Yee Haaaaw!

Two weeks ago, Jess and I noticed a flyer at the gym. Luckily, it was half in Thai and half in English. “Cowboy Party. Food and refreshments. 500 baht -non member. Member-Free”. The main manager lady at the desk said “Cowboy Party! You come?” I immediately looked at Jess with a huge smile, “Heck yes we are!”. If I love anything, its American themed parties and country music. When we left that day, they had us sign a sheet as our RSVP.

After waiting in great anticipation for two whole weeks, Jess and I were a little weary about what to expect. Yes the party was at the beautiful hotel but we didn’t want to get discouraged so we kept our expectations low. “Dude, what if there’s no food? What if there’s no drinks?? Okay, we’ll just stay for a few minutes and scope it out.” As soon as we walked into the underground bar where the party was being held, we were greeted by two employees in full cowboy outfits, plaid shirt, boots, hat, and bandana, and they were sure excited we arrived. Luckily my mom sent me a plaid shirt for my birthday as I left all my country gear back home, I sure didn’t think I’d need it here. They had us sign in and snapped a picture of Jess and I under the greeting message. We then went into the big bar area and were pleasantly surprised.. scratch that, we were EXSTATIC! We saw tables and tables and tasty food, waiters walking around with drinks, and maybe about two dozen other members (don’t even ask, yes we were the only foreigners of the entire evening). All of the employees that work at the gym were dressed up and very happy to greet us (there are only six guys that work at the gym and two of them speak semi-English so we have gotten to know one another). Jess and I plopped ourselves on the couch and grabbed a glass of wine. We were immediately approached and encouraged to sign up for a karaoke song.. (For my UCSB friends.. karaoke here is very different than a night at OTT. For my non UCSB friends, OTT is a popular place for 21 and up students to go on a Wednesday night, it gets extremely packed with people and karaoke goes on until closing. However here, Thai people don’t karaoke as an activity to do with friends after a few drinks, they often wake up in the morning, turn on their TV, grab their microphone and sing some tunes to start off their day. They absolutely love to sing and will do so in front of an audience stone cold sober, nothing like OTT. I don’t think I’ll ever enjoy karaoke the way Thai people do.) My first reaction was “no way am I doing karaoke” but with Jess’ encouragement, I agreed to perform a late night song. We decided on “Don’t Stop Believin” by Journey, probably America’s most well known and over played karaoke song but we both love it and it’s generally a crowd pleaser. After that, we grabbed a plate or two of food.. honey baked ham, teriyaki chicken, bread rolls, mini pizzas, and a huge variety of different cakes.. carrot cake was the only one I could distinguish but I had others that were even more amazing.. some 4 layer cake was my favorite (I don’t know what the four layers were, but it was amazing so I didn’t want to ask and have it ruined for me). Our drink choices included white and red wine, beer, water, and coca cola. With our time limit in mind, we kept the refreshments coming and enjoyed the party.

Party Time, Thai Style: I’ve come to realize that Thai parties are more like shows. Of course there were games. Hula hooping competitions, pop the balloon between your legs competitions, a dance performance of a popular Korean pop song "Sorry Sorry" by our the gym staff, and song after song of karaoke. It was mostly older women performing and a few younger ones singing to Thai songs, and a few people busting moves on the dance floor. One young woman sang “I Will Survive” and two older women ran to Jess and I, grabbed our hands and said “After eating, need to exercise” and insisted we dance with them. During another song, another young women ran over to us insisted we dance because “this song is good luck and make you rich if you dance”. Okay I need a little money, I’ll dance.

Word came that they didn’t have “Don’t Stop Believing” in the system.. Shoot. We browsed the karaoke program and I was definitely looking for some Taylor Swift but decided on “Umbrella” by Rihanna, their English selection wasn’t as large as we were lead to believe. At 9pm it was our stage time. We hit most of our notes but it didn’t matter, the crowd loved us and there even numerous people dancing on the dance floor and singing along. In my experience, there are many Thai people who know popular American songs and can even sing along but can’t speak a drop of the English language. Jess and I were given roses by a couple people during our karaoke session, which is often done if someone likes you or your performance. I think everyone there was excited that we were participating in the events and having a good time. We topped off the party with two more performances, Britney’s “Opps I did it again” and Michael Jackson’s “Beat It”. Funny, I didn’t hear a single country song the entire night.

Winner Winner!: At the end of the party, they thanked the members for attending by giving away numerous prizes.. bottles of wine and other alcohol and free gym memberships. It looked to me they were randomly selecting winners from the slips of paper with the names of people who had attended. Just before the last prize was called, I gave Jess a look and said “I’d love to win right now!” Just then, the people calling the names looked over at us and excitedly yelled into the microphone “Chelsea FreemAn!” I couldn’t believe it, I love winning prizes! I ran up to claim my prize and received numerous congratulatory handshakes in between my jumping and spouts of happy squeals. I’m convinced they rigged it, but I’m fine with that. It ends up I won a voucher for a one night stay and breakfast at the hotel! Since I am neighbors with the hotel, I don’t exactly need it so I may see if I can use it at another location, like in Bali!

