Chinese New Year

Being the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays, the celebration is magnified. Its dates are determined by the second new moon after the winter solstice. Dragged out over multiple days, it's also the longest festivity in the Chinese calendar. On the first day, many people but especially Buddhists abstain from meat consumption. It is believed this will ensure longevity for them, and it's also bad luck to clean. The boys ate meat, but they brought good luck when they did quite the opposite of clean... my apartment looked like a bomb had hit soonafter we arrived in from Ko Lanta. We had no choice but to abandon it and walk down the street to the carnival for some excitement. We got just that, squeezing into thousands of people wandering from stall to stall checking out their next snack or trinket. You could even get maggots, grasshoppers and cockroaches for dessert...

We devoured some more sane, amazingly cheap food and then went downtown to celebrate. The whole city was awake well into the night. On the second day, the Chinese traditionally opened their companies so they'd be blessed with good luck and prosperity in their business that year. So, we brought them good business by attending the carnival again and finding even better food stalls. Then we discovered some of my students performing on the stage inside the park, which was surprisingly impressive. Then we returned to the same pub as the night before, completing our second 5L tower of Chang. 

It is evident that red is the theme for the holiday, as well as displays of the popular symbols for good fortune, happiness, wealth and longevity. It's also evident that it's now year 2455 according to the Chinese calendar, which puts things in a crazy perspective.

The boys made it to Langkawi the next afternoon, so I can't wait to head there tomorrow morning. It'll be another great weekend in Paradise, so check back for the post next week!

A Wknd On Lanta

 An hour long speedboat ride from Trang to Koh Lanta was the perfect start to another tropical island weekend. The sun was hot over the aquamarine waters, typical Andaman Sea style. It was good to finally be back!

Six weeks since I'd been on Lanta and it really showed. The majority of tourists flock to nearby islands after hitting up New Year's Full Moon parties all over Thailand. The resort I'd previously stayed at had bumped up their prices and were still completely booked. Good thing Alex and Wes found a steal of a place further down the beach the day before. The location was perfect too, being just down the strip from an amazing restaurant, Sonya's. The boys did a make-your-own lasagna there the night before, never heard of before so a must-do. There are some things on Lanta that make it just that much better than the other islands in the chain. With Lanta being the biggest, we decided to rent motorbikes and tour for the rest of the afternoon. I only saw a chunk of the island when I was there before, so it was the perfect opportunity being the next stop on Alex's route down to Malaysia . It took two hours to cruise around the entire coast, not including stops at the viewpoint, a sea gypsy village, the rubber tree forest and a couple gorgeous beaches. After a big day of riding/exploring, we dug our feet into the sand and cracked a couple cold ones while enjoying the especially vivid sunset, reassurance that Lanta's still got the best.

We didn't waste much time after waking up the next morning before hopping back on our bikes to pop down to Long Beach. We all felt overdue for a lazy day in the sun, so we floated in the luke warm Andaman until the tide went out and the sun went down.

A fresh seafood stand caught our eye on the hunt for dinner that night, with huge catches waiting to be grilled. Including a buffet salad bar, we thought six dollars each was a wicked deal for an entire snapper and squid. They both turned out as succulent as could be, leaving us all wanting more. It was great fun to see my brother again after two and half months, the story exchange hadn't ended in two days. We slowly but surely packed up the next morning, then had our last brunch at Sonya's. The land owner of our bungalow was a total hoot so we were sad to say goodbye, even though this photo says the opposite.

A two hour minibus back to Trang and then a quick transfer into a bus for three hours landed us back in Hat Yai, a buzzing metropolis. Crazy for Chinese New Year, the four day celebration will be posted next... here's a quick preview.

P.S. The boys made it the the border of Thailand & Malaysia this afternoon, and I'm meeting them on Langkawi Island for the weekend! ...duty free

Jumpin into Jan.

Even though Hat Yai is not nearly as incredible as the islands we recently visited, we've made it our own playground. There are more sights to see and things to do than Wes had imagined, plus I'd saved a few for when he got here. The first and foremost was dining at the all-you-can-eat Japanese hot pot and sushi place, Shabuku, which we couldn't wait to try. Not only because our absolute favourite sushi restaurant back at home had us going through withdrawals, but also since sushi is quite expensive here when you purchase rolls individually. So, the price was right on the buffet and we made sure our appetites were huge! With a 75 minute time limit we got started right away with the hot pot, boiling broth to cook various meats, vegetables and noodles in. The conveyor belt was constantly refilled with more interesting items to choose from, allowing us to concoct some delicious appetizers and soups. Then there was the sushi section, ornate trays displaying an array of fresh rolls, tempuras and sauces. Even though nothing will ever measure up to Ko's back home, we were still satisfied and definitely got our fill, with all of the little plates we took stacking about five feet high!

