Thailand bliss..

Sweet Thailand! Now sitting in Phuket - near Pa Tong beach. Just arrived from Northern Thailand, Chiang Mai. We´ll be here for at few days - and then move on to Phi phi islands further south east.

Some watermelon??

It is just such a treat - such a bliss - being in Thailand, and overall being in a warm climate, wearing a shirt and shorts or just a dress, letting the sun kiss my body. And my oh my, all the food.... all the lovely food! Not really fruit season right now, nothings really abundant, but compared - COMPARED - to what is at home in Sweden... it´s just not comparable. Buying lovely watermelons for five swedish money each, could never find that in Sweden. Or Durian - not in season - but, we have still had some. It is just the best. Yep, the king of fruits, sure agree on that one.

Durian foraging in Chiang mai. 

In Chiang Mai right now, mostly papayas and watermelon in season. Papaya is a great food - easy to digest and a lovely sweet taste and fragrance if properly ripen. This is me after having papaya lunch :) I finished the whole fruit in one sitting, and showing off the peel:

Papaya :)

Things are more expensive here down south though. More tourists to make more money from. But, still really cheap compared to home... Found some watermelon for lunch + bananas + salad. And I´ve been hauling along some passion fruits from Chiang mai - just beautiful. A REAL treat.

Finding foods are just the easiest thing if you´re LFRV!! Ok, we´ll have to spend some time just finding the markets, buying the fruits and then carrying it back home - but, might be worth it if you feel super good, high energy, strong and happy in the end of the day!

Now out for some tourist spotting here in town :)

Peace //Alex

Chiang Mai...

Now in Thailand, Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand. Nice and warm - a bit cooler up here then in Southern parts.
Beautiful sun - and LOTS of lovely fruits. Haven´t seen the big Muang Mai market yet, but you can get fruits just about everywhere here.

Started with papaya yesterday - and moving on to DURIAN today!! Aaaaah, I have longed for this fruit so much during the winter in Sweden.... durian. It might be the best fruit ever. Creamy, sweet, filling, great texture... all you could ever wish for from your food. They are not in season right now though, so we bought them for maybe twice the price that you normally would pay. But still, compared to Sweden - cheap food!!

Havin a day off today - doing nothing, just getting some rest after the hauling plane trip. Maybe some mangoes tonight... and aple bananas. It is truly a bliss to be here :)

Peace /Alex

...about a backpack

Here´s a sweet story for you, about the fact that we should try to circulate things in life. I just got myself a new backpack, a small simple one, for my trip to Thailand. Just plain, black, Haglöfs, cheap, nothing spesh. As I got the bag home, I realized though, that I now had one too many bags, as I can only carry one backpack at a time. So, I decided, the old one must go. I try to live by the rule: if something new comes in to my life, something old has to be released (as goes with food... hehe). So, in this case, I would have to let go of my Osprey Stratos. I know, it´s a darn good bag, light, side access, pockets for all you need, light weight climbing bag etc. But, it had done its job - that is, it was serving me whilst hiking around up in the mountains in Bergen, Norway. Here in Sweden - it was sitting in the dark, not being used at all, since I´ve got my Arcteryx around town.

I put up an ad a couple weeks ago and got a reply a few days ago. This guy, I could tell straight away, was really keen. He knew what he wanted, and he knew this was a good bag for a darn good price! And the funny thing, he was a Norwegian - living in Sweden! Funny...

He sent me emails and called me up - just to be sure he would get the bag. The bag was in real good condition - no holes or such, a few beauty scraches, had survived through tough Norwegian West Coast climate... says it all. The guy was really keen - before you knew it - he had put all the money + extra into my bank account! I could hear on the phone... he had found something real good. I sent it off Wednesday and got a sms today Friday, the bag had now been delivered! He wrote a real sweet message, telling me how much he liked it and that he will be using it alot! But the sweetes thing... he wrote that his dog had been really interested in the bag, sniffing abouts! Made me smile... since I had the Myf right by my side walking up those mountain hills in Norway, being my best mate at the time.

Now the bag will be used again - and not just sitting around in the cupboard collecting memorys about the old days, when being wanted... Now the bag will be taken out for new adventures with a very proud new owner - and his partner and their dog. Climbing new mountains, hiking in new fields, experiencing new sun sets...

Makes me smile anyway! The joy of circulating things, recycling and reusing. If you buy something new, make sure you let go of something old. In the end of the day, it can put a smile not just on your face, but on a fellow being :)

Peace //Alex

Rest day

Breakfast pic from this morning:

Banana-orange smoothie and plain orange juice.

All good - got me through to lunch!

Yep, took a day off... from the gym. Just felt tired in my body, didn´t get any good sleep last night. I can feel my body reacting straight away - if I don´t get enough sleep, preferably 10 hours or so. Important, very important. If you´re not doing well, I´m usually saing "eat more fruits", BUT I might also say "get your sleep"!! Real important folks. You rejuvenate and heal your body while sleeping - so you can wake up in the mornings ready to meet the day filled with energy and anticipation!!

Funny - had some sesame dip last night. Did not work well with me, tell you what. Felt naseaus, almost sick when going to bed! Might have been one of the reasons I didnt sleep very well. All that fat just doesnt go down well with my system any more... and I probably had them too late in the evening as well. All in all, no good food for my tummy.