Party Crew before the after party

After Party: After the Cowboy Party, Jess and I asked the guys “Where’s the after party??” Jess and I ran home to change and we ended up going out to a club called “U-Bar” with a few guys that work at the gym and a girl we see working out there a lot, she’s half Indian and half Chinese and speaks excellent English. The club is about a five minute walk from our apartment and is popular amongst the Thai people my age. U-Bar would play 30 minute spouts of American pop music in between the live Thai bands and I particularly enjoyed when “California Girls” came on and I tried to explain to the others the song is about where I am from, but I’m not sure they understood what the heck I was saying. Note about Thai Clubs: Thai people don’t normally dance, they kind of just stand around at the table and drink.. but I was with a fun group and we danced around and had a great time. The two gym instructors that know okay English both teach dance classes like Korean hip hop and dance aerobics and inquired why Jess and I never do those classes. I laughed and tried to explain that I am VERY uncoordinated and an awful dancer, but they didn’t understand since I was dancing at the club. I may get suckered into trying one of those classes soon. They were all very concerned about Jess and I having a great time and asked “Chelsea, you happy?” every few songs or so. “Yes yes, very happy”. I had a great time and enjoyed a night filled with prizes, games, karaoke, food, drinks, and going out with new Thai friends.

 

Imagine these guys dancing like the video below

Ko Chang!

FINALLY.. what many of you have been waiting for.. I've had a few friends ask me why I haven't updated in a while.. I'm just thrilled that you, my friends and family, are still reading and interested in what the heck I'm doing here!  So here’s the dealio on my adventure to another beautiful island!

Last weekend was another three day weekend and I crossed off another island on my list of many places to go! Ko Chang is Thailand’s third largest island and is five hours out of Bangkok and near the Cambodia border.  It has eight different villages and the girls and I had plans to stay at “Lonely Beach”, a beach popular for backpackers to stay at.  

After the six hour bus ride from Khon Kaen to Bangkok, I met the girls at a restaurant called “Cabagges and Condoms” and needless to say, its known for its food as well as the decorative arrangement of their platters, condoms.  Unfortunately, I arrived just as the girls were finishing dinner so I grabbed Subway (which I was SO excited for) on our way to bus number 2.  At 5am, we arrived at the boat port and waited in the dark for an hour to take the 20 minute ferry ride to the island.  After the quick ferry ride as the sun was coming up, we arrived on the island and we were greeted by a huge sign in the mountain reading “Welcome to Ko Chang.”  The girls and I needed to take a 45 minute songtell ride to Lonely Beach and we were a little shocked to find it was a ghost town.  Yes, it was 7am so people were probably still sleeping but most of the small shops which were mostly tattoo shops, were closed and we didn’t see anyone out for breakfast yet.  We were unable to check into our bungalows yet so the girls and I left our bags at the front desk and hit the beach to take a snooze, we were all exhausted from the lack of sleep on the overnight bus.  Unfortunately, this was when my trip took a turn.. maybe more like a tumble. When I left Khon Kaen the day before, my right eye was a little red but I didn’t think much of it.  Of course by the time I had arrived to the island, it had gotten 100 times worse, to the point that it was producing so much gunk that I couldn’t see well (Sorry, not a pretty picture).  Within three hours of arriving at the island, my body goes even more haywire and busts out with a fever blister/cold sore on my face.  I used to get cold sores a lot growing up and occasionally in college and when I was packing for the weekend, I remember thinking that I wouldn’t need the medicine I brought from the US and tossed it back into the drawer.. wrong! So I basically spent Friday wondering around the beach red/gunky eyed and in pain from my fever blister.  That night, I tried to make the best of it and the girls and I were looking for something fun to do.  It hadn’t even crossed our minds that it was a Buddist holiday, so not only do Thai people not drink of these holidays but they also close the shops, bars, clubs, restaurants, everything early.  Luckily, we found one bar with a live band that played western music later into the night and we ended up having a great time.

The next morning, my eye infection had spread to my other eye and my cold sore had gotten worse so I immediately decided to go to the international clinic on the island (the pharmacy near my hostel was closed for the weekend).  I spent the long songtell ride very frustrated that I wasn’t feeling the best for this amazing weekend the girls and I have been planning for weeks. I didn’t feel like being in the sun or going in the water and was upset that I feel like I have been sick for a month straight with a cough/nose thing.  The clinic was actually very beautiful and everyone there spoke perfect English.  The doctor sent me home with four different medications, drops for my eyes, antibiotics and cream for my sore, and allergy medicine.. He basically came to the conclusion that he thinks I’m allergic to Thailand and that I have an eye infection and because my immune system was already down, it was a perfect time for a cold sore to make an appearance.  I left the clinic even more P.O.ed than I was when I arrived.. the bill was triple the amount it would have been in Khon Kaen and I couldn’t imagine staying in Thailand if I were to stay sick for the next eight months. I was a bit grouchy but went back to meet the girls.  I spent the rest of the day lounging in the hammock at our bungalow (Jenna and I were roomies), drinking banana smoothies, and enjoying the beautiful beach.

