Simply having a wonderful Christmas time

Well we did it. Our first Christmas away from it all! Pretty sweet it was. It is Boxing day here, and except for the for the decorations it has truly been a completely different Christmas holiday. Our neighbour came over and gave us Christmas lights for our deck, how nice is that. He just new ,I'd love it.
Having been so lucky to have met some very nice people, we were invited to celebrate Christmas eve dinner with the Germans, two brothers Kevan, Erik , their Mother, and guests from their hotel and a few locals thrown in for balance. Steve and I were the first guests to arrive, we both said no one at home would believe it! They had wonderful Christmas music playing, tasteful decorations and candles, nice touches everywhere. The dinner started first with white asparagus soup, then a nice green salad, and then out came the butterball turkey, mashed pototoes, stuffing, gravey, brocolli, carrots, and cauliflower, we even had cranberries, just like at home but no brussel sprouts. It was a great dinner, with good company. Their Mom even even baked a variety of special little cookies. She also had presents for us, a pretty sarong for moi and chinese checkers for Steve. How thoughtful. After dinner , some of us played a stacking game of wooden blocks, that you try to remove without it falling over, kinda like blinko. Very fun, lots of laughter. Chatted with other guests and we even met this young guy with a Rock Creek address on his drivers licence, I made him show us , to prove his story. Most will know but just in case, Rock Creek is where both my Dad and Stepfather Stan are from. Kinda cool eh.
Then on Christmas day , we did a little blogging, and had a little Thai soup for brunch, then went to the beach. Nice lazy oceanside day. We even made sand angels. Went home to get ready to go for a nice Christmas dinner, just the two of us. And that it was, sweet spot , nice table, beautifully decorated with Thai art. We ate crab spring rolls, Tom yum soup and tasty crunchy noodles with prawns, pork and mixed veggies. Just had enough room for a gelato. What a nice evening until we started driving home, along the way someone had hit a dog and there it was still alive, laying on it`s back barking , and barking and unable to move. We both felt so helpless, I shed a few tears, I know that these things happen , but it`s hard to see. Not too sure how I will make out in other countries with their share of sadness. Steve just keeps reminding me that it is what it is!!!!Same same only different.

Christmas time

Twas the night before Christmas ( in Canada) and all threw the bungelo, not a creature was stirring , except for a moisqito, the stockings weren`t hung, for (we don`t wear them any more), theres no chimney, only fans, to even the score.
MERRY CHRISTMAS FAMILY AND FRIENDS!!!!!!!!

the week before Christmas

Another week has slipped by us, and what have we seen, where have we been? We have not been out shopping for presents, we have not had to clean or decorate, or prepare food, write Christmas cards. Instead, we have enjoyed settling in and living in a little bit of paradise. Getting into our routine of breakfast, a little beach time, some great rides on our scooter, more wicked sunsets , and then the big decicion, who showers first and what should we do for dinner? Same same only different!
We are planning a visa run and will most likely be heading into Malaysia for a weekend in Janurary (how wild does that sound)! We are then planning to come back to southern Thailand and hang out at a few other places before heading north to Chaing Mai. We came home the other day and it was great to see our neighbor put up his Christmas lights. It does not feel at all like Christmas and we are not sure that that is a bad thing. We wish every one a great holiday season (we know ours has been good). All is good without having to wear socks and such.

