a beer together. Jamie and I were on pins and needles.
They stepped into the ring, and the bell rang. The fight had started! TJ showed off his skills in the first minute - sending the guy to the ground with a punch to the face. I was so proud!
The fight ended after three rounds, and then the guys stood next to each other, waiting for the judgement. The ref raised TJ's hand. He won!
The most random part of the evening happened in the middle of TJ"s fight. I was standing on the edge of the ring filming, and as the bell rang to end a round, I felt a hand tap on my ankle. I looked down, expecting to see a staff member asking me to move. Instead, I saw a familiar face! There was a group of girls from Canada that we ran into everywhere we went. They were in TJ's surfing class in Byron Bay. They were in our hostel in Noosa and on our bus once or twice. Just when we thought we had lost them, we passed them on the street in Airlie Beach. Now, a month later, we were in Thailand, and here were the girls again - two of them, at least - following our footsteps again. What are the odds?
As our Canadian shadows are beginning their Thailand adventure, we are ending ours. From here, we head to Cambodia!
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