Sunday was time to trek back to Khon Kaen.  I missed the ferry at 7:40, so I missed my first bus and was a tad stressed.  Luckily, they just threw me on the next one and I made it to Bangkok with just enough time to hit up Subway again and get to the other bus station, ten minutes to spare! I plopped myself down in my bus seat for the final leg of the race, enjoyed my ham and cheese sandwich with lettuce, green peppers, and southwest sauce, then slept for the rest of the ride.

Ko Chang is truly a beautiful island and much less touristy then Ko Phi Phi and even Ko Samet.  Even though I was feeling pretty crappy and discouraged, I tried to enjoy the island as much as I could, which wasn’t hard to do.. it was sunny, warm, and beautiful! Plus, I was there with amazing girls who I can always have a great time with.  I also bought to tye-dye beach cover ups so I left Ko Chang with something more than an eye infection and cold sore. And I tried a new food.. Tofu! Trying a new food is HUGE for me, I don’t often do it but Chelsea (a girl I met at orientation who came to Ko Chang) gave me a nibble off her dinner plate one night.  I liked it so much that I ordered Sweet and Sour Veggies and Tofu for myself the last night!  I think I’ll try to figure out how to cook it on my hot plate.  Being sick on the island definitely wasn’t ideal but I guess that’s all part of the adventure of traveling, expect the unexpected!  Plus, I’m building up my immune system.. If my body can survive Thailand, home and other traveling will be a piece of cake!

Dinner with the girls

The cutest thing I've ever seen in my life. Mama Cat adopted baby monkey into the family!

4 Months

A few days ago marked me and Thailand's four month anniversary. At this point in the relationship, there are things Thailand and I love about one another, but we also sure know how to push each others buttons.  Just when I am getting comfortable, Thailand throws me a curveball.

Thai Hospital:  Last Monday morning (Superbowl Sunday in America.. I'm still bitter that I missed it), I woke up not feeling too hot. I stumbled out of bed and looked in the mirror and to my surprise, my face was swollen especially around my eyes and my rash above my eyes (like my eye lids) had gotten worse.  You see, for two weeks prior I have had a rash developing above my eyes.  Not exactly a rash, but the skin was very dry and red and I thought it was a cause of the seasons changing (according to Thai people, its changing from cold to hot.. but to me, it feel like its changing from hot to hotter).  But on Monday morning, my symptoms had escalated to an entirely new level. I made my trek to school and went into the office to see if someone had time to take me to the doctor.  Normally I am not a doctor person, but my eyes were so swollen and burning that I could barely keep them open that I caved in.  They said they could take me at lunch and I agreed.  I went into Jess' office to tell her the news and to put it straight, I began to freak out.  I have a huge needle phobia and to think that they may find some reason to stab me pushed me over the edge.  Also, I was concerned because I had no idea what caused it.. food allergy, bug, air.. no idea.  Other teachers saw my tears (and my face) and immediately went to the coordinator to tell her I needed to go to the hospital now.  She took me and I was fairly impressed.  It was very clean and the staff was very friendly and I was seen by a doctor who's son used to attend my school.  I explained to her the issues and she gave me some pills to take every morning and ointment for my eyes and a follow up appointment for three days later.  I was very unconvinced that what she gave me would work, but I followed her instructions. After school, I came home and slept for 12 hours, until the next morning.  Tuesday, it was still bad, but went home and tried to sleep it off.  Wednesday morning, I woke up and I was miraculously better! My face was no longer swollen, no red eyes, no burning face, it was a baby miracle!  I have been fine ever since and still have this mystery medicine that the doctor gave me (its not really mystery medicine, I just don't know what it is. And I now think the cause of this experience may have been a bug bite. I am mildly allergic to bee stings back home, in that I get severe reactions so I think that I may have been bitten by a Thai bug on my face, causing a reaction).  One of my goals while being in Thailand was to NOT need to go to the hospital... I failed at accomplishing this but I'm glad I'm 100% better now! 

AirAsia: In other news, I have my flight booked to Bali the last week of April!  My friend Zekee from UCSB is currently living in Sydney.  When I first came to Thailand, I began looking up flights so I could come visit him and was extremely disappointed when I realized I couldn't afford the flight there.  Luckily, Zekee wants to do some SE Asia traveling before he heads back to the states!  And I'm so excited! If I could travel with any one of my friends, it would be Zekee.  There's something special about him, he can honestly make friends with anyone he meets and is so easy going, the perfect travel companion.  Zek will meet me in Thailand mid April, we'll head to Laos, then make our way to Bangkok to fly to Bali.  However, purchasing my flight ticket was a pain in the .. butt.

