Yes I really live on an Island with a tribe of Natives

[masamaaso]

I was going to ask what kind of oil do you use for frying?

Mainly coconut oil and palm oil,,the coconut oil is made here from pressing semi dried coconut between 2 flat stones and this takes a lot of coconut,,it starts as a big mess but after awhile the oil builds up and starts to flow off the rock.
It's for sure a flavor that takes some getting used to, and some things taste like shit when its used ,,like baking muffins breads and such it really over powers the taste. It does have a high heat tolerance and high smoke point, things like fried chicken ,fish and pork are tasty using it..
When it first comes off the rock its mighty rough looking, and got a lot of "floaters" when we get our share I strain it through 2 sizes of silk screen but it still leaves a few inches of settlement on the bottom after it sits for a week or so,,then I'll drain it out slow and easy to get the almost crystal clear oil..
The palm oil we get from the smugglers boats and use and keep it as a staple item.. It comes from Maylay.PI and Indo areas and is dirt cheap a 5 gal can of palm oil converts into a little under 5 US.

Does everyone on the island drink kava? One time I showed up to marry some Fijians. After the wedding the men chased all the women off to the kitchen and started to pass around little cups of tea. I couldn't make out what they were calling it. They sort of sheepishly offered me a cup and not wanting to look like a puss I shot it down in one gulp. Tasted like bitter dirt. They all sort of smiled at each other, like all right we're getting the rev fucked up! Not wanting to be rude I accepted the second, slurping it a bit slower. Than I realized my mouth was numb and my ass had gained ten pounds. And I figured it out.

You betcha,But it's not produced here,,,its been traded for corn and rice for as long as grand pa can remember,, he says kava kava has always been here as far as he knows... Kava kava is used every night by lots of people, usually after getting back to the hut after 12 hours of farming ,fishing ,,or what ever their work day involves,while waiting for his dinner,,not everyone agrees with the way its used,,,the younger ones want to use it to unwind after farming a rice or corn field all day and prefer to chew on the root, which gives you the best (if ya ask me) buzz,the older use it only for ceremony's like trade meeting with other islands, or in my case when someone new has asked to enter your hut, and they use it in powder form,,I got to liking the grayish milky liquid, with the really quick effect, I hit the kava kava a lot when we first got here meeting people, and still have a cup full from time to time when we visit friends here and on other islands..

 

[therevverend]

To me kava has all the social and ceremonial qualities of our more refined dangerous western drugs without the dangerous health risks and bad side effects. Kinda like a weaker version of cocaine mixed with alcohol, a male bonding experience kind of thing with a mellowing of the ugly side of testosterone that the western ones lack, except for ganja.

 

[Dawn Patrol]

Don't know if I've posted or PM'd you before masamaaso, but I love this thread!!

I love hearing about your existence and the kava talk is fascinating to me. I've tried it a couple of times and wasn't impressed, but I'm also halfway around the world from where it's produced.

There is a Kava bar in town right across the street from a high school and it's all perfectly legal here. I stopped in and purchased a small metal container (55 grams) for $30 of "Fire Island Kava" which was the strongest variety that they sold. I mixed it with Gatorade and aside from my mouth being numb and feeling couchlocked, I really didn't feel much. Recommended serving size is 5 grams. The powder is derived from dried Kava juice so maybe that's a weak extract to begin with.

Maybe next time I need to increase the dosage and see what happens.

Any insights? How does the buzz feel to you?

Please keep posting, this is one of my favorite threads!

 

[ghostly]

Yes I really live on an Island with a tribe of Natives

Fresh kava prepared in a traditional manner fights cancer. The powered or processed bullshit isn't the same

 

[Bad7887]

Welcome to IC. Best of luck!

 

[therevverend]

One tip in preparing kava is to create an emulsion by adding a tablespoon of lecithin then violently mixing it. With all psychedelics set and setting is a big factor. Drinking it at home watching tv its just gonna make your face numb till you want to take a nap. Drinking it on a tropical island with pirates and headhunting cannibals in a ceremonial fashion in a culture where that's their only way of getting high for thousands of years, could be rather intense.

 

[masamaaso]

Alrighty,,,looks like the kava kava has made its rounds,,like I said it;s not produced here,,it comes from islands west of here,,Palau,,Papa New Guinea,,islands closer to those areas,,we get it in trades..
Groups from the Palau islands will start heading this way soon in the trade migration,, we're near the beginning of the route so we get first looks on what they have,,they'll stop here and stick around for a few weeks, settle old debts make new ones, get drunk a few nights here and there and just like they showed up one day ,,,they leave to continue their route.
Like most of the tribal populations in the Pacific rim they rely on trading, the groups from the Palau islands are the biggest of the traders, traveling in long wooden boats, from their island into this area then north into the Molucca Sea hitting as many islands as they can, before heading home taking back all their traded for goods with them.