a la carte to off the cart

Wow did we say the food is great! It`s all good, whether you are sitting down at a table or eating from the cart. The other day we were at the Little Mermaid, a regular haunt with cheap internet (unlimited loggin is 20 baht or 60 cents) and free wi-fi. We had just finished eating our big buffet brunch (150 baht or 5 bucks), Steve leaves the area and one of the scruffy street dogs was dragged 20 feet by a vehicle, I don`t know who howled more, me or the dog. He ran away, and so did I, (steve told me to go for a walk). I`m hoping that scruffy is ok. Don`t like seeing that anywhere!!! Later off to the beach!!! Partied at Karma bar that night,they had a live band with some nice sounds, once again meeting people and gaining insight. Robert from Amsterdam who just won the King's Cup (a sailing regatta) filled us in on quite a bit of info, special massage anyone??? Another day, more beach, more great food, out for brick oven pizza, yummy. Who says you lose weight here, the food is fab!!!! Sunday dinner we took Tuk, and Barry (the english bloke from banana bar) and one of his buds, Kevan from Liverpool and went out for a traditional sunday dinner. Roast beef ,yorkshire pudding dinner with broccolli,cauliflower, carrots, peas, roasted pototoes, mashed potatoes and get this , we each got our own gravey boat. Wicked!!!! Be sure to check out the photo`s. Another day another beach somewhere. Another fine meal in our neighborhood. This day we went to Disco ladies place (Steve dubbed it), traditional thai food with a view, the owner likes to wear hotpants in many colors but always the same style, nice BUTT, I have to admit, she wears them well. Oh yea, BACK TO DINNER!!! Great food, great price and it`s so close to our bungalo. We have eaten spicey soups, spicy duck salad, mango salads with nuts, fried fish, baked fish, frogs legs, pad thai, lots of rice, all kinds of prawns, squid, and things we're not to sure of. Last night we walked over to the other neighborhood resturant, always busy with both locals and falangs(anyone else thats not a thai person). Had a super spicy dinner last time so we toned it down a bit that night. We made a few calls, then the rains came, and then a bit more. It`s been nice as we have not had rain for almost three weeks. One of our neighbors drove by and dropped off two umbrellas for our short walk home, nice touch!
This morning we tried something new for breakfast and ate Dim Sum, oh yeah, you heard it right and did they ever do it right. Big feast with two large glasses of fresh squeezed orange juice (crazy bright color) and fish soup for 230 baht, equals...divide by three.Do the math!!! Food's soooo good, gotta run.
Bon Appetite.

Rolling along

Here we go again. Taking time to blog... another fine week for us in Phuket.Had our landlord come over and give us our water bill. A big whopper of 8 cents a day, gotta love it! And it`s so within our budget!!! Not tooooo much new, we are having fun and enjoying all the great people watching, what a variety. The Thai`s are so obliging to help and they remember you from the previous day or days. We noticed one day on a ride, had to stop and wait for a huge tourist bus and the ladies at the store beside us were happy and clapping their hands, yeah more tourists here to come and spend their money! Now back home in the Okanagan valley, my memories are of us all saying oh my god, more tourists, can`t wait until September until they are all gone. Boy do we have some learning to do. Blending in the area and loving our neighbors. The other day one of Steve`s shirts blew off our deck, without us knowing, the next day, there it was, some one hung it up by our moped. Fairly safe neighborhood, we`d say. Lots of interesting sights, on our way to the beach we followed two ladies on a scooter and the lady on the back was holding a big bird in each hand, some kind of hawk, not too sure if they were going to be trained for entertainment, fattened up for supper or kept for pets, we will never know. Noticing more tourist arriving and the prices on rooms going up with the Christmas season approaching. We are seeing more pointsettas, decorations and christmas trees with lots and lots of lights. Besides missing our family and friends, I have to say i miss the music of the holiday season, so I guess I will just have to sing!!! Poor Steve...

beach bust

Got taken for a ride (literally). What we thought we'd get and what we got can be two different things. We are recognizing a pattern, with both us and the thais.We are here enjoying their country, and they are trying to make a living off of it. Did a tour on a speed boat along with 30 others, it took us over a bumpy hour to get to our first destination, fun to watch the others on our boat bounce around. We had great tour guide "Bobby", lead us along to some incredible coves, saw were the movie Beaches was filmed and Phi Phi island, did some snorkeling, saw many beautiful fish and coral, even saw a barracuda. The only thing is that we got to enjoy this all , along with thousands of other tourists. Super crazy busy!!! Not our thing. A must see maybe at 7 in the morning, or in the off season. It was funny to watch some tourists put on life jackets then walk into the water up to their waist, bend down and put their face in the water, to snorkle. It was a waveless calm water bay. Hard to take pictures without having too many bodies obstructing the amazing views. Got back to our bungello and watch our neighbour do his big yardwaste burn (permit?), and I liked it. Flames shooting into the sky, with the wind taking the smoke away to the neighbors.We are enjoying the area, the sounds of kids and dogs, frogs, fireworks and the daily ice cream truck, with it`s distinctive song. Reminds us of growing up , same same , but different. We see the thai people feed their dogs rice and then put the rest out for the birds. No waste. No haist. With the heat we all move at a slower pace. Gonna catch up on some needed quiet beach time, off to one of our favorites this afternoon...Nai Harn beach . No harm done!

