Somewhere, beyond the sea...

Saturday was absolutely beautiful!! We went on a boat tour around the islands near Koh Samui and luckily the sun was out and it was a picture perfect day! 

After about an hour we stopped at an island to kayak and snorkel. We were using "Triaks" so it was us with Will in one and Dad, Claire and Eddie in the other. Surprisingly enough, we held our own with the rowing (or is it paddling?) and kept towards the front of the group! We went under a ledge of a cliff and through an amazing grotto/cave that was like something out of a movie! So cool. After a little while we both started getting really tired so we asked Will if he could be our cheerleader and cheer us on.. He said sure and after taking a few seconds to think of something, he came up with a cheer for Hannah: "Come on Hannah, you can do it! You're the best and you know best!" We both had the biggest smiles on our faces and requested a new cheer for both of us! Will's second cheer was: "You have the strength, you have the courage, you can do it straight away!" So adorable! We paddled until we arrived at a little beach and then we all got out to snorkel for a while! The water and the fish were beautiful and we also swam through a little cave (and Lucy got really scared!) Once we'd had our fun it was back to the boat! We had an amazing lunch onboard and played some cards with the fam and then we stopped at another tiny beach where we could get off the boat. When we got to the beach it was completely packed with other tourists, so we decided to walk up to the lookout and lagoon on the island. The walk ended up being much more of a climb because the stairs were more like a ladder - so steep!! We went up and up and up and couldn't believe that the kids could climb so many steps! It was worth it though when we got to the top because the view was breathtaking :) 

We looked out and could see the most beautiful lagoon and decided that even though it was a bit of a detour, we really wanted to walk down to it and have a swim! 

But when we got there the walkway was completely fenced off and a bunch of signs said "No Swimming" NOOOOOO! Drenched in sweat, we climbed backwards down the stairs ladder-style and finally made it to the beach! Phewww! We swam and ate ice creams and waited for the little speedboat to go back to the big boat. Then it was straight back to Koh Samui and back to the house where we had yummy take-away and packed to leave on Sunday!

Sunday was a traveling day - back to Singapore! We woke up early and headed to the beautiful outdoor airport..! It was all very smooth traveling and before we knew it, we were in our hotel which is so lovely! It's in Clark Quay and all of the buildings are beautifully decorated with pastel colors and lights :) AND to make it even better, there's a shopping mall under the hotel... Dangerous! Haha, but it was great because we headed down to the mall for lunch and got some delicious Udon noodles for an early dinner. Later on Nanna arrived - so good to see her! And we all got early nights in preparation for some fun days in Singapore!

Lazy Days in Paradise

Wednesday was a lazy day. We went out for a yummy brekkie then just hung out at home, reading and relaxing. We had dinner at Sue and Sir's, one last one with the whole fam, and said goodbye for quite a while to almost everyone - it was so nice to catch up this Chrissy/New Years!

Yesterday we were blessed by Buddha (or something) with another perfect beach day!! Yay! We spent the whole day splashing in the waves, lying in the sun, and digging in the sand - wonderful! We went out to the night markets again that night for more delicious food aaaand a couple more purchases!

Today we had some lovely girl time with Claire and Eddie in the morning; we went to Bo Phut and got our long-anticipated mani/pedis! It was so lovely, such luxury! $15 US for a full mani/pedi!! We finished off the morning with chocolate coconut and lemon sugar crepes, yum! Ohh and we came across a little of the cutest little puppies ever!! If only we could sneak him through customs!

We had an afternoon by the pool then went out for drinks at the W with Sue and Sir (managed to wrangle a pod all to ourselves this time!) and then a feast on the beach at The Happy Elephant for dinner. 

Eddie and Will let off lanterns of their own and made wishes (Will wished to be cool) then we headed home. On the drive home Will's obsession with bananas was at an all time high! Hahaha he's very funny. We were telling jokes and his all had to do with bananas:

- What did the orange say to the banana?

- What?

- Pizza pizza pizza!

And four or five others, all with banana references, so cute!

Anyway, we're about to go off to bed - early morning tomorrow, we're going on a boat ride for our last day in Koh Samui! Can't wait!! Night xo

HAPPY NEW YEARS!!!

On Monday we had another beach day. Very relaxed, reading and playing in the waves with Ed and Will. We each got another massage too, luxury! Han's wasn't quite hard enough at first, though, so she asked for it to be a liiiittle bit harder - something must've been lost in translation because the masseuse went SO much harder!! Han could feel her straining to push as hard as she could but didn't want to say anything; it was painful but kind of good pain. They cracked, massaged, and stretched us, and even walked on our backs!! It was really lovely, although it took Han a couple days to recover haha she's still a little bruised. We came home and had yummy pizza for dinner and watched (some of) the worst movie ever: Beverly Hills Ninja. We called it a night pretty early because we wanted to rest up for New Years Eve!!

Yesterday was SO MUCH FUN! We started the day off slowly, went to a beach - which actually wasn't much of a beach!! It was high tide and the water came right up to the edge of the restaurants! They had to put out sandbags, it was pretty crazy - then did some shopping for New Years outfits with Claire. 