     I sometimes forget Thailand is a "developing country".  They are very behind on common sense things for us Americans.. like wearing a helmet/seat belt, drinking and driving, pedestrian right-of-way, AND buying/booking anything online.  To buy my plane ticket, I had to make numerous calls to AirAsia because I can't book online, there are numerous banks in Thailand and AirAsia only excepts credit cards from one, not the one I have.  So the process is I book on the phone, then I pay at 7/11.. thats right, 7/11 the convenience store.  Well in Thailand, it truly is a convenience store because you can pay for ANYTHING there, electricity bill, phone bill, bus tickets, and flights. Long story short, I paid and they never received my payment.  More calls, being put on hold, spelling my name 100 times "C as in cat.. H as in heart... E as in umm..?" I needed to make another payment because they had given me the wrong price amount (I personally think they need to better screen their staff, maybe have a comprehension questionnaire to be sure the people they are hiring have some sort of understanding and common sense. They speak English fine but those other skills I'm a little weary on. But that is a whole other issue). Back to 7/11, then needed to fax my receipts, and days after I began the booking process it was finally confirmed!  PHEW such an ordeal that could be avoided with booking online. Oh well, its "developing". 

As of tomorrow, I will only have three more weeks of school left!  Then I have 2 months off for summer break! I have lots of island/beach plans, as well as go up north to Chiang Mai for Songkran (Thai New Year/water fight.. google it!), Laos for tubing, the Bali.  

But first, this weekend is a three day weekend. I'm meeting the girls at the beach.. an island called Ko Chang. Happy four months, Thailand!

"Nobody Likes You When You're 23"

Birthday package and my package pose

So yesterday was my birthday in Thailand.. I am officially twenty three. Nothing too exciting went on here other than I taught all day then Jess and I went to a tasty place for dinner.  Its like a cook it yourself kind of place, so they bring you all the raw meat and vegetables and you cook it in the big pot on your table.  Jess surprised me with a candle and chocolate chip pastry.. I'm so lucky she is here with me! And my mom sent me a birthday package. I love packages!

Instead of being bummed that I am officially out of college and beginning “real life” (which I don’t consider myself having started real life yet.. Thailand isn’t exactly real for me. Yeah I am REALLY living here and its more real here than say Disneyland, but I’m only here until October.. so to me, its not MY real life, if that makes any sense at all), I decided for this blog I wanted to list my highlights of my 22nd year. My birthday made me a little home sick for friends and banana cake (I got used to celebrating my birthday in IV for the past four years with all my friends as well as hundreds of strangers and having roommates, or mom, surprise me with tasty treats), so I’ll do real celebrating when I go down to the islands in a couple weekends.

Highlights of being 22!

• Living Oceanside DP with six other girls! Amazingness and craziness, all wrapped into one house with the ocean as our backyard. Having my best friends as roommates and neighbors and being a 5 minute walk from everyone I know. I miss it!
• Became an international traveler! (Mexico and Asia! Spring Break in Cabo opened my mind to traveling abroad.  However, Spring Break in Mexico is VERY different than living in Thailand)
• Vegas with Team Friendship! (In an RV! And 19 friends in three rooms at the Palazo!)
• Vegas with the girls and saw someone famous (Paris Hilton and LMFAO)! 
• IA for a College course (WELLNESS!)
• Graduated from college!! WAHOO! (Clearly, a big highlight).
• Spent the summer in SB working three jobs (Well, twoish jobs. I love the Claytor family so much that its hard to call babysitting a job.. those kids are just so amazing and I can’t wait to see how much they’ve grown when I get back!) 
• Went to a few country music concerts and couple Charger games
• Traveled up to Lake Shasta with Alicia then moved down to San Diego a few days later.. Traveled the entire state of California (Shasta to San Diego) in two days!
• Totaled my first car (Although its not a good highlight and a pain that I crashed it seven days before I left for Thailand, it was a learning experience. I loved this car so much, partly because it was my first major purchase.. I picked it out, bought it, and had my name on the pink slip. I was so devastated when I totaled it, but I now realize its just a car. Plus now, I can get a better Mustang when I get back :)  )
• Moved to Thailand (Obviously a big one!)

Along with moving to Thailand…

• Got my Teaching English as a Foreign Language certificate (I can can other places when I'm done with Thailand!)
• Became a teacher (I keep thinking back to my former elementary teachers.. I am one of them now, sort of!)
• Traveling traveling and more traveling
• ...and I need to make an entirely different list when it comes to highlights in Thailand!

