Ukulele Fun

Adam and Ruth had us over for a delicious veggie meal last night and a wonderful ukulele jam session.  Who knew that ukuleles, some egg shakers and some sort of drum box thing could be such fun!  I have even decided that I am making it one of my things to accomplish in my 40th year, learn how to play the ukulele.  I may even try singing, who knows.  
I love these evenings, and after a hard week with car issues it was much appreciated (so at first they told us a year to fix it!! now we have got them down to a month or two).

 Learning my first two chords

Fabulous night with fabulous folks!

Converted to Insurance

I use to never ever get insurance on rented cars, but this experience has ended that.  On Monday, I had to take the day off work to spend the entire day at the Kata Police Station to sort out the car.  It was actually like a comedy sketch only slightly amusing to me as I was not in trouble (not that I was amused because people were but more about the whole day).  My Dad recently read this book about how the human brain works illogically and that we need to train it to think in a logical manner.  Well this was a day full of evidence of this, every decision made and way of thought had definitely not been thought through.  The poor Russian couple who hit us had no insurance and every party was waiting for them at the police station to cash in. My insurance company would not fix my car unless they did pay up as I do not have comprehensive insurance (not allowed due to the age of the car).  They did not get insurance for the bike they were driving so the owner was there too.  The police were holding their passports till they paid it.  But they were not happy as they wanted a huge amount without a mechanic even seeing my car.  But I tried to stay uninvolved as at the end of the day we really cannot afford our car not being fixed.  We left before it all got sorted and I must admit I was pretty worried about what the outcome would be.  Luis went by the supermarket parking lot yesterday where it eventually broke down and it is gone.  So here is hoping my insurance company towed it to be fixed and not the supermarket that towed it to the dump.
The long and short of it, is I felt very badly for the Russians.  Yes, it was their fault and a huge pain in the ass for me but it must have been pretty scary when the police withheld their passports enforcing a huge payment.  I am not even sure they would have made their flight as they could not take out 2000 pounds cash in one day from the bank machine.  And the one thing I learned is a) always turn into the right lane b) never drive a bike again and c) always opt for the insurance.

Rainy Dry Season Days

The last two days the rain has been horrible, proper Monsoon weather.  There is terrible flooding all over the South of Thailand and Malaysia, so I really cannot complain as at least we are safe.  We also had the benefit of having Pia and Chris back for the weekend so even if raining outside inside it was big sunshine!

 A night out Friday ending in the best burrito ever

 Movie Sunday

Local shop bar and off for some food.  It was so lovely to have them here again.  It was a shame the sun did not shine for them but there is always next time.

Errrr... High Season Woes

Yesterday was our day for exploring parts of the island we have not yet been.  Phuket is huge and we really have seen so little of it.  After yesterday we have seen a little bit more but there is still more to see.  But this is going to have to wait until after the high season.  High season driving is crazy, there are millions of people on the island and all seem to have rented a bike.  Now renting a bike and being able to drive one are two totally different things and evidence of this can be seen by the many accidents all over the island.  And now we can be included in these statistics after yesterday.  Two tourists drove straight into us having turned out of a side street on to the wrong side of the road.  They are so lucky they were not more hurt and that I was driving so slowly.  Green bean was not so lucky and who knows when or if she will ever drive again.

 These are some of the Southern beaches which will be very nice in low season, but right now there are at least one million people on each beach.

 Poor green bean

After a long hard day I finally got the burrito that I have been craving for weeks!  

Khao Lak

Having some time between Luis's tutoring and Air banab guests we thought we would escape the island for a night.   We had heard that a place called Khao Lak was worth checking out and only one and a half hours away.  So we headed down yesterday morning despite the weather looking a bit dodgy.  So happy we did, we have discovered another great part of Thailand.  The beaches are huge and therefore pretty empty. There are nice beach bars up and overall  a very nice atmosphere.  Much more chill than some of the resort areas on Phuket.  I also found a great place to stay that was very cheap and I believe fairly new.  

 The first beach that was suggested to us.  It was huge and can imagine how beautiful it is on a sunny day.

 Truaprodhome was the place we stayed.  Very cheap and extremely well done and located.

So the verdict is we both really enjoyed Khao Lak and will definitely be visiting often in the upcoming year.

Pia and Chris(tine)

Pia and Chris ( I call him Christine, he calls me Mandy) have now set off to continue their Thai adventures along the West Coast.  It was so lovely to have them here, as it has been far to long.  
I was so lucky to have so many special people at our wedding but I did miss these two there.  And so happy they were able to include us in their travels.  We may even be lucky enough to welcome them back for one more night next week.

 A bit of a cloudy swim but still lovely.

 Check out that ridiculous burn on my forehead.  Really Amanda, sun block!

 Dinner at one of our new favourites, Red Tuna.  It is such a good price and the food is super yummy.

Lola was definitely excited to see her old walking buddy.  Even slept beside him which is pretty unusual for her.  So here is wishing them some more great travels and hopefully we see them before they return to Basel.

Happy 2017

2016 came to end for us last night on the beach of Bang Tao with some bubbles and great friends.  A year that many people are ready to put to bed with hopes of better things to come.  I am not sure that the change in year will solve all the problems of 2016 but we have to hope.  For me 2016 also had its dark times, the devastating earthquake on the coast of Ecuador which will stay with me forever and losing an Uncle that I will miss deeply.  But this will also be a year I never forget for great reasons as well.  I married the most amazing man with almost all my loved ones around us, a week I shall never forget.  A move to a fabulous country with my two L's, a place we are loving thus far.  I am also so thankful for the out pouring of love and support that I have had over the year during all these events.  So as we start 2017, I want to wish all my family and friends the best year ever and hope that it brings you the joy that you deserve.

 We were lucky enough to have Pia and Chris join us for New Year celebrations during their annual Asian adventure.

 After a bit of a detour to Patong, where we thought we might spend New Year we ended up back at our beach for celebrations.

 It was a lovely night, no surprise as always is with these two.

Today we started 2017 off by having a lazy day in and around the pool.  It was the perfect way to kick off the New Year.  Again Happy 2017!