After over an hour of gorging, we figured it'd be best to get some exercise. Plus, this was an opportunity to cross another thing off our list. Since we'd eaten on the first level of Lee Garden Plaza (the highest building in Hat Yai), we hiked it all the way up to the top floor.

The view undoubtedly made it worthwhile, showcasing the expansive city (once again). Within the next few days we witnessed vibrant rainbows popping up twice, right off our balcony.

Hat Yai always brings new surprises, and we discovered another great pub that I'd shrugged off since my first visit in November. We met up with my girlfriends there the following weekend for five litre TOWERS of Chang for ridiculously inexpensive. If you're not a beer drinker before a tower, you sure are after. This bargain enticed us back the next night as well, unquestionably going to be another thing we'll miss about living in Thailand! Only one month left...

P.S. Wes has sailed off to Ko Phi Phi to chill with my brother until the weekend when I will meet them on a neighbouring island! The excitement never stops!

New Years - Ko Samui, Ko Phangan & Ko Tao

My first trip in Thailand on an actual bus, and Wes' first trip in Thailand period, we went east coast island-hopping for a week over New Years. Much more spacious and comfortable than the minivans I've frequently been taking, we made it to Ko Samui in around six hours. With only 1.5 hours of that spent on the ferry, we pulled into the bay smelling the fresh island air. Hanging on to the very back of a taxi-truck, we made it to Chewang Beach, the most popular location on Samui. After roaming around the town for a little while, we met up with my brother's buddy from back home and his girlfriend who recently got a job as a yoga instructor on the island for the next few months. We lapped up a much needed dinner and headed back to their funky bungalow just off the main strip. Enjoying freshly cracked coconuts with rum and some chill tunes, the evening was just what we needed after an early and long day of traveling. The next day was spent on the gorgeous Chewang Beach, in and out of the Gulf of Thailand.

In the evening we took a ferry over to Ko Phangan to experience the full moon party, even though there wasn't an actual one that night. The island hosts a huge party every month on the full moon, but since New Years is a special occasion they make a special exception. We jumped off the boat into a crowd of fourty to fifty thousand partiers...

It was absolutely insane, mind-blowing, and completely unexpected. Luckily we eventually found my friends and had an awesome night, partying on the beach with epic fireworks going off for a solid hour after midnight.

After spending the night on one of the only empty couches on the island in the lobby of a hostel, we staggered back to the beach to find hundreds of partiers still at it. Catching the ferry back to Ko Samui that afternoon, we headed over to Lamai Beach. Not as big and crowded as Chewang, we relaxed and took it easy for a few days to get our heads back on straight. With really rough waters surrounding the chain of islands as well as minor flooding back in Hat Yai, ferries/busses weren't running to get me back home for the last three days of the week of teaching. Considering that Wes and I most likely won't get back to that part of the world, we hopped on a ferry over to Ko Tao to make the most of our vacation. As it was a last minute decision, we had to look for accommodation right away and found a great bungalow right on Sairee Beach. After spending the first evening exploring the walking streets, we lazed on the beautiful beach and swam in the aquamarine sea for the majority of the next day.

We'd spotted an all-you-can-eat pizza place in town, which was without question a must do! After gorging until it hurt on a wide variety of thin-crust pies that evening, our stomachs wouldn't allow us to stay awake so we hit the hay very early. Still full the next day, all we could do was dawdle down the coastline to another scenic spot, parking it for the afternoon. It's so nice to just simply be beach bums for a few days every once in a while. Scoping out the most happening bar on the island, we were entertained by drunkards attempting giant jenga and of course, fire poi. The buckets of sang-som were flowing, 2 for the price of 1, so our vows to never drink them again were broken haha. However, the next day was much more productive than expected, renting a motorbike to tour Ko Tao. We struggled to make it up to the viewpoint, but it was definitely worth it overlooking Taatoh Bay.

Our next destination was Tanote Bay, a secluded beach down the other side of a cliff. We wouldn't dare take the motorbike down there, so a steep trek brought us into the retreat. Swimming out to the limestone formation in the center of the bay, we cooled off multiple times from under the sweltering sun. Hiking back up to the cliff-side restaurant, a delicious lunch was had over a breath-taking view. Being our last day in paradise, we dreaded taking the night boat back to the mainland. But it wasn't as bad as expected, arriving in Surattani before we knew it. After we boarded our connecting minibus at 6:30am back to Hat Yai, we reminisced about our past week in paradise. I hope that all of your New Years' were as memorable as mine!