PHEW! Twenty-two was a huge year for me! I am a lot more excepting of the fact that I am twenty-three.. Twenty-two sure was amazing but I’m spending most of my twenty-three in Thailand, traveling Asia, and creating crazy highlights/life experiences for the next eight months.. I wouldn’t want to spend this upcoming year any other way! Plus, I know I have amazing friends and family that will always be there for me when I come home (and I can't wait for that either!!)!  (Along with these being my highlights, this is basically everything I love and miss)

Love and miss you all! I love that my friends and family are keeping up with my blog and I'm excited to come home in 9(ish) months, in time for Thanksgiving! I'm almost a third of the way done! 

Homemade Mexican Fajita Fiesta and Friends!

The Pacific Ocean and my oceanside sunsets

America, ocean view, and roomies!

Three Generations of Wellness!

Making and decorating cupcakes

Team Friendship Innertube Waterpolo

Mexico with amazing people!

Cabo!

Team Friendship RVs to Vegas

Vegas with the girls!

Graduation

Bitter Sweet!

Spending the Summer with the Claytor kids!

This adorable face

Amazing Friends going to Football Games

Blink 182 has 23 all figured out.. "I never want to act my age, whats my age again?"

Final Countdown to the Big Two Three

My birthday is in four days.  I feel like I am counting down for a bomb to be dropped..  this is the first birthday I am not looking forward to.  Turning 21 was even more exciting than turning 18, a whole new door of opportunities was opened and I loved every second of it (minus all the money I began spending).  Turning 22 wasn’t great but I was still in college, so it was just 21 + 1 year.  23.. The awkward age between college and the “real world”.  No one wants to hire us (or anyone for that matter) so many of us are living at home with our parents or applying to grad schools to put off job searching.  I feel like 23 is the age it is expected for us newly graduated people to get our act together.. should I be on some road establishing myself in a career or figuring out the rest of my life instead of running around Thailand for a year? What the heck am I going to do when I’m done with Thailand?  If I come home to the states, I sure hope mom has an open room for me!

I just started doing conversational tutoring on Tuesdays and Wednesdays after school with Sumo (yes, like Sumo wrestling), he’s eight and in the second grade.  For an hour after school, I basically take him on the songtell wherever he wants to go which will normally be to eat a snack, then to meet his mom at Central in a store where she works.  He is such a sweet boy and his English is pretty good and I really actually enjoy his company.  He is a bit shy but when he does talk, he cracks me up.  Yesterday after eating at some Japanese restaurant (I didn’t order anything, Sumo informed me that everything on the menu was spicy.. hey, I wasn’t in the mood for octopus balls anyways), I told Sumo my birthday was coming up and I was looking for a good place to get ice cream or cake.  After determining I’d probably just get a milk shake at Central from Swansen’s ice cream, I asked Sumo a question.

“Sumo, how old do you think Teacher Chelsea is turning?”

“Umm, 35??”

“AHHHH!  NOOOOO! Younger, MUCH younger!”

“25?” (He was very hesitant this time)

“A few years younger…”

“23?”

“Yeeees, 23!  So old”

After the shock and horror of being mistaken for being 35, I realized that 23 really isn’t that bad.. I could be having a worse birthday year.  I’m still at my prime, and now-a-days no one is really considered old (or looks old) until their 70s anyways! But I am looking forward to going to bars back home and being carded again, it’ll make me feel young! (They never card here, I don’t even know what the drinking age is.. probably 12).

NOTE: I don’t mean ANY offense to anyone who is 35 or older!!  All of you probably have a job/family/home and are very beautiful.. I’m just NOT ready to be 23 yet.

Khon Kaen International Marathon!

I am a very goal and future oriented person. Some of my favorite things to do are planning for events/adventures (ex. Vegas and now Asia travels) and checking items off my life bucket list. I love having something to look forward to (I love anticipation!) and if I can merge this with accomplishing a goal, I love it even more. About two months ago, I googled “marathons in Thailand” and a few different events popped up. One near the top of the search was “8th Khon Kaen International Marathon”.. that’s right, an INTERNATIONAL marathon in my very own city! I took this as it was meant to be and instantly decided that I was doing this! At first I was aiming for the half marathon, I mean heck, I had two months to train! After going to the gym for two weeks I realized the “mini marathon” which was 11.55 km (just a tad over 7 miles) was much more realistic. After my Christmas/New Years travels (in which I didn’t move faster than a steady speed walk for two and a half weeks), I had firmly decided on the fun run/walk which was 5km. The website claimed that the first 20,000 finishers of the run race would be awarded medals.. yes oh yes decision made, 5K it is!

