Happy New Year

Well another week has gone by and yes it`s been a busy one. We have had lots of time on our hands being in one area which has allowed the privelege of seeing the daily routines. The children being dropped off for school, the construction of new bungalows, or the locals hustling tourists are examples. Last week we met the new born baby at our nearby corner store, only two months old. We see dogs riding scooters or a family of 5 (very common), even little children in bamboo highchairs carefully placed in the front of the scooter behind the steering column. The Burmese workers load up into the back of large trucks also off to work. You see foreign men with the local Thai ladies, both exploiting and benifitting, perhaps forming a long term relationship. We've received our power bill of a whopping 500 baht or 18 bucks for 50 days, not too shabby. The system for paying the utilities is to drop by any of the numerous 7/11's. W A huge butterfly or moth spent the day in our room. Perhaps a sign to fly away so we booked a one way flight to Malaysia. There we'll meet a handler, Mas, who will taxi us around and do all our visa work. Not too sure as how much time will be spent in this area as we have heard mixed reviews. After Maylaysia it's possibly off to Vietnam. We are so lucky and YES we know it!! Some girlfriends will arrive in July then brother Dale and Rosi in December, don`t want to see "same same only different" too many times.
Had a great New Years celebration! Here they are celebrating 2553 not our 2010!!!! First we enjoyed watching the full moon rise over the jungle from our deck. Then off to one of our favourite little Italian places for dinner, they were having a private party but asked Steve and I to join in for a buffet dinner and just pay for drinks. After dinner it was to the beach along with thousands of others to watch the pyrotechnics in the sky. The drive to the beach was exciting as there were people setting off the fireworks on the streets all around us, it felt like a war zone with Steve dodging all the explosions on the way. The fireworks were incredible as the show went on for hours and they also light these floating lanterns which fill the sky. It looked like hundreds of orange stars, so surreal. One of the best New years ever.
That brings us to today.... another beach day and then we're invited to a party at Barry (Brit) and Tuk`s from the "Banana Boat Bar". So much to do, so much time to do it in. How lucky, and yes we know and appreciate it.