What day is it

Here we go again! What a week it has been. More days at the beach, followed by more fun in the evenings. Finding time to email and blog can get interesting, sometimes things just shut down when your in the middle of something. The locals are beginning to recognizing us. The other day I was walking and the waitress came along and gave me a ride. I could not find the foot pedals so i just held my feet up... I`m sure it must of looked funny, cause it felt funny! We have enjoyed the many flavors this country has to offer. Had dinner at one of our favorites, great food , super cheap, where the locals eat, close to home, and such a great place to just sit and watch the world go by. The cook/waitress reminded us that the king's birthday does not allow the sale of booze that day so we stocked up and are good to go.We were just getting ready for bed and our landlord came over and wanted to share his special bottle of schnaaaaaaaaaps with us!!!! He's Danish and they started to celebrate Christmas yesterday, we didn't want to disappoint him so we had a shot, or two, or three. Not too sure what time we went to bed, but we both are feeling a little fuzzy today. We probably won't be celebrating the king's birthday (today) in a big bottle kind of way. Maybe gatoraid with a water chaser. We are going on a boat trip tomorrow to Phi Phi Island and thought it would be a great way to celebrate Mom`s birthday. Boating and beaching...she would like that! We have noticed that the pointsetias have shown up at the local greenhouse and have seen a few Christmas trees and many lights along the boardwalk, some reindeer, and some roosters and even some kangaroos for the Aussies. Watched Santa Clause 3, so I feel were are getting a little christmas buzz from afar.

sun and fun

Wow, has it been a week since, we`ve blogged. After our many days playing in the ocean, then finding our way from dinner, we have not had the energy to walk down our road and cross the street for an internet connection. We have seen a lot and then so little, all the smells, (ewe Some Smells) rice cooking, incense burning, diesel, garbage, blossoms. Quite varied!!!
Saw a little parade the other day, lead by a lady boy dressed in red, and followed by a group of 30 or 40 kids, 10 to 20 years old. Always something to celebrate!
Took our bike and headed north to find more uncharted beaches, Bang thao, this beach was awesome, 8kms long. Nice little roller waves and hardly any one there. Saw a couple huge resorts, checked it out, used their bathroom and pool. We are paying 600 baht a night and this place was 7100 baht per night. Little too rich for our mosquito bitten blood. Saw an elephant on the beach (and we don`t mean the fat guy)..a baby one, soooooooooooooo cute. So smart, we watched a tourist place some money in it`s trunk and the elephant slipped it to the owner before going after pineapple treats.
Did more trekking to the north, got a flat tire, Steve had to push the sloped 20 minites in the heat till we found our new best friend....the moped repairman,who had us up and running in no time for only 6 bucks. Deals to be had! Did 120 km and rode over 120 speed bumps, I`m sure. Got turned around a few times and ended up in residential areas a few times. All part of the journey. Rode by rubber tree farms, and many shanties. Getting settled in the area , bought our second big bag of toilet paper. Drove threw a check point and they were not interested in us, they were counting heads in the back of the pickup as there was many Burmese workers. They are cheap labour for the thai people. The system seems to work well. Much like the drivers, it just flows. Had a little party night with some aussies, pretty fun, we shut er down at 1:00 am, they were off to see the ladies perform at the go go bar, we will have to check this out sometime, but earlier in the evening.

beach binging and buddas

Well as the title says, that's what we have been up to . Went to Karon beach and Steve wasn't in the water for long and out he came....says he felt like a million little bites. We later were told that they take the jelly fish and cut it up in pieces and that is what he was feeling, so needless to say we went to another beach. Kata beach, beautiful and no beach bites. Next day off to yet another beach, further south, nice lookout, view spot. Saw elephants, pigs and chickens. Things we are not used to seeing on the way to our beaches back home! Our landlord Anes (wow we realize that it's been 17 and 18 years since we've had a landlord) suggested another fine beach and that it is. Kata noi beach, great waves and nice area for sunsets. Did a little touring the next day and went to see the big budda. And that it is. It sits looking over the isle of Phuket. Its under construction and will be the biggest budda in Phuket not sure if all of Thailand. The road was great, winding its way up to the top of the mountain. We road on three different surfaces,concrete, pavement and gravel. Steve is a great driver, and his trip riding from Arizona to Panama has made him experienced on most road surfaces, then throw in all the tight squeezes, to navigate around tuk tuks, big trucks, and other mopeds (some with added cages carrying their food carts with woks etc), and dogs and kids wow...(MOUNTAIN BIKING ALSO HAS HELPED) and I trust him completely. We drive on the left side here, so at first I would sing to him (poor guy) to the left ....to the left.....Well got to see the big budda ...and that it was. Beautiful view from up there. Then we got our fill of budda and down to another beach to cool off. Naihan beach, also nice. Next day Rawai beach , now one of our faves. Another beautiful sunset and decided to try a little variety and had frog for supper, roasted on the grill with garlic and pepper. Yummy , back home we have wing night , here we might do frog leg night. We found it to be funny as we have heard the frogs nightly, and then the evening we eat frog there is one hanging around our table. I kept saying to Steve it was telling us to enjoy the relatives or stop eating them. What ever way you choose to view it. Cute and tastey little buggers. Ribbit ribbit, croak.