It was a week before the race and conveniently, I went to the gym the same day I was planning to sign up online and they had forms for the marathon out and ready for participants to sign up. I had seen a entry fee online for both Thai and non Thai residents, but the gym staff assured me that “Farangs free” (free for foreigners? Yes please!) I talked Jess into doing the race also even though she wasn’t entirely thrilled. Three days before the race, the gym handed us our large size singlets (Thai sizes, sesh) and racing number. We were able to get details on where to go and what time the race started. I was getting pretty excited. I had been running all week and had done some thinking.. I am much taller than most Thai people, therefore my legs are longer meaning I could take one stride for every two of theirs.. Easy peasy!

Before the race!

RACE DAY: I woke up at 6am for the 8am race. Very excitedly, I threw on my neon yellow racing shirt, pinned on my number, and armed with my new playlist on my ipod including BSpears’ newest, Jess and I hunted down an 8 blue songtell to take us to the university. On our walk to the songtell, we saw numerous other people with the same yellow shirt, about to participate in the race too! However, most of these people were bundled up, wearing jeans, and in sandals or just normal tennis shoes, they did not look ready to run. When Jess and I got to the university gate which was where our race was to start, we realized we were surrounded by Thai people.. one reason I gave Jess that helped in my convincing her to do this with me was this.. an international marathon, maybe we can meet other westerners!! Soon, we realized any white person would not travel to Khon Kaen to do the “fun run”, they would be busy running the marathon! We got lots of looks, hollers, and many smiles from everyone around us and I was still very excited. (Note: we did see two older western men later running our same race). I was feeling good this morning and very happy/excited for the race.

By 8am, we were at the start ready to go. To “warm up”, a Jazzerciser-like woman was up on stage getting the crowd moving and bumping loud beats including some Korean pop songs and others like Shakira’s “Waka Waka”. I was having a blast and dancing along with the crowd instead of doing the stretches like the lady.. we were closely packed into the starting area and there was not much space to do these moves of hers. A few minutes after 8, we started! Here is the thing I was a little confused about.. in general, Thai people aren’t too big on exercising. Running is generally not an activity they enjoy and when Jess and I tell people that we walk everywhere, they are stunned. I don’t exactly understand it but exercise isn’t in the average Thai persons daily activities (maybe because its HOT here and they are already so small and thin that they don’t need to exercise). This was apparent in the race. Most of the people walked and wore jeans and many children were barefoot, but it seemed like the majority sprinted for the first three minutes then stopped. There were no markers of distance or time and I really had no idea what the course was until we ran it, all instructions were in Thai so Jess and I were a bit lost (not too international there!) It ended up that the route was a there and u-turn back straight shot and I found myself running with different groups of children who were some of the few people running the race. I was using these barefoot kids as someone to stick with and I think they just enjoyed running with one of the two non Thai girls at the event. On the run back after the u-turn, I could see all the people that were running the other direction (to the halfway marker, the only marker of the course), and also witnessed dozens of people cutting the race! I understand that this was a “fun run” but as greedy as it may be, I was in it for a medal. I needed evidence of my accomplished goal. I used this frustration as motivation to run faster, and finished the race without even knowing I went through the finish line. I grabbed my medal at the booths down the hill and even though technically I was probably within the first 1000 people who actually ran the whole course, metals were running out! I’m sure the other races of the longer distances were more on top of the timing, marking the course, and recording finishers as well as more international flavor, but I had a GREAT time participating in a huge event in my city. For weeks, the streets have been lined with billboards and flags promoting the big “international marathon” and it was fun being a supportive community member and temporary Khon Kaen resident. 

Finish line with my medal!

After the race, I felt so accomplished and proud of myself for completing another goal, I ran in a race in Thailand! Turns out this goal maybe just another small step for completing a bigger goal.. when I got home from the race, I googled more marathons in Thailand.. Half marathon in Pattaya in July!! Okay, maybe the  11.55 K.

Sabaadeepiimai! Happy New Year, Ko Phi Phi!

FINALLY!  The best part of my travels!  Be prepared.. this is a long one!

Jenna and I arrived in Bangkok around 1pm ready for our 6pm bus that evening.  After we trekked around the city with our ridiculously heavy bags (I over packed.. what a surprise), we made our way to the travel agency where Jenna had booked our tickets.  They let us leave our bags there and we wondered around Khao San Road for a while.  Khao San is very well known amongst the backpacker community, it has cheap accommodations, travel agencies, inexpensive clothing, and various other items for sale.  Since I don’t get to go to Bangkok very often, it was fun to wonder around and see all the things to see.  We stocked up on snacks and splurged on subway so we were ready for the 15 hour bus trip.  We were waiting at the travel agency for our bus to be called and were excited when the guy yelled “Krabi!”.  (We needed to take the bus to Krabi, then the ferry to Ko Phi Phi).  We showed him our tickets, he shook his head and gave them back to us.  Very confused, it turns out he didn’t have our receipt number on that bus list.  He kept telling us “Wait one minute” and Jenna and I began to freak out.  It all ended up working out because they just stuck us on a bus leaving at 8pm, but we had to anxiously sit around for another 2 hours.  