There's 2 really amazing parts of all this..
1,The amount of open sea these guys travel through in long skinny wooden boats is just plain "out there" no way I'd do, and it would take an order from some asshole with a good amount of gold on their shoulders to make me do it. These guys are away from home for 6-8 months of every year.

2. Maqtor (mak-tour),, sounds just like "Doctor" but with an M....
Is an older man looking to be in his 60s and the leader of the group that comes here has been doing this since he was 5 with the father of his father, 2 men who were taught the sea,,the tides,,the trade winds, and the dangers,, by the fathers of their fathers..
So how far back do ya think that goes eh ????

Looks like frogs on the menu all around,,the breaker box is a double throw switch, from the top is where power from the gen/set enters the house, turn that breaker off and the other on,,, the house is now on solar power, ok,,,felt I had to explain that.

Often I find a snake hanging around the switch box on cool morning after a cold night(yes it gets cold here at night certain times of the year) this morning I go to switch power grids and find this guy having breakfast.
And also,,,these are the kind of frogs we eat,,a little bigger and fatter but this ones no little guy..

The fish foto is a typical share given to us by one of the fishermen, he netted more than him and his family could eat, so for us its the same as everyone else,,, we get only whats needed,,2 for me 2 for my wife and one for the boy.

 

[sLai*kRoLa]

Thank you, thank you, thank you Captain

I was into your adventure for three days now, reading 10 pages each day. What more can i say... i'm green with envy....

It's the first time i'm reading something from the introduction forum, I think you know what hooked me up, yep - catchy thread name. After few more years, when you'll have your tatoo and all other tribal regals, youll be hell of a storry tella for the lil'ones in the ville...

P.S. poor froggy, that nasty snake targeted most intimate of bodyparts. itll be a long time going down that narrow throat...

 

[SeaMaiden]

I have to say that I'm surprised that you have stucco out there, masamaaso. Stucco!

 

[curious2]

I have to say that I'm surprised that you have stucco out there, masamaaso. Stucco!

Same here! I looked for a like button but coudn't find it so I had to post and say me too. LOL

 

[masamaaso]

I have to say that I'm surprised that you have stucco out there, masamaaso. Stucco!

Same here! I looked for a like button but coudn't find it so I had to post and say me too. LOL

I dont know if Id go as far as to call it "stucco" makes it sound sorta "south Florida-ish"
It's more like a mashed up , mucked up,,"looks pretty good to me" attempt at a smooth concrete wall that didnt go well.
Safe to say I will not be seeking a masons job any time soon..

With a big Cat diesel gen/set and an 8 panel solar array I got a good amount of "Juice" coming into the house so ,,,
I needed a concrete wall for the breaker boxes and junction switches that separate the 2 power sources, as well carry power to the house and other parts of my lil compound,,if something bads going to happen,,it'll be in that area, so having it attached to the side of a native material house wasent a good idea.

Concrete from Indonesia is cheap,smugglers bring it to an island a day or so from here as a transition storage area on its way to one of the mines, If I go for 100 bags or more Its about a 50 cents a bag,,sand and rocks are here. After our first house did the "gone with the wind" thing I started using concrete,,,got myself a hollow block maker too, and thats one huge pain in the ass, took me a few trys before i got the right mix to make a block that didnt fall apart when you picked it up,, there were a few moments of anger and perhaps a bit of "guided" violence towards the blocks, one of me kicking about 50 of um into dust after I learned that the sun will dry um out TO fast leaving you with gray blocks that fall apart just looking at um.
I owe all my masonry skills to You-tube....
Sorta thought someone was gonna say something about me painting it orange,,and yes ,,its the same color as my boat,,,same can of paint,, at the time it sounded like a god thing to do
Shit ,,,now my wife just stuck her head in here a got a read,,,im gonna be hearing concrete jokes for the rest of the day...

 

[Bababooey]

I know what you mean about the coconut, I like the meat but coconut milk doesnt agree with my flavor pallet.
The island trading system sounds amazing but makes sense, these people have been sailing boats for centuries, of course there's going to be trade between them. Not as reliable as walmart but maybe better in the sense everytime a boat or cruise ship pulls up you could be pleasantly surprised with what they have to offer... It's like a box of chocolates, as Forrest Gump would say..
I've tried to learn construction skills through youtube and yeah, it's hit or miss. That's funny about the concrete blocks drying out in the sun, guess in the youtube videos the guy never dried them under the island sun. But I think you did a fantastic job with what you had, you've really made a nice life for yourself out there...