Later on in the arvo we went out with Claire and Ed to get Mani/Pedis done. We had trouble finding a salon with any availability, but we did find this bizarre place where you stick your legs in a fishtank and all these little fish nibble on your feet!! OH MY GOD it was SO strange; the most ticklish, freaky feeling, verging on unbearable but actually oddly enjoyable haha very fun!

We ended up finding a little place on the beach to get our nails done but we'd sort of run out of time! Eddie ended up being the only one to get her nails done before we had to head home - we didn't mind though, because we were PUMPED for our big night out!

Dad, Claire, and the two of us got all dressed up and went to Bo Phut to find a nice restaurant on the beach. We were charmed by a French host out the front of a delish-looking place, The Seaside. The food was great and the view was spectacular. We looked out at lanterns being released and fireworks going off early while we gorged ourselves on Thai and seafood. 

After dinner we went for a wander along the beach, bought some 60 Baht ($2) cocktails, and let off lanterns of our own. It was such a lovely experience and we sent them into the sky with wishes for the New Year.

We went back to the cool bridge from a couple days ago (which was decidedly less pleasant after a couple drinks haha we ran to the end and Luce nearly lost her dinner!) and we also had a couple special unco moments on the beach (Luce washed the sand off her feet and tried to step into her sandals but a wave came and nearly dragged em away hahaha at least the people in the restaurants overlooking the beach got a bit of a show with their dinner!)

After all that it was time for the main event!! At 9:00 we drove up to a higher spot right out on the edge of the island to the W Hotel!! It was so specky: grand entrance, flashing lights, huge pool, searchlights, loud music, and an incredible view. 

(we didn't actually take this pic haha)

In the pool were these big sunken pods with couches in them that we're just awesome and it didn't escape our notice that one of the pods in particular had some good looking guys in it. We did a bit of a slow walk by, nonchalant as we could, and before we knew it a few if them were introducing themselves! They were Aussie lads and they were really nice. We were chatting for a bit and they asked who we'd come with, we said "our parents" and they (in hindsight, probably joking) said "can we meet them?" and we were like "sure!" and brought them over to Dad and Claire. After a little while they invited us all to hang out with them in the pod! Haha our cunning plan worked! Just kidding. Well mostly. Anyway, it was good timing too because for the half hour leading up to midnight there was different performers out on a platform in the middle of the pool. There was a very cool hip hop group and two badass flamethrowers!

A little before midnight we left the pod, grabbed some complimentary champagne, and stood with Dad and Claire right at the edge of the roof to watch the fireworks! We counted down to the New Year, WOO!!! We could see fireworks all the way along the beach and got the most fantastic show right in front of us! They were so close we were looking pretty much straight up! Ahh it was just PERFECT. 

After the fireworks went out onto the dance floor for a couple songs then found the Aussie boys, wished them happy new year and said goodbye. The night couldn't have gone better, it was absolutely wonderful! Great way to start off the year - 2014's going to be a great one, we just know it!

Elephants and Good Luck!

The last two days have been INCREDIBLE! Yesterday we drove right around the island to the Big Buddha temple/statue. 

The view was beautiful and it really felt like a sacred place. On one side under the huge Buddha was a smaller Buddha and we rubbed his belly for good luck!

On the other side, a monk was  giving people blessings. We went over with the whole fam and he had us kneel with our hands together as he spoke in Thai and sprinkled holy water over us. He tied a bracelet onto each of our wrists (he particularly liked Will) and said "good luck, good luck, good luck, good luck" before sending us on our way. 

We drove back to a busier area to do some more shopping and happened upon this really cool bridge! It moved with the waves and we had fun running back and forth with Eddie and Will.

Later on we had a really yummy dinner on the beach for Sam's birthday - complete with a major catastrophe when Eddie stubbed her toe on a brick in the sand and tripped over; contrary to how it sounds, the brick was actually highly visible and had a huge flag sticking out of it! Eddie recovered though and dinner was lovely.

Today was the best day yet - and one if the best EVER! We got up early and drove up a mountain to go on an elephant ride!!! Ahh the elephants were absolutely beautiful, gentle giants. The two of us went on with Will and it was just an indescribably awesome experience. We fed our elephant, Pontip, bananas and she snacked on some leaves along the way. We were on the youngest one, 16 years old, Claire and Sir (Claire's dad) were on the 25 year old one, and Dad and Eddie's was 45 with amazing long tusks.

Part way through we were allowed to sit on their necks! We really felt like jungle women then! Ahh it was just incredible. Aaand slightly scary - Pontip seemed to still be in training and decided to tear a branch from a tree while Han was on her neck! She wasn't thrashing around too hard but it was a little reminder of how powerful they are. 

We came to a stop at a waterfall with a lagoon and had a swim! The sitting-under-the-waterfall shots weren't quiiite as glamorous as we'd imagined haha but we managed to get some good ones.

We went back down the mountain, had lunch with mango sticky rice, and wandered through the streets before heading home. 

We chilled out and got Thai takeaway for dinner. While we waited for Dad and Claire to get food, we played sleeping lions with the kiddies - the version where one person has to try to make everyone else laugh - and it was so much fun! They're so sweet. We had dinner, played cards, and are about to call it a night. Such a wonderful day!!