The bus wasn’t exactly comfortable.  My seat didn’t recline at all and I got very little sleep.  Luckily, my body doesn’t need much sleep to be functional and 11 hours later, we arrived in Surrathani.  Again, a little confused because this wasn’t Krabi, it was 3 hours away from Krabi.  But this little hub in Surrathani sends people off for the various islands around Southern Thailand.  A guy went around asking where people were going and stuck stickers on everyone accordingly.  About 15 minutes later, Jenna and I jumped in a van with six other people to Krabi.  Lucky for me, I was able to sleep the entire van ride to the ferry dock.  With our ferry tickets in hand, our van driver told us we needed to run to make the ferry, so we did!  We plopped ourselves down in some seats and prepared ourselves for the last hour and a half of traveling until we get to the island.  Jenna surprised me with some Chang beer to celebrate the last leg of the race.  It was 11am but its always 5 o’clock somewhere!

We arrived on the island and got off the ferry and after paying the 20 baht “clean up fee”, we were thrown another curve ball.  For the past 15 hours, Jenna and I had been dreaming about spending our time in the sun and getting tan in the sand, only to find that it was drizzling!  AHH!  After getting over the fact that the clouds were thick and there were actually drops coming down, we accepted the fact that it wasn’t sunny only because it was still warm.  I had made the hotel reservations at a place called Tropical Gardens two months ahead only because it was New Years and he heard that the island gets full fast, and we were easily able to find our hotel representative waiting for us at the dock to lead the way.  Thank goodness he had a little cart thing with him for our bags, I was SO over my heavy bag at this point that I considered ditching some of my stuff so it was lighter (I learned my lesson for the future, the less the better!).  We entered the town which is basically a mini city, and I was amazed to see not only see so much going on, but how many westerners there were!  I had no idea that the island would be so  touristy and filled with so many people from around the world!  The streets (which are only for pedestrians and bicycles, there are no cars on the island because its too small) are more of wide cobblestone paths and lined with restaurants, bars, guesthouses, dive shops, and internet cafes and the beach was lined with longtail boats.  I was in aw of this place and after Jenna and I threw our bags in the room, we explored!  It reminded me of a mix of Cabo, Hawaii, and IV.  The water was blue and clear like Hawaii, the bars and restaurants were a lot like what I experienced in Cabo last Spring Break (which was AMAZING!), and the people were a lot like those in IV, looking to meet other travelers and just have a good time!  This is hands down my favorite place I have ever traveled to (okay, tie with Cabo because Cabo has the Mexican food!).

Jenna and I spent the next day relaxing on the beach even though it wasn’t sunny yet, and exploring more of the small town.  We checked out menus for different restaurants and I was so thrilled to find a huge variety of menu items!  Along with Thai food, salads, chicken burgers, sandwiches and pizza although a little pricey, were available on the island!  So different from Khon Kaen and I was determined to eat everything my heart desired on this trip.  There was a good mix of bars and clubs including a sports bar (the first time I have watched sports since I’ve been in Thailand!), a Reggae Bar with boxing (Thai boxers and they let people from the audience box and participants get free buckets!), and a few beach clubs right in the sand on the water!  Amazing.

The next morning was New Years Eve, and Jenna and I woke up early to hike up to the Ko Phi Phi Viewpoint to see the sunrise.  In my travel book, it mentions that it is a long hike of stairs and that some people need to rest on the way, I didn’t think much of it but boy was it a workout!  The viewpoint is 186 meters above sea level and you can see much of the island from the top.  Jenna and I went to all three viewpoints and even though it was too cloudy to see the sunrise, it was beautiful!

After our hike, we had just enough time to change to go snorkeling with our tour at 9:30!  Jenna and I picked an all day tour that took us to numerous destinations around Ko Phi Phi and Ko Phi Phi Leh, an uninhabited island next to the big island we were staying on.  Our longtail boat held about 20 passengers, and it just so happened there was a couple on there that did our same program 6 months before Jenna and I, and the girl graduated from UCSB!  What a small world.  While snorkeling, I saw the most amazing fish I have ever seen and spent hours in the beautiful, crystal clear, turquoise water, and the sun even made an appearance!  At one point while I was snorkeling, a French man on our tour boat (he looked like a professional snorkeler/diver, his underwater camera was intense!) waved me over to check out an eel he was taking shots of!! The eel looked a little creepy but it was amazing to see up close!  We also made a stop at Monkey Beach and Maya Bay, which was the location for the movie “The Beach” with Leonardo Dicaprio.  Of course it was nothing like the secluded beach from the movie and was overrun with tourist, but it was amazingly beautiful.  At our last beach destination, there was a sudden downpour and we all had to sprint back to the boat as our day trip was coming to an end.  We weren’t able to snorkel at Shark Point since it was now too dark to see the sharks, but we were all ready to start our New Years Eve celebrations.

