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!

International Travelers!

Woah! So much traveling! Our long haul flight to Hong Kong (15 hours!) was surprisingly pleasant! Slept for about 8 hours, read, crocheted, watched movies and we were there! We had an easy transfer and layover, fairly short flight to Singapore, cleared customs, caught the AirTrain and before we knew it we we're checked into our hotel that was attached to the airport - barely feeling tired or shaggy at all! We've come to the conclusion that after so many flights back and forth to Aus our bodies must just be used to it, nice one!

The hotel in Singapore was SO COOL! Beautifully decorated, super modern, and distinctively different to any hotel we'd ever been in. We found our room and threw open the curtains to a view of the most incredible pool ever! 

We quickly got changed and ran downstairs to have a better look! Ahh it was just so exciting to be in a new country, even if we were still sort of in the airport haha. The pool was a bit chilly so we went back to the room and both had baths and lazed around in our fluffy bathrobes until Dad, Claire, Ed, and Will's flight got in!

Before long there was a knock on the door! One high pitched little voice claimed to be "room service" in a thick Aussie accent and another was "the pizza guy" - we opened the door and we're overwhelmed with wonderful hugs and kisses from our cute little siblings! Ahh it was so great to be reunited with them and Dad and Claire!! We all headed downstairs to get some cocktails and dinnery food and have a good catch up.

Our flight to Thailand left at 8:40 this morning and so far so good! We're on the plane now (although we can't post the blog until we land) and can't wait to finally reach Koh Samui!! 

Happy Holidays :)

We ran errands on Tuesday, mostly shopping for Christmas presents. Luce found a recipe for the cutest little Christmas cookies so we got all the ingredients and made them for Mum and Q and they were SO good! It took ages though - the recipe was meant to make 60 but ended up making 80 plus enough for an extra sheet of shortbread! We pretty much lived on cookies for Tuesday and Wednesday because Luce had no food haha.

The other cool thing that happened on Tuesday is that when Han was dropping Meme off at The Grove she saw Kris Jenner! She looked exactly like she did on TV - it was a cool celebrity sighting and one of those "oh my god I live in Los Angeles" moments.

On Wednesday Luce packed for Thailand  then we headed back out towards Corona and met Mum and Q in Disneyland to see the holiday parade and fireworks. The parade was lovely (we're both still determined to be princesses at some point) and the fireworks had to be cancelled because of wind BUT they still did the best part which is snow over Mainstreet USA! It was absolutely magical and the perfect end to the night!

Thursday was a gloriously lazy day. Luce slept in super late and Han read a new book, Divergent, from cover to cover! Such a luxury to read for pleasure again - and the book was great, a Hunger Games-esque page turner for sure!

Friday was our early family Christmas! So fun!! We all got up at 7 and had yummy apple slice for brekkie then opened our stockings! We did presents from under the tree a little later and between the two, Luce and I got heaps of nice things for our new apartment! Kitchen utensils, chopping boards, a juicer, a coffee maker, decor, and some seriously awesome speakers! We felt SO SO lucky and spoiled!! Han also got a new computer because hers has been on it's last legs for months, and we both got some spending money from our uncles to use in Thailand! As if all that wasn't amazing enough, we got another wonderful surprise...! Our extremely generous Aunt Sharon and Uncle Brendan gave us their spare car and it arrived that morning from New Jersey!! A second set of wheels! We can't even believe how lucky we are - thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone! You're the best! We had yet another delicious feast that night! Glazed ham, sweet potato with marshmallows (again!), hash brown casserole (so freakin' amazing), and an incredible cherry pie for dessert! Yum! We went to bed happy and extremely excited for our adventure the next day!

This morning we all went out and saw Saving Mr. Banks together because it was just so wonderful, then we spent the rest of the day gathering all the last little things for our trip!! We're in the airport right now, about to board our flight to Hong Kong!!! Ahh!! SO EXCITING! We're sure we'll have HEAPS of great stories and pictures to share on the blog over the next 19 days! Stay tuned!!

The Final Week!

-- Han --
On Monday I had the most fun "test" I have ever taken! I performed my group piece for my final grade in my acting class and we had SO much fun!! We did a  Lion King-esque story involving a compilation of all the warm ups and techniques we've learned over the semester. We used paint throughout it and ended it by going wild and flinging the paint all over each other to Katy Perry's Roar. It was such a blast, so carefree and creative; the perfect way to end the semester and my time with my class of theatre majors at Chapman. Everyone got up and danced with us at the end, it was really special.

Finals went downhill from there on the enjoyment scale. I had my theatre theory final on Tuesday and it was pretty easy, success! JT and I celebrated the end of our theatre class by watching The Jerk and it was SO funny! what a comic genius Steve Martin is.. Anyway, I had Wednesday pretty much off - I had to submit my mammoth paper that I finished writing a little while ago and study for my last final - then Thursday afternoon was Film Aesthetics. It was definitely the hardest of the three but I felt good about it, we'll just have to wait and see! Regardless, I WAS DONE WITH CLASSES AND TESTS FOREVER!! Well maybe forever, who knows.. It was a huge accomplishment and I went on a wonderful Disney trip with Megan and Laynie to celebrate!