Rollin' in Baht

The markets on Thursday night were awesome - exactly what we imagined only with food more amazing than we thought to dream up! We shopped and ate our way from one end to the other; we got bracelets, pants, a Buddha for our apartment, Han got a comb (and a hairstyle tutorial), chicken satays, grilled rice that tasted kind of like a cracker, dumplings, coconut and egg yolk bites of deliciousness and banana pancakes!  

At the end of the markets we met up with Sam, Grant, and Zac for a drink and decided to go clubbing together. Sam had seen this place near where we're staying called Orgasmic, so we all piled into their tiny car and drove there. We walked in expecting loud music and party atmosphere, but found ourselves in a beautiful, upscale restaurant right on the beach. Haha we ended up having a really lovely time, chatting, sipping on baileys and passion fruit shooters, and having mango sticky rice for dessert! 

The next day was the most perfect beach day EVER! We went to La Mui for a full day in the surf and sun. When we got settled, a little Thai lady (we learnt later that she was more than 70 years old) came up and told us she did manicures and braids. Eddie, who's been excited about getting braids since we got here, got cornrows! It took over an hour but the final product was worth it - Ed loves em and they work well with her self inflicted mullet (she cut her fringe right down to the roots one day because she'd gotten tired of it, too funny!)

A little way up the beach was a yummy looking lunch spot, so we packed everything up and Luce and I swam up the beach with a kid each on our backs. We were laughing and screaming and carrying on, "I'm gonna win" and "keep kicking Will" and so on. Once we'd gotten there, Claire told us we'd swum past a huge group of good looking, young guys - apparently there were girls strutting by in their little bikinis while we spluttered past in the background hahaha, classic goon squad moment. We had a yummy Thai lunch and headed home for a while before going out to a different set of markets that night! We sipped on piña coladas, bought some more stuff, and did banana pancakes round two! 

Merry Christmas!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!! We've had the most wonderful couple days here in Koh Samui! We arrived to this dinky little airport in the morning on Christmas Eve. There were little shuttles driving us over to the baggage claim and uhh immigration? Haha it was a very different experience to US or Aussie customs.

We drove to the house and it's absolute paradise! Beautiful inside and a lovely pool and deck chairs outside. We spent the morning and early afternoon by the pool, tanning and relaxing.

Later on we went on a bit of an adventure and drove all the way around the island. Poor dad had to catch on pretty quick to the, uhh, different road rules in Thailand - it was pretty crazy. Just driving around we really got a glimpse of a whole other world. We passed markets and shops and food stalls - lots of places to go back to! We got somewhat lost and decided to pull over into a parking spot and explore on foot. 

We happened upon the Chaweng markets that were just setting up and continued on a little way to an absolutely stunning beach. We walked along for a while, taking in the sea breeze and serenity, then came to a Thai restaurant on the beach that looked perfect for our first dinner here. 

We ordered a feast of mojitos, satay sticks, spring rolls, pad Thai, green curry and for dessert, the highlight, coconut sticky rice with mango, yum!! 

We strolled back through the markets after dinner to the car and, by some miracle, managed to find our house again. The kiddies put out milk and cookies for Santa and we all got an early night, very excited for Christmas!

At 5:00am, we woke to excited whispers outside our door - "Santa's been here!" We ran out to share in the Christmas morning joy and did our best to keep Eddie and Will quiet for a little while before they couldn't wait and went and woke up Dad and Claire to do stockings. We got some funny and yummy things from Santa - Eddie told us we better enjoy it because "next year's your last year of getting stockings"... Not sure who decreed that! - and it was all over by 6:15 haha. 

We had a big brekkie of eggs and what we thought was bacon (it was actually pork belly and tasted just like crackling when we cooked it up, when in Thailand!). We did the rest of the prezzies a little later and it was so fun watching Eddie and Will getting so excited about everything, big and small. We got lots of spending money which is SO great, the best thing we could've gotten, really, and beach bags and journals that will also be perfect to while we're here!

We had a relaxed day and met up with the rest of the fam later for Christmas dinner at Mick's Bungalows. We chatted and sipped on drinks while we waited for the big roast dinner to be ready - it ended up taking 3 hours! It was worth the wait, though, and we had some delicious mussels and prawns to get us through. Since it took so long, though, we'd all had a fair bit to drink and we're getting rather loud and silly. We were all seeing who could whistle and asked  Sir (Roger, Claire's dad) if he could he said he could but wouldn't show us because he's "here to watch the idiots - not be one of them!" hahaha it was a pretty great line. We had our yummy dinner with Christmas Pud and apple pie for dessert then headed home happy and tired. Such a lovely day!

Today we slept in then went to a nearby beach. It was beautiful!! There were huts on the sand to lay out on, yummy food and drinks and, best of all, a Thai massage place! For about $10 US each, we had an hour long massage listening to the sound of the ocean - actual paradise right there! 

We ate, tanned, and had a swim in the Gulf of Thailand, then came home to get ready to go out to night markets tonight! Can't wait! Ahh we are absolutely loving Thailand!