First Blog of 2009

Happy New Year everyone! Hope you all had an eventful night like us. We spent the evening on Lamai Beach, which is supposed to be the quieter of the two beaches in Ko Samui. But that was not the case for us on the eve of the new year. Our hotel had put on a big beachside celebratory party fit for hundreds of us eager travelers. Cabaret Dancers, also known to the locals as "Lady Boys", put on a very entertaining drag show and a traditional Thai drumming troup showcased their sweet musical skills as their children performed circus-like stunts. All while we tried to enjoy the hotel's attempt at a buffet style dinner that resembled an American Thanksgiving meal. It was okay, but like our fellow dinner mates we grew tired. Todd and I then strolled down the beach in search of more action. We then met an 11 year old Thai boy named James (he was adorable and made us laugh) who sold us some of our own fireworks and fire balloons to set off. We made our New Years wishes and set off down the beach again. Now, I've never been to Disney World and seen the fireworks show, but I would imagine what we encountered was better. Picture the biggest, brightest and loudest fireworks dancing, to no particular rythym, all over the velvety night sky. Then simultaneously floating in the distance literally hundreds of balloons that hid been lit by hopeful travelers. All of them carrying New Years wishes. This was the scene by midnight. As we sat directly underneath the show, we both agreed that this was one of the coolest experiences we've had so far on the trip.
Well, we aren't scheduled to leave until Feb 11th, so we have decided to take up permanent residence here in Ko Samui. We got real lucky and booked a month at a "budget luxury" hotel on the last day of our planned trip. We are sooooo happy with our new home. Thanks to my baby's incredible haggling skills we were able to convice the manager to give us a sizeable discount for the month long stay. This is a serious score for us because it is still "Peak Season" here and it is very difficult to find a clean, bug free room that is near the beach, in this town! Yay for us! We just got back from our first trip to the grocery store here. It is so much fun to shop in a foreign country. Very similar to back home. I mean it's just as crowded and everyone is hungry and in a hurry but it is fun to just get lost amoungst the foreign product.
Anyways, Todd and I will be taking it real easy here for the next month. Relaxation and making new friends is the name of the game. We'll keep ya posted on any new experiences. Also, news doesn't really circulate down here in the islands. Apparently there had been a very devistating fire at a night club in Bangkok this past week. We hadn't heard anything until the worried emails came from the families. But we are okay and far away from danger.