Ko Pha Ngan

Ko Pha Ngan. What can I say about it? A beach paradise. We checked into our bungalow which was located on the slightly quieter west side of the island, and rented a motorbike to get around on. Our bungalow was right on the beach - literally you opened your door and there was sand outside. The beach had several hammocks and beach chairs available for anyone to use and we did! The food at the bungalow was awesome and cheap. We had a couple days to ourselves as Matt and Steph were still in Borneo, and Adair and Sarah hadn't come from Bangkok yet, so we just laid back and relaxed. The beach was gorgeous. The water, a clear clear blue. The weather was sunny and perfect for just laying around but not so hot as to burn.

Everyone managed to show up on the island at the same time on the same day! What a coincidence! So Rich and I headed to the pier to pick everyone up. The bungalows next to ours had an available spot so we were all right next to each other - how convenient! Rich and I decided to go fishing that day. Our bungalow manager found a local fisherman who was willing to take us out on his little longtail boat. We fished for a couple hours and I managed to catch 3 fish! Rich didn't catch any, but he was far more interested in trying to keep the contents of his stomach IN his stomach. He got quite seasick and we headed back with 6 fish (3 that the fisherman caught). The bungalow restaurant was more than happy to cook them up for us and we dined on our catch that evening. It was an early night for us.

The next day we went snorkelling in Ko Mah on the North West side of the island. Its famous for having lots of coral and cool fish. Its connected to the main island by a sand bar. We spent most of the day there, and Rich and I headed back because I had a massage booked for 5PM at my bungalow. Wow. It was awesome! Gao was my new best friend for the next 5 days as she came to my bungalow every evening to fix various problems with my back and shoulders.

The days kind of blur together here. Basically we biked around a bit on our motorbike, hung out on the beach and just relaxed and got massaged until the big night! New Years Eve!!! Ko Pha Ngan is famous for its full moon parties which draw as many as 30,000 people every month to the big beach extravaganza. There were 60,000 people at the New Years Eve one. It was crazy!!!!! DJ's playing various types of music, food stalls and paint tattoos were available all up and down the beach. Drunk (and high) people were dancing everywhere and preparing for the countdown. Fire Dancers and glow sticks lighted up the evening as the tide washed in. People lost their shoes, wallets, clothes and other belongings on the beach and to the ocean. It was a crazy, awesome, wonderful mess! Rich and I headed back around 3AM but the party was going long after dawn, we heard from our friends.

We woke up the next day to the cries of our friends swimming outside our bungalow. They had been dosed sometime during the night and were still going strong. They had swam all the way out to the rocks and had climbed up to the top and were shouting at the top of their lungs :D We took some pics and headed back to bed for a couple of hours. We just chilled the rest of the day (recovery) and prepared to head back to Bangkok the next day....

Really leaving on a jet plane

Well I have been forced to face reality (as there are suitcases stacked up in my living room) and I get on a plane today :O Oh my god!!! I can't believe we're actually doing it! I will be over the Pacific Ocean in about 8 hours! *hyperventilating* OK I'm OK now. Alright, well I'll be blogging from the other side soon - so see you then......

Phuket

So we made our flight into Phuket - which was a bit ghetto (we flew Asian Airlines) as they forgot to give us our immigration forms on the plane. We landed and were trying to go through and the immigration guys were clearly irritated with our whole flight. They kept telling us we should have gotten then on the flight - to which we replied that we knew that but they didn't give them to us. Please give us one now. Eventually everything was sorted, but we were on a tight schedule. Our hostel was only going to hold our room for us until 11ish and we were rapidly approaching the critical hour. We managed to get a cab into the city and made it to the 7/11 to make our call to them and *PHEW* we made it! Our room was really nice and clean and had a big balcony to chill out on. We decided to go to the beach the next day and just chill. We saw there was a Thai Boxing match that night (which was Christmas Day - Merry Xmas!) and bought tickets for that evening as well. We watched some great matches and went to bed - preparing for our snorkelling trip the next day.

We were picked up super early the next morning and taxied to a boat that took us out to Ko Phi Phi - an island famous for being beautiful and having great snorkelling. It was a little touristy, but the trip was great. Rich chickened out a little and couldn't go snorkelling - he tried!!! But he couldn't stay in the water for very long. After some lunch and chilling on the other side of the island, we met an Indian couple that were very nice. We ended up taking a video for them and exchanging emails! After that, we took our boat back to Phuket and just relaxed for the night. The next day we had an early start - we were taking a bus/boat ride in to Ko Pha Ngan......

Malaysia continued...