thrills and spills

After finding our new place, we waited two days until the new furnishings arrived. Bed, tv, sofa fans, etc. It was worth the wait. Nice quiet place , with a real mix of neighbors. We have our expats on one side of us and the local thai`s on the other. How perfect, we can get insight from both sides. Nice to hear the children play, and see them with their families, getting off to school and work. Woke early, and went for a walk, there were more dogs than people on the street this morning. Got to see some children being dropped off by moms on scooters , to catch their bus, and just like at home , there is the odd Mom still in her jammies. Further along I saw a couple ladies offering food to a monk dressed in his saffron orange robe, to be then on their knees and receive a blessing. Now this we don`t see on the streets back home. Very cool, feel very honored to see this.
Had dinner with Barry and Tuk, she served a soup to start, which was followed with three plates, one was fish, and the other two were different veggies and of coarse, rice.Yummy hot and yummy.
Next day was nice and quiet, took the moped and drove around the island for a bit of exploring, we are surrounded by some beautiful beaches, very touristy here much like the Okanagan in the summer , but with a thai flair, tuk tuks, and some crazy good and nasty flavor thrown in.
Our little bungello is great but with no aircon, we run the fans and enjoy the evening breezes, and don`t care too much for the moisqitos. Oh by the way, did I mention that someone forgot to pack the bug net? Don`t worry I googled malaria in Phuket and I think we are fine. I`m eating my pills as they seem to think I`m a bit tastier than Steve, the smell of deet keeps them at bay!!!
Witnessed a furneral prosession today, the vehicles all had hand towels tied to their windsheild wiper blades and we were told that they will burn them at the temple, in honor of there friend and family.
Had a few days at two different beaches, Kata and Kata noi, both great!!! One had a bit of wave for Steve to play in, the other calm flat and perfect for me!!! I have never been to the ocean were people have floaties, and are not taken away with the breezes and waves, this Andaman Sea is awesome!!!!! Warm and clear. Something for everyone.
Did a touristy afternoon at the go carts(race cars), with Barry, the english bloke, and Doc from Italy. The ladies just watched as these units go fast and someone has to take the pictures. On the boys second time out on the first lap, Doc`s cart went into a skid and hit Steve from behind and Doc flew about 20 feet in the air and slammed into a stack of tires. Oh my god ..... I do not like to see anything like that!!!! His face hit hard, and his back was arched while flying threw the air, so he was feeling pain front and back. I asked Steve not to go back out , but he said he had to get back on the horse, so to speak. These cars go up to 100 kms. Glad to see that ride end.... Yes yes we hear you , be safe!!!
So the next day was a super quiet day at this fabulous hotel across the street from us , we paid the same price as a chair and umbrella on the beach, but to mix it up we went poolside for the same price with a fresh towel and a bottle of water. This hotel is beautiful and we only saw one other couple the whole afternoon that we were there, nice sunset. Nice day. We love the evening sounds from our place, lots of frogs and sounds similar to crikets, perhaps it`s roaches, but sounds great anyways. We also hear , but not constantly (thankfully) the screeching of (who knows what) some kinda bug that we also heard in Central America. Steve says it sounds like a broken gas line .Good to go as long as it isn`t.

