Fly me to the moon
(Part 2)

"You can't eat money, Shanoo interrupted. At least not without getting it surgically removed."

© Travelers' Net
Text by Joe Josef

Into the realm of God

It was one of those magic nights. Once in a while Patong is like that, you know. For some unknown reason Patong has those special nights. Nothing is planned, everything happens by pure incident. But still the air is fresh with a fragrance of jasmine. Everybody is in a good mood, everybody smiles and there is even a parking space to be had on Soi Bangla.
Jui sat on the back of the Intruder like an angel. Thai girls seem to have this ability to go with the beat of a motorbike.
Slowly and heavily we trucked onto 200 Phi Road. It was black night, the stars twinkled in the black sky - except, of course, there was the brightly shining full-moon above the mountains, as always beaming benignly at earth. After we passed the Simon-Cabaret curve I let the power loose. The Suzi's husky grumble turned into a full-fledged roar as she took on the mountain. Right into the full moon we rode, like something out of a Jules Verne novel.
I am sure, Jui sensed it too even though it lasted only a couple of minutes. A sense of being lifted and born by a flying Suzuki chopper, riding through the dark and unknown land of people into the realm of Gods.
I barely, barely contained power and hit the breaks in the nick of time. There, on top of the hill, was the Safari; a living, burning, resounding place. A peculiar mix. A little "Mad Max", a lot of "Swinging Safari" and some Gothic Rock, the Safari has all its own style. Parking the bike and walking up the entrance with fair Jui by my side I felt a little bit like Indiana Jones. I only missed the hat and the whip.
Jui squeezed my hand and said:
-This is not the moon, you know. This is safari!
-Yes, I know, I said, we'll make it the moon next time, okay?
-It doesn't matter, she smiled, I knew all the time that you were only joking. But that is okay. Do you want to dance with me?
I certainly would! Jui let me drag her tender body close to mine and from this moment on, when we stood as two people who had become one, the music changed. Gone were the slashing drums and the pounding Techno-rhythms. Jui and I floated on cellos and violins played by Vanessa Mae and Sofie Mutter.

Cannot eat love

Nothing lasts forever, not even Cinderella could extent the spell of magic till after midnight. After floating around in the air amongst strings and bows, I got kind of thirsty.I knew Jui wanted a Singha beer and I decided to have one, too. At the bar I met somebody, I hadn't seen for years.
-Shanoo!
-Harry!
That was quiet a surprise! The last time I had seen Shanoo was on a rooftop in Hanoi, clinging to his machine-gun only seconds before the house was coming down. We were taking heavy shelling by the Commies' and it was all anarchy. When the roof finally crashed, I lost my conscience. Later I awoke in the middle of a rice paddy with a young woman bending over me, but that's another story. I never expected to see Shanoo again.
-Shanoo, I said how did you get out of that?
He grinned and said:
-Nothing much to tell. I was lucky I got nothing broken by the fall, so I decided to take it easy for a while...
It turned out that Shanoo was working as a medical doctor on Phuket. So we sat there, shooting the bull for a while, until I felt a tuck on the arm.
-Christ, I exclaimed, I forgot about Jui!
I introduced her to Shanoo and he said:
-Don't I know you from somewhere?
He scratched his head.
-Yes, he finally said, you were the one with the money bundle in your stomach!
Jui reddened and nodded her head.
-Tell me the story, I asked.
-No, Jui said, I angry my boyfriend and I eat all his monee...
-You can't eat money, Shanoo interrupted.
-Can!
-At least not without getting it surgically removed.
-Nono, Jui insisted eat monee can! Eat love cannot!

And another one!

I don't know about you, but I don't meet old buddies who have risen from the dead very often. So I invited Shanoo to go with us and find a place, where we would be able to talk. As it turned out, he would rather rock and roll. To reminiscence the old days, I suggested Rio Bravo.
Down at Rio Bravo it was Creedence Clearwater time, which suited us fine. This was the music we used to fire our adrenaline on, when we were young and did what young men had to do.
-Do you still drink Jack Daniels? Shanoo asked. I admitted that I did. So we ordered a bottle and when it was gone, we ordered another one. And another one. Soi Bangla was having one of its special nights - what with fragrance of jasmine and smiles and even an available parking-space - and we were having a ball. The whole house was singing along to "Bad Moon Rising". At one time we discussed whether each other still could make a hundred and I recall Shanoo on the floor with two girls sitting on his back, doing push-ups.
Suddenly it wasn't Rio Bravo any more and it wasn't Creedence any more either. The moon had gone and the first rays of a rising sun were sending silver-plated darts into the air. My eyes hurt and I squeezed them shut.
A few hours later I awoke again and decided to get up, since I had to go to the toilet. To my surprise, I found six people in the room besides me. Shanoo was there, Jui and four other girls; a couple of which looked suspiciously like lady-men. I supposed we must had had a ball last night...
Upon returning from the bathroom, I found that Shanoo had awakened, too.
-Man, he said -you sure as hell got my head spinning with that whisky of yours!
He looked at Jui, heavily snoring away in her sleep.
-She reminds me of somebody, we used to know, hmm...
He scratched his head.
-I think her name was Trong or Trink...
-Trang, I said.
-Right said Shanoo she also could do things with her body.
He bowed down and kissed Jui on the nose. Jui cuddled up close to him.
-Teerak! I heard her whisper gently.
Well. Still I had my chopper waiting outside. In case anybody wanted me to fly her to the moon...