SO the next morning, we got picked up at our hotel by our personal tour guide! We got into a small car - not what we were expecting, and our guide told us all kinds stuff as we drove the couple of hours out to the elephant rehibilitation centre. We stopped a few places along the way. First stop, the famous Batu Caves. The caves are famous for 2 reasons: the first being that they are thousands of years old and made of limestone. The second being that the Hindu's build a temple in the caves feeling the holiness from them. Every year in January they hold a huge ceremony there where they poke spears through their skin and pull various things up the mountain to the top as penance (sadly we were not there to see this). We didn't climb up to the top, but we did get to see the temple grounds on the ground level which was really awesome and even got blessed by the Hindu priests there. Next stop was a small Batik shop - Batik is a type of cloth decoration that uses silk, wax and dying. We saw some hand made Batik being made and bought a few souvenirs there. Then onto the Centre. When we arrived, we walked down to the bottom area where you could see 5 elephants wandering about and looking back at us on the other side of the fence. We got to see them being washed, then we got to feed them, ride them, and pet the baby elephants. The river was too high to ride them in the water :( but otherwise it was really awesome! There was a small museum inside the centre that talked about Asian elephants and the centre. They also played a short video for us detailing the mission behind the centre. It was a really great time and I would recommend it to anyone going to KL!At this point KL starts to kinda blur together. We had to change hotels the next morning as the one we were in was full. So we moved to a place in China town! Oh the craziness! Our hotel was not nearly as nice as the one we wer e in before AND in was located right on one of the main noisy streets. However, there was alot of atmosphere everytime we walked outside. Street hawkers trying to sell all kinds of stuff and various Chinese style street foods. We did some shopping (which is crazy cheap in SE Asia) and got ready for our return to Thailand. I bought some cheap shoes for the beach and a really pretty beaded shirt. We managed to book a flight to our next destination AND our accomodations and then just kicked back for a day. We spent 2 nights at the hotel there and then headed out on a flight to Phuket. Back in Thailand...

On to Malaysia!

So we took a train from Bangkok to a small place called Alor Setar which is just across the border of Malaysia. The train was awesome and there was much tomfoolery. It was like a transformers train - this can only be described in pictures which will be posted later. So we arrived in the middle of nowhere after our overnight ride and were pleasantly surprised at so many things. People were super friendly, they spoke awesome English, and the mosque was gorgeous!! Before we hit the mosque we stopped at this little noodle shop and ate lunch. It cost us a whole $4 for all of us to eat and have a nice drink of coffee or cola. I mean $4 all together. And it was delicious. After lunch we felt rejuvenated and started walking around looking for the mosque. Some friendly locals sent us in the right direction and WOW! After going in, an Indian Malay guy chatted with us for awhile. Our mission accomplished, we were off to our next destination!

2 buses later (and gypped of about 8 ringgits each) we made it to KL! We decided to live it up a little and find a nice hotel for the night (since most of the cheaper ones were all booked anyways). We tossed our stuff in our room, had a shower and headed out to the city. We found some good food and some live music and passed some time there. Then after spending waaaay too much time in an internet cafe, we hit the hay. Steph and Matt hit the bar.

The next day, we wanted to go see some cool caves, but our hotel booked the wrong tour for us, so we decided to hit little India instead as well as finish off some booking errands at the train/bus stations. Little India rocked!!!! Again, we ate for about a dollar each and were stuffed when we left. Our two groups split up and we met up again a few hours later at the famous KL Tower. Its the tallest radio tower in SE Asia - 4th in the world. The view from the top was amazing! You could see the whole city including the twin petronas towers which are the tallest twin towers in the world. We split up again, Matt and Steph to do some more bookings and Rich and I hit a small restaurant for a couple of hours. After checking some mail online, we hit the hay excited about the next morning.......

Banging Kok!!!

So we arrived in Bangkok and have been rushing around doing all kinds of stuff. Its true that its a city that doesn't sleep! We went out clubbing on a Monday night and it was packed everywhere.

So far we've seen - the Royal Palace and surrounding temples, Chinatown, the downtown backpackers tourist district (which was crazy), taken some ferries, argued with cab drivers about fares, bargained for stuff, and seen the huge golden reclining Buddha. Not to mention, the ladyboys and strippers clubs. Some of those post-op boys you would be very very hard-pressed to know if they were a boy or a girl!

The motorcycle taxis were alot of fun - you can zip through rush hour traffic on the back of one of these. Touts are constantly trying to get you to go to their shop/temple/whatever via their tuk tuk driver that gets a commission for bringing you there. You get very good at either saying no politely, but firmly enough they know you mean it or ignoring them completely.