The isle of Phuket...and our new home

Yahoo we made it to the fabulous , famous, Phuket. It`s the largest island in Thailand . We checked into our hotel, freshened up and made our way to the beach, had a nice evening walk on the icing sugar sand, and found ourselves at a busy beach bar, had a must do, coconut rum drink and a fancy pineapple one too, all decorated up with fruit and flowers, and then the rain came, cleared out the place , we waited until it let up and started our way back to our hotel. And then, the rain really started to come down, holy rain drops batman, had to get out of it , we were soaked. A man at a bar said to come in out of the rain and wait here, he said we didn`t have to order a drink, (we were so full from dinner and the fancy booze drinks) we waited for a bit and then before we new it, the owner Reinhart of this funky bar named Karma has ordering us red wine , soon to be followed by shots of sambuca (many). We then met other expats, all bar owners and before we new it , they were setting us up to meet them the next day to help us find a bungello. Barry from Britain who owns the Banana Bar along with his wife Tuk (pronounced touque), met us at 11;00 and we drove around and checked out 4 places. We decided to go for the least expensive one , which also turned out to be the quietest. Nice to get away from the street noise! All the people we have met have been so friendly, they say they want to help because no one did for them and it will just make our stay here better. It`s been a fairly easy adjustment except for the extreme heat, we are adjusting fine.
One more night to go and then we get to move into our new home. Barry also is hooking us up with with a deal on a scooter, we have decided to make this our home for the next 50 days. We feel that things are just meant to be ...que sera sera.

Bangkok or bust

Well after our many farewells we finally have arrived.Our flight 13.5 hours to Taipei with a four hour layover, then boarded and 4 more hours to Thailand. Had a friendly taxi driver he even pulled over and bought us a bevy, do you think we paid too much for the ride or what. He dropped us off at the corner of Koa san road and we found our way to our hotel. The room was small, clean but between the long flight, jet lag, and time change, we crashed, only to be woken with the loud bars situated on both sides of our hotel, needless to say we did not get much sleep that night. Had some girls yelling in our hallway, along with slamming doors , we thought what the.....
Steve"s attitude was... it is what it is. Bastard face... up at 3 30 and started out on to the streets at 5 a.m. to start our day of exploring the big city. Went to weekend market then a cab took us to another market, and then we got taken to the grand palace. Hired a guide, Jackie to show us around the incredible wealth in these buildings, very detailed with tile, glass and gold. Really breathtaking, then first time for me, an east indian woman asked if she could have her picture taken with me ...go figure...did not know I was a novelty. Had my first squat pee at the temple, they had regular toilets but I just had to see what it was all about. Then she hooked us up with a long tailed boat ride on the river, they have diesel engines and can sure haul ass on the water, more temples, more markets but we got dropped off and our driver never came back to get us , and we did not get to see the big floating market but will see it on our next time there. We found our way back to the other side of the river where our hotel was located .Back to koa san road where all the action is...too much for our bood, but had to check it out. Steve describes it as New York on steroids.Back to hotel and asked to be moved , we noticed a room on the top floor that seemed a bit quieter, so we went from out house to the penthouse. Much better, but they still had the vinyl matress that just locks in the heat and makes for a wet sweaty sleep. Crashed at 8 o'clock to be woken by the bars kicking it up starting at 10 and blasting to 4 a.m, even with plugs you could feel the base coming in all around us. So glad we booked and paid for three nights. UGHHHHH two nights down , one to go. The food here is awesome, great soups, but the smells in this city are awfull, I thought the scents of Mexico could be bad but we found we were holding our breath far too many times. Gag....Stumbled across a parade, crazyness, loud fire crackers, and the stacking of the people, they would have the biggest, strongest man on the bottom and would stack 5 and 6 people on top of each other reaching towards the sky a finishing the top with the youngest, looking to be 2 and 3 years old. All done without helmets. Very impressive. The local people on the streets went wild cheering and gave offerings to the budda. Very cool, sort of like a walking circus show. We have never seen so many street venders. You can buy anything here. It is definitley a must see but as the song goes one night in Bangkok might of been enough.

off the grid

After months and months of trying to sell our house on Day Road we finally escaped the confines of  home ownership. Friends and family were an integral part of helping us downsize, store, and garage sale non essential items. Once the sale was finalized we had 14 days to vacate the premises and 4 of those days we spent at the Rock Creek family reunion. This was organized chaos at it's finest. The next move was to Ginny and Peter's where we enjoyed the company of our hosts with their horses, dogs,  llamas, and even a local bear.