 

[SeaMaiden]

I figured that anything very heavy like sacks of stucco or concrete would not be making it out your way. Good to see that, along with electricity, you are still able to enjoy some 'modern' amenities.

 

[masamaaso]

I know what you mean about the coconut, I like the meat but coconut milk doesnt agree with my flavor pallet.
The island trading system sounds amazing but makes sense, these people have been sailing boats for centuries, of course there's going to be trade between them. Not as reliable as walmart but maybe better in the sense everytime a boat or cruise ship pulls up you could be pleasantly surprised with what they have to offer... It's like a box of chocolates, as Forrest Gump would say..
I've tried to learn construction skills through youtube and yeah, it's hit or miss. That's funny about the concrete blocks drying out in the sun, guess in the youtube videos the guy never dried them under the island sun. But I think you did a fantastic job with what you had, you've really made a nice life for yourself out there...

And to much coco juice and yer gonna be having a good dose of the trotts, only up side to that is you can pretty much "drop trow" where ever ya happen to be when it hits,,and it hits like a train in the face,,,its one of them,out of no where,"I'll be right back " kinda things..
OK dude,,you hit on something I truly dig, and it happens on the morning after the full moon every month.
I get up early and head for a big rock face that over looks where the river meets the sea,, from there I can also see the main trail from the jungle where it opens into big clearing along the river,, I get up there with a fatty or 2 and my "Jethro Bodine style coffee mug"(1.3 liters of sweet black bean juice) and I sit and wait...

The trading markets are one of the coolest things I've ever seen, and it shows just how many people really live here and on the other islands within the archipelago and there's 100s of little islands, some as close as 300-400 meters with just a small strait of "DEEP" water separating them ,,,some a days paddle or more away.
It's just getting light and little cooking fires are burning here and there in the ville, the smell of fried dry fish hangs thick in the smoke on the horizon in the dim light you can see small paddle boats from other islands coming over the reef,,, as they begin pulling their boats on the beach the people who live in the the mountains will be coming down a path,,,you can hear them in the quiet morning chatting with each other,these people can be unreasonably LOUD,and they use it as a trade tactic when it comes to negotiating , at the same time the people from fishing village can be seen heading into the clearing, and every full moon they all show up at the same times,,,once a month.
When everyone arrives the trading starts off fast and is non stop until it over,, some trading in large quantities most trading in small quantities, like the Betal nut girls,,a small group of girls each looking to trade a kilo for something,,they usually go for something shiny,with gold in or on it silver will do,,,Ive never had the want to try the things case yer askin yer self,,,some show up with 10-15 sacks of rice or corn, theres always goats chickens pigs ,,sometimes a cow or water buffalo just depends on time of year and who shows up after the full moon, but it happens every morning after the full moon as the sun rises over the edge of the sea.
Trading and bartering last till about noon,, and just as quick as they arrived,when finished with their business,,their gone,, In 10 mins and the clearing is back to being a quiet coconut grove..

I figured that anything very heavy like sacks of stucco or concrete would not be making it out your way. Good to see that, along with electricity, you are still able to enjoy some 'modern' amenities.

There's lots of concrete that travels these parts,,most of it heading for one of the mines, and we hear word of a Swiss guy building a resort a few day north east of here.
I use it for a couple things,, foundation on the house,,I make fence posts with it, hollow blocks,,but only when i really gotta have um, made a low water dam off the creek to build up the water level, and I said if I got 100 bags I could get it for about 50 cent a bag,,,,Ive never gotten that many most ive gotten at one time is ten.
Yea the modern stuff just sorta crept up on us little by little,, The romance of squattin down on yer hunches in a dirt floor hut to eat and sleep wore off....

 

[greekgardner]

livin the dream man,im envious........

 

[masamaaso]

Sum-bodies got um splainin to do Lucy...

 

[SeaMaiden]

Sum-bodies got um splainin to do Lucy...

Who dat?

 

[masamaaso]

Who dat?

Dont know who it is or why we got a fly over, but I do know the entire archipelago is a no fly zone so what were seeing here is a big time NO NO..

I could hear it coming from the north,,at first I wasent sure then the drown of those 4 big engines got louder,,by the time i got my cam it was about gone..
So even though we'll never know who or why we do know someones gonna have sum "splainin to do".

 

[Mrs.Babba]

wow masa thats weird, didnt know about the no fly zone...maybe they were lost or doing a survey kinda flight??
Thanks for all the great insight into your life there, seriously you should write a book! hehee

 

[sumo]

Is that a Norfolk pine in front of your electric box? We used to have one and I called it the upside down Christmas tree because it was wider at the top.