The only bad thing so far is the pollution - I have developed this cough which I am sure is due to the smog in the city. All in all lots of fun! I can't wait to explore more - we head further south tomorrow to Malaysia. Our first stop is a small muslim town (Alor Setar) just across the border. It was the old capital of Malaysia. We want to experience a little conservativeness after all the lady boys :D

To be continued.....

Silly Star Wars Skit!

Oooooh Alliteration. Anyways, watch this video and you will crack up.

Lack of blogging

So, we've been crazy busy this last week. I'm still trying to get everything done before we go on vacation! I was hella sick this last week. Sinus infection and a throat infection. Richard has Bronchitis and a sinus infection but now that he's taking medication he's feeling a lot better. I'm feeling much improved now as well though my runny nose and occasional cough is still dragging on a little. Well enough of that!

Next Saturday we hop on our plane to Thailand! Yah! I'm going to have a fab time!!!! I can't wait - it will be like 30 degrees and I will be wearing my bikini at least some of the time. Woo hoo! Its really freezing in Osaka right now - so cold I actually decided to buy a pair of boots today. I can wear them when we get back to Canada next month too :D So there will be beaches, elephants, markets and cheap massages. I can't wait to kick back.

The only thing is I'm quite sad this week.....its my last week at my school and I'm going to miss working there. I quite like my job and coworkers and of course all my little kids! I'm going to miss them! I felt really horrible telling some of my moms last week that I wouldn't be coming back after the Christmas break. :( I know the new teacher will be great with them but I will miss them nevertheless.

A week of ups and downs.

Time is short!

So we have begun the arduous packing and cleaning process. This is where you realise that you have way too much crap in your house that you don't need and then start wondering what the heck you're going to do with it all.....

Hmmmm, so a few boxes will be sent off to Canada and some things will be put in our suitcases and some will be donated, and some sadly will be tossed out! It seems we don't have a lot of time to figure out stuff either. We go on vacation from December 15th-January 4th, and then only have about a week after that to sort out everything before we head back to Canada. Yikes!!!!!!!

So it finally happened.....

We have decided to take the long trek home to Canada. It has been an extraordinarily awesome time living here in Osaka and I regret nothing! However, it is time to head home. It was a really tough decision. We thought long and hard about what we wanted to do and due to recent events, we decided the best thing would be to go back to Canada. We will be leaving for the home country mid-January. I am going to miss Japan, and my friends here, and my job, and my kids like CRAZY!!!!!!!

A new exercise video

Teamwork

My new kids!

Are sooooooooo cute. I've been teaching them since the beginning of this month. We were prepping them for Halloween - showing them some costumes etc so they don't freak out at the Halloween party.

Sorry guys! Had to remove pics due to company policies!

A few goodbye pictures

I can't really post any pictures of my old kids BUT I can post these super cute letters that they wrote for me on my last day. I randomly picked a couple of pages from the book and took pictures so you can see how cute they are!

2 sad Goodbyes and a new class.

So, the teacher whose class I was covering came back on Friday. I have been teaching her kids for 2 months and have gotten a little attached to the little buggers. They to me as well. There were some hugs and some cake and some awesomely cute little booklets with pictures and stuff that the kids drew and other little treats from the other teachers at Higashi Osaka. It was a sad day.

Then it was the Adelle Sayounara weekend. I'm a bit bummed. She got on her jet plane and flew back to England today - Rich went to the airport with her. I wasn't able to come as I was working.
On the cool and new side, I started teaching my new class today. I am no longer a cover teacher as I was offered a nursery class at another branch. They are adorable little buggers and only one cried all day. For brand new students this is an amazing feat. (They are 1-2 years old)

So basically this week was a bag of mixed nuts. I'm taking them as they come out of the bag...

She waits

She waits in darkness.
Solitary.
They come.
Straining against invisible bonds.
Scratching and scrabbling, swallowing.
In the end, she waits.
In darkness.
Solitary.

Sports Festival!!!!

Well, its finally here. I have been training my kids for 3 weeks now - and tomorrow is the big day. We will perform our dance to the Cha Cha Slide, and run in a sack race and a dress-up race. The kids are excited and so am I. I hope they do really well. The only thing I'm not looking forward to is getting up so damn early in the morning. I have to be in Yao at 9AM. Yao is not near my house. It involves taking a bus, the subway, the Kintestsu train and either another bus or a good 15 minute walk. Either way, I'm thinking its going to take at least an hour to get there. Wish us luck!

Tyson the Skateboarding Dog

This dog is my hero.

Check out his moves here.

Richards new do!

Check out the fantastic stylings of me - my husbands hair dresser. Hot bitch that he is!

Human Tetris