Waiter, there's a Pooh in my noodles...

I guess that's what you get for buying Disney instant noodles.

Home Sweet Home

We've finally moved into our new townhouse in Klong 4. The surrounding areas are still flooded, but Klong 4 and 5 are mostly dry.

The word "klong" means canal. All the neighbourhoods in the Lamlukka district are named after their canal number.

The fridge, washing machine, microwave and couch that was here before is gone (damaged by the flood apparently) and the lounge curtains need to be replaced. We have been promised that some of these items will be replaced soon, although we have no idea when.

The Tesco across the road from our village is still closed so we have to use the Big C in Klong 5 for any shopping. Getting in and out of our area is still a bit difficult as the paranoid taxi drivers are afraid to go where there is the slightest bit of water.

The house is pretty bare at the moment as most of our things are still in the apartment building in Klong 2 which is still inaccessible at this time.
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Adhere the 13th

A blues bar near Khao San road. The live band for the evening was quite good.

No pain, no gain...

In order to apply for my work permit I need to get a medical certificate of health. A recent change in legislation now also requires you to have a blood test done for syphilis. Despite not feeling the needle go in, the after-effects were decidedly unpleasant.

Aiming high

Not exactly the kind of aspirations you'd expect from Primary School children...

Looks like beef, tastes like beef...

What is it? Mushrooms!

What hospital?!

Ironic Thai name or prime example of Thai Engrish? One can only wonder.

Tis almost the season

A spectacular Christmas tree outside Terminal 21.

To the loo

Toilets made by Toshiba to suit every need you could possibly have. I didn't try it out cuz the idea of having water sprayed up my bum just didn't appeal to me.

Washing your hands in style

The bathrooms have some funky basins.

Bridge the gap!

A miniaturized model of the Golden Gate bridge, complete with miniature cars, spans the atrium of the level named San Francisco.

On top of the world

The view from the 3rd floor once you've taken the longest escalator in the building.

Arrivals and Departures

Up up and away!

A huge escalator that goes straight to the 3rd floor. The system of escalators and elevators in this mall is very strange. On some floors the elevator will skip certain floors and some floors can only be reached via escalator unless you're on the mall entrance level.

What time is it in _______?

Clocks showing the time in the various countries represented in the mall.

Arrivals

They even have a board showing current and coming attractions in the form of an airport arrivals board.

Destinations at Terminal 21

Each floor represents a different country. These touch-screen units give you the layout of each floor and a list of the stores on that floor or you can use the search function to search for a store.

Terminal 21

A new mall by BTS Asok with an airport theme.

Would you like a bag for that?

One of the more interesting flood precautions. I know the Thais like to put everything in plastic bags, but this is ridiculous...

Some interesting graffiti

On a wall in Thongsala, Koh Phangan. Spotted it while I was shopping for a travel pillow before heading to the pier.

Goodbye again Koh Phangan

The deck of the ferry we took. After a while we decided to go sit on one of the lower open-air levels to get away from the smoke and the sun.

Our bungalow

Yoghurt Home 3

The bungalows we stayed at in Koh Phangan. 500B per night for a room with A/C.

One shot of happy, two shots of sad

After 4 months of toil and much struggling with visa issues I will finally be getting my workpermit this week so I should be celebrating right?

Wrong...

I am finally leaving Koh Phangan tomorrow morning to head back to Bangkok to get the workpermit. I had to spend the greater part of the last of our meager cash reserves to settle the bill for our bungalow and buy our tickets. We will be arriving in Bangkok homeless and near penniless to stay in a relief centre til the 20th, after which I have no idea where we will go while we await my salary which will only be paid on the 31st.

So yes, for one shot of happy I also have to take 2 shots of sad. It sure has been one hell of an adventure so far. Here's to hoping we'll make it through this leg of the journey in one piece...
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Make a wish!

Mike just arrived back from a hospital in Koh Samui after dislocating his knee 30mins into the FMP. The group decided to host a small birthday celebration for him at Coral Bungalows.

Happy birthday Mike!

On the left Tankwa (Thailand), Sam and Mike (NZ), Lindsay and Adam (Manchester, UK). On the right Danie, Chelsey (NZ) and Jonni (Finland).

Cappucino Shake

The little Thai place we had lunch at today served all the different styles of coffee in hot, iced or shake form.

Monsoon

We've been having frequent bouts of heavy rain throughout the day. Here you can see the rain running off the edge of the roof of our bungalow.

Funny 55

I could never understand why my Thai friends would write 555 or 5555 or 55555 on each other's walls on Facebook or as a comment on a status. I eventually decided to ask one of my Thai friends about this unusual practice and all was revealed.

The Thai word for the number 5 is "ha". Therefore, if you write 555 in response to someone's Facebook status you're in fact saying "ha ha ha"!
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Full Moon Madness

The streets were almost as packed as the beach.

FMP Nov 2011

The beach was much busier this time than it was for the last FMP.

Full Moon War Paint

Suited and painted up for FMP.

Proudly South African

Some of my fluorescent body paint for the Full Moon Party.

Ornithology in Thailand

This picture was taken from our room at the Tommy's balcony. I have no idea what these birds are called, but they're quite common here. Strangely enough so are mossies. Their colouring is similar to the South African variety, but the patterns are slightly different.

Rollin' down the river

Trekking down our soi on the way to the pickup point.

Thigh deep in trouble

Here you can see that the water took me up to my thighs.

Ready to roll

Me standing outside our apartment building with our things waiting to evacuate.

Coral Bungalows Pool Party

After the waterfall party turned out to be a bust (300B entrance which we weren't willing to pay and an extremely drunk Finnish friend who had to be wrangled into a taxi) we headed for the weekly pool party hosted by Coral Bungalows.

Sunday Roast

Courtesy of The Long Shot Bar in Thongsala which is owned by two brothers from the UK. They have a British chef who really knows what he's doing. We had the lamb roast.

Fire ze missiles!

After the shirted and hatted stickman on the top of the bonfire burned through we had a nice surprise when the bamboo shoots below caught fire and shot off a couple of spectacular fireworks.

Burn baby burn!

The bonfire is lit.

Time to burn

Time to light the bonfire.

The other half

Half of tonight's theme

Good for a laugh

200B will get you one balloon's worth. I'm told the high only lasts about 30 seconds though...

The Cactus

Party central for Haad Rin Nok.

Our ride

Renting a motorcycle to get around is quite popular on the island. Their prices range from 150-250B a day.

Deep fried ice cream

Tried it, wasn't impressed. The batter tastes similar to a doughnut. You could pick the flavour ice cream you wanted though (vanilla, strawberry or chocolate).

Sunrise on Haad Rin Nok

A Haad Rin Dawn

Haad Rin Nok (also known as Sunrise Beach). We stayed up all night so we could watch the sunrise.

Gnocchi Thai Style

When ordering Gnocchi with gorgonzola sauce from one of the local restaurants, Danie was surprised to find that it came with toast (which we later figured out was actually a very literal interpretation of garlic bread).

Beachfront Breakfasts

The first few days here the tide was quite high so there was no beach during the day.

The Tommy Restaurant

They have the most amazing toasted bacon and egg baguette. If you stay at the Tommy you can have your meals charged to your room.