New Years Eve was amazing!  The girls (Jess was there with her sister so we all met up) and I spend the night watching muy thai fighting matches at the Reggae Bar, drinking buckets, dancing on the beach, watching fireworks, and an ocean swim while the sun was rising.  My most amazing/fun New Years yet!  It’ll be hard to top it!

After sleeping for about 4 hours, Jenna and I hit the beach again because it was finally sunny!!  That’s basically what we did for the next two days, sat in the sun, drank banana smoothies, and lived up the island life.

Jenna needed to head back to school while I still had another week off.  So she trekked back to Bangkok and I stayed on the island and switched guest houses so I could stay somewhere cheaper. I never wanted to leave the island!  I was on the island by myself for two days and I had a blast.  I went to the beach, read at the coffee shop, hiked the viewpoint for sunset, went to the bars, and met a ton of other travelers!  I met this older couple who sailed to Ko Phi Phi unintentionally, they live in New Zealand travel on their boat and the wind brought them to the island instead of Malaysia.  I also met a guy from Sweden who went to an English learning school in Santa Barbara when he was 18 and lived in I.V. in 1997!!  I had an amazing time and I’m so much more confident now when it comes to traveling alone.

On Tuesday, my friend Brandon Feria and his brother met me at the island.  Feria (I have quite a few friends that I call by a nickname or last name, Feria is one of them) graduated from UCSB with me in June and worked hard all summer so he could now travel the world.  He left the states a week or two before I left for Thailand and he’s already been to so many places in Europe and Asia and it just so happened that his time in Thailand would begin while I was on the island!  It worked out great!  He and his brother met me at Phi Phi and it just so happened my guesthouse gave me a room for three people so the boys went in on my room with me.  The day they got there, we hit the beach and enjoyed the night with Thai boxing and more buckets. 

I had been telling Feria that we should do a snorkeling tour and that I was interested in doing one with cliff jumping.  Cliff jumping is something I am normally totally not into and I’m not sure why I was so hooked on doing it (maybe because of my Twlight obsession) and Feria was very onboard for doing this activity.  So the next day, we did a snorkeling/cliff jumping tour!  We booked through a company called Spidar Monkey which has great reviews and also provides a tasty lunch and English speaking guide.  When I realized that we were actually doing the cliff jumping, I regretting ever suggesting it.  I was getting real nervous, but luckily we started off the tour with snorkeling at Shark Point, which I missed out on during the last tour.  We saw a few sharks and even though we were told they never attack humans, we kept our distance.  We made a stop at Monkey Beach again, where Feria got slapped by a monkey for petting it, and again to Maya Bay.  Finally.. cliff jumping.  We were given shoes to wear because we actually had to rock climb to get to the cliff.  It was a windy and chilly day and Feria had to walk me through where to put my feet and hands to climb up the rocks (I know now I am NOT a rockclimber).  I was basically freaking out and couldn’t believe what I was doing and didn’t realize that I was physically shaking while climbing.  With Feria’s help, I nervously made it to the top and watched everyone else jump from the 8 meter cliff into the choppy water below.  Finally, it was my turn.  Luckily, our guide, Bell, got me all set up to jump from the lowest point which was 6 meters (like 20 feet ). I literally stood on the edge of the cliff for 15 minutes with our whole tour crew and Feria cheering me on and encouraging me to jump.  After shaking and near to tears, I finally made my plunge into the water.. and surfaced back up, I DID IT! I know now that I like the idea of cliff jumping more than actually doing it, but I’m proud of myself for doing something out of my comfort zone.  Because the water was so choppy, swimming back to boat was almost impossible for me and I asked someone to throw me a life jacket.  After settling back on the boat and able to breathe, I was real happy I did it. 

The next day was finally my time to leave the island.  Not only had it wiped out a lot of my January paycheck but I needed to make the 20 hour travel back to Khon Kaen so I could teach on Monday.  I said goodbye to Feria who is making his way to Singapore then Australia where he will spend some time and find a job, I’m SO glad I got to see him! I took the ferry to Krabi to take the bus to Surrantani to take another bus to Bangkok to take a cab to the skytrain and skytrain to another cab and cab to another bus to Khon Kaen.  All in all it took me about 28 hours to get home!  But it was an amazing vacation and an awesome way to start the new year.  Ko Phi Phi is high up on my list of places to go back to. 

Jenna and I enjoying a sunny day!

Snorkeling Trip

Jenna's AMAZING underwater camera captured these!

The Beach that "The Beach" is filmed at

Maya Bay

Beautiful Beach

Rain quickly rolling in

Happy New Year!

Feeding the monkies at Monkey Beach

Not wanting to jump (its higher than it looks!)

Taking the plunge!

 See you in March, Phi Phi!