When we got back, all my closest girl friends came over to spend my last night in the dorms with me. We went down to the little snack place in the basement, used up all the money on our cards, and stuffed ourselves with junk food, laughed, cried, listened to Beyonce's new album - it was a wonderful last night. 
On Friday Mum and Q came out to help me move everything out. It was super quick and the Babe Cave had no trace of me within no time. It was kind of surreal, seeing the room with all my stuff gone, just like it was on day one. A big, 'this is real' moment. I said my goodbyes, some teary, others quick and cheerful, and realized how much I'm going to miss being right next door to all of the amazing friends I've made. As hard as it was, though, I left feeling sure of myself and sure of my future - on to another grand adventure!

-- Luce --
On the Sunday before finals week, my class had another 5 and a half hour rehearsal and we all had a lot to do! Somehow, without our teacher there, we managed to run all of the scene shifts twice, tech the show, and then run the whole thing with half an hour to spare! I was so proud of all of my classmates for getting so much done. We had another rehearsal on Monday and then, suddenly, it was Tuesday! The day of my final performance!! I was super nervous and a little stressed because I had a couple of quick-changes that I had to do in the show, but I tried my hardest not to worry and to just enjoy the moment... And it all went by so fast! The first thing I did was my scene with Alisa and it went well! I was really happy with it! Then it was a rush backstage to change my costume and do full blood/black eye makeup for my clone scene..! The clone scene was probably the best we'd ever done it and we got a great reaction from the audience which was wonderful :) My Autodrama was last and it was the piece that I was most nervous for.. It was so personal and I was performing in front of all of the students and faculty of the Theater Academy, so there was a lot riding on my performance! And it went better than I could have possibly hoped for!! I was so emotional because it was the end of the semester and that emotion totally flowed into what I was saying on stage and I loved it! After the show was over a ton of people came up to me and said that there wasn't a dry eye in the house during my Autodrama! I was so flattered and so glad that the audience connected to it. 
Straight after the 1st semester show was over we went and saw the 2nd semester's final and they all did so well! I was very impressed! Over the next few days I saw the finals from the other semesters and they were all amazing. After the last final, all of the 1st semesters held a farewell tea for the graduating class and we made it "The Wizard of Oz" themed! It turned out so well and everyone seemed to love it. It was sad to see all of them go, and absolutely crazy that the semester was already over! That night MeMe and I went out to dinner to celebrate and we had a lovely time eating great food and having a great conversation.
The next day was pretty relaxed - I finally did my laundry! Yay! And that night I went to see a one woman show that Chambers invited me to and it was pretty risque...! I was equal parts uncomfortable and entertained haha, so it was an interesting way to spend a Thursday night! After the show a bunch of my friends and I all hung out and had a great time chatting and laughing! I finally went home at 2 in the morning and got some sleep in preparation for my final meeting/conference with my acting teacher! I was excited to hear that he thought I was a great asset to my class and that he loved all of my assignments that I worked on over the semester. I also got good feedback from the other faculty members and I left feeling very validated and proud of my work at the academy. I drove up to Corona as soon as I got out of my meeting and was so happy to have a weekend of relaxation!!

-- Han and Luce --
It was so great to just be able to take a breather after such a crazy week! We spent the weekend watching movies (four in one day on Saturday), eating delicious, home-made food (the best lasagna EVER and Han's favourite creamy chicken/rice casserole thing ahh SO GOOD). We also restarted our old tradition of "explore Sunday" and went for a little outing to Newport Beach! After a drive through the cutest town in the world and a slightly scary car ferry to the island, we got to the beach. It was such a beautiful, sunny winter's day - we were feeling extra sorry for our friends in snowy Massachusetts! This was the dysfunctional moment of the day:

We had a yummy lunch of burgers and shakes at the diner on the pier then made our way home for more movies and yummy food.
On Monday morning we all went to the DMV to change our licences over for Cali. It was pretty stress-free because it was only paperwork. We got our pictures taken and then the lady handed us the test --THE TEST?! WHAT? NOOOOO!! We were utterly unprepared and just crossed our fingers and hoped that it wasn't too hard. Luce was the last in line to get her photo taken so she, smarty pants, went and looked up the practice tests and crammed like a champ for a few minutes before taking it. Han, flying blind and not comfortable with the prospect of failing, handed her test in with serious trepidation. One by one, we got the verdict: Mum: passed, Q: passed, Lucy... Passed! YAY! Random other lady: ahh! Who even cares, too much suspense to handle, hurry up, Han: ..... PASSED! Phew! We all passed and are official California drivers!
After that slightly stressful experience, the two of us went back to Lucy's place to run a few errands in LA before our trip to Thailand!! We got to Lucy's and had a roommate meeting (that Han really wasn't much a part of) because Chanelle was moving out and another girl, Unique, was hoping to move in! It all went fine and afterwards we went out to the movies with Emily and Meme. We saw Saving Mr. Banks and it was AMAZING! Oh man, we laughed, we cried, it was absolutely lovely, wonderful, inspirational - beautiful acting, editing, sound, wow! We'd highly recommend it!
5 days of errands, Christmas, Disney, packing, sleeping, eating, laughing, relaxing ahead and then on to paradise! Life is good!