... what else can I do then listen and learn from what my body tells me?... that is, leave the overt fats out for a while. Just wonder... what the durian will do to me... planning on eating masses of it! Hmm... have to do quite a bit of running when down in Thailand :) hehe...

Just a phot of a mountain of guacamole the other day. Love those bacon avos - lower in fat and tastes just delicious!! Doing quite fine on avo-fats, no reverse effects as with nuts.

Dinner: orange for starters, main guacamole, greens and fig dip.

Now off to bed - after some medjool dinner. Hoping to get some more sleep tonight...

Peace //Alex Fruit Bat

High intensive training at the gym today - fabulous. Could have stayed for another hour :) Doing kettlebells, launches, push ups, arms, sit ups etc. Really good sweaty all-round training. Preparing for my yoga class tomorrow!

Thought it would turn out to be a sunny day today - so I hurried out from the gym - to find: a grey sky... and now, snow pouring down.... arrrrgh... More snow??!! C´mon....

Havin some Dateorade (dunno bout spelling though :)) when getting back from the gym. Mixed 10 Medjools with some ounces of water. Used it for a celery dip. That lunch would probably land between 600-1000 calories. Depending on the size of the dates.

Getting some Medjools

Celery dip

Now thinkin about getting some more medjools for lunch, I usually eat them between cuke pices! Like cuke sandwich. Need all the fruit calories I can get today - as it is shopping day today. Usually fill my Bat mobile (a little trolley) up with fruits and veg twice a week. I´m so happy - now living in walking distance from my fav food shop around here. Super exercise - I not only have to walk to and from the shop - I also have to drag the bat mobile filled with lots of kilos of fruit - three flights of stairs up to my apartment! How good is that! Getting some lovely foods - and free exercise! haha...

Still doing my citrus juice for brekky, even though I usually only have time to jucie about a liter in the mornings. What I do to get some more calories in there, is that I mix the juice with some bananas - making orange-banana smoothie. Will usually get me through all the way to lunch time.

Brekky smoothie - orange banana delight

Ok, well, now off into the snow... getting some nice dates :) Still having wet dreams about durian and sunshine. Plane will leave in eleven days. Pretty nice. C u there?

Love /Fruit bat

Dates and cukes for dinner... before sweaty work out at the gym. Now doing lots of water, a few liters. Got hold of some ripe bananas on my way to the gym, stocking up for lunch tomorrow. Lunch last few days has been pretty easy going: pineapple and bananas in the blend tec. Just blend it up with a bit of water - and you´ve got the best lunch if you´re on the run. Simply delicious.

Just a phot of my favorite "uncook book" :

Want more energy? Here´s the way to go!

High energy diet by Dr D Graham, just the best. I get new ideas every time I browse through it. I just miss the mangoes at the time being... no ripe, sweet mangoes to get hold of here!

Went for a run yesterday + my yoga class. Did the gym today and will be doing boxing tomorrow. Im thinking running again on Wednesday??.... or gym? Hmmm, not an easy choice... both activities are a lot of fun. Maybe I´ll have time doing both? I do finish early on wednesday. Food for thought.

Peace for now! //Durian-dreamin-fruit-bat

Making plans for Thailand...

....aaaah.... yes, I WILL be leaving the snow and the cold and the ice behind, in just a few weeks time. Oh yes, how good it feels. I´m still dreaming bout durian and sweet mangoes, that is, SWEET, ripe mangoes. Not the ones I find here in the shops... so hard you could use them as a weapon! They wont even ripen! They will instead - rotten! From inside! Arrrrgh... we were not meant to live up here in Sweden. Man´s biggest mistake so far: migrating from the equator.

Doing dates, cuke, citrus, pineapples, some bananas... got interested in tomatoes again, did buy some apples... and yeah, thats pretty much it. Feels like survival mode in a sense, just getting through the winter...

BUT - yes, will be leaving soon, for a month in sunny Thailand!! Dunno my vitamin D count, but ´m quite sure I need a bit of a boost real soon.

One thing that will get me through, is planning for this summers Fresh Food Folk Festival in Southern Sweden! That´ll be fun! Lots of lovely food - PROPER food, haha, fresh fruits and veggies. PLUS lectures, music, people.... great fun all in all. Have a look on FB, search for Fresh Food Folkfestival 2011!

Getting into Fresh Food vibe with friends!

Tryin on bikinis and dreamin about sun..

...´til later! Peace /Alex

Fresh start!

...on this new, fresh year! I must say though, I´m havin as much fresh stuff this year - as I had last year!! Haha... right now, mostly dates, cuke and citrus.... dates, cuke and citrus...

Waiting to get juiced...

Actually found some ripe and rockin bananas in Stockholm when passing through today! Wow - ripe AND cheap, that´s a good combo. People are funny indeed, they sell out the bananas when being their best :) -good for me though. Bought bananas today for about 10 money/kilo. That´s cheap.

Still dreaming about durian though... and sweet mangos... Will find them in heaps next month, when heading off to Thailand. For now, I´ll have to settle with durian dreaming...

Peace /Fruit Bat