Honeymoon Part 3: The Islands of Koh Samui and Koh Tao

So after the Bangkok frenzy and a few busy, hot days in Chiangmai, we were both very happy to move on to the next phase of our trip- the Islands. We took another quick plane south to the island of Koh Samui.

Koh Samui, the honeymoon destination in "Meet the Parents," is a huge honeymoon spot. It is super duper fancy and very developed. Knowing we would only be there for one night, we decided to go for a very nice place- Le Meridien Hotel. It was spectacular. Our room was on its own semi-private pool, that came with a very friendly little cat that I liked, and a privacy monkey that R thought was hilarious.

The Entryway/Lobby Area of Le Meridien

Our Room at Le Meridien

Privacy Monkey says Shh?

Hotel Pool

After some much needed pool swimming and general relaxing, we waited in the hotel lobby area for their nightly release of floating lanterns. After a short intro, they gave us each a paper lantern to open, while they lit the candle below. It was a little windy, so holding onto the thing without catching it on fire was tricky. So tricky, in fact, that in the process we dropped our camera. In the water. #travelfail. We quickly released ours, which floated off beautifully with the others, before veering into the roof of the hotel, and then into a palm tree. #wesuckatlanterns . We quickly retreated to our amazing room to hide out and try to save the camera.

Other hotel guests, successfully releasing their lanterns

Me and our lantern in the camera's final moments

The next morning started super early with a ferry ride to the nearby island of Koh Tao. Despite the fact that these islands are so close to each other, they couldn't be more different. Koh Tao has great diving, and has attracted a large population of expat divers, mostly in their right after college years. As such, food and hotels are cheap and a little rustic. Our hotel here was the Sensi Paradise Hotel, where we had our own little cabin.

Ferry to Koh Tao 

Our cabin 

We quickly dropped our stuff and headed off for our first dives. We used the Big Blue Diving company, which was well reviewed. It appeared to be the capital of the expat population- so it was a bit like a college dorm and cafeteria. Very exciting, pretty crowded, maybe a little overwhelming, but the dive master was good. The diving was great (sorry, no pics), because of a few strong currents that were really stirring up the nutrients and bringing in the fish.

That night, we had a lame dinner at our hotel -- I ordered shrimp that were deep fried in their shells. It was a seriously nasty mess to try to get the shrimp out, and totally not worth the effort. R had a grilled fish, which was the dish of the island. At this point though, food had really become an after-thought. Between the heat and the humidity, we were barely eating much at all.

For the next day, we opted to try a new diving place. Scuba Junction was another dive shop (one of many in Koh Tao) that was well reviewed, but much smaller than Big Blue. Both were good and the same price, but I think we generally preferred the less frenetic Scuba Junction.  Again we did two dives, following a dive master with one other person in our group. Again the sites were amazing and full of fish.

Koh Tao at Sunrise

Before we left, I was a little worried about R, who had just gotten certified right before the trip. Instead, he did great, and I was the problem. Clearly diving, like any sport, is a skill that needs to be practiced. I hadn't been since last summer, and maybe 4 years before that- so I was super rusty. Since R had just been certified, he was a little less rusty than me and did great. This is particularly important, because a lot of diving is about fighting your instincts so you don't do something stupid.

At some point on the first dive of the second day, I was struggling with the current and breathing too much. I realized that I was running low on air and indicated to the dive master, who just kind of turned around (communication under water is really difficult). He kept swimming without acknowledging me, while I kept breathing and using up my air. I started to panic, and wanted to shoot the top for air (The first rule of diving is that you don't shoot to the top because you may explode. Seriously). I didn't, and managed to get back to the boat without completely running out of air. We did one more dive after that that went well, so everything ended fine. I was left thinking that I need to dive more so that I'm better at it-- but very happy to get back on dry land.

Oh happy Pad Thai. 

Pool Time

We had some good pool time and then went to the Whitening restaurant, which is the place to eat in Koh Tao.

Sunset at Whitening Restaurant

Then we were back on the ferry, heading back to Koh Samui. This time, we opted to stay at the Hansar, another super fancy hotel. We had some more good pool time, and lazed around.

Hansar

That's not a cup, that's a coconut. 

Holy spring roll!

We picked this hotel because it was by the fishermen's village on the island- but we ended up lazily having dinner at the hotel. By this point, I think we were both tired of constantly moving from place to place and starting to get tired of Thai food. Despite my best efforts, we were both mildly sunburnt and covered in bug bites. I had developed a head cold/allergy situation that was as annoying as it was attractive. Our camera still wasn't working after the lantern fiasco, and our clothes were beginning to smell like we'd been traveling for a while. The idea of going home was starting to be appealing. Knowing that we were coming to the end, we rallied for one last plane flight for the fourth and final phase of the trip.

Training For a Marathon - 5 weeks to go

I just want to start out by saying I'm an excellent planner--a really excellent planner. When there's something big coming up, I can plan up a storm. I'll give you tables and printouts, with rules and themes. It's the execution that I'm not great at.

 

So I realized today that I have just 5 weeks until the marathon. I somehow thought I had lots more time than that, which is to say, I haven't been training well at all. I haven't done ANY of the weight training and yoga classes I wanted to. I haven't done most of the midweek runs, and I have missed a few of the long runs. Total weekly mileage, as shown below, is WAY below where it needs to be.

 

 

I started out ok, sort of.

 

 

I believe there were a couple reasons that led to this failure:

1. After the wedding, I lost a serious incentive to keep moving.
2. My job was really bumming me out.
3. I might have broken a toe, we'll never know for sure.
4. It was really hard to do any exercise on the trip.
5. It's really freaking hot here in the summer, and easy to lose the energy to do anything at all.

So now that we have 5 weeks to go, it's time for me to get this show on the road--literally. If' I'm going to run this thing, I have to get ready for it or I will hurt myself-- and I really don't want to do that again.

This reminds me actually, of something I went through every single term in undergrad and grad school. All term, I would go to class and mostly do my homework, but then a week before finals I would panic and realize I wasn't ready. I would decide to re-read everything in order do basically do-over the term. It's not as bad as panicking the night before the exam, when all you can really do is go to sleep. It's not as good as being on top of things from the beginning. I'm at the point when I can still mostly save this, but it's going to be a lot more painful than if I'd done a better job all along.

 

Things in my favor:

1. Fall weather is great for running.
2. I definitely don't have any broken bones or injuries at the moment.
3. I just started a new job and am full of optimism. 

My new plan:

1. Be better at following the old plan.
2. Learn to be a morning person.
3. Cook more-- eat out less.
4. Lose 5 pounds.

 

I'm excited. Feels like the getting-in-shape montage part of any athletic movie with girl power music. Yah.



Honeymoon Part 2: Chiang Mai

So- on to Part 2!

After a short plane ride from Bangkok, we arrived in Chiang Mai. If Bangkok is like a slap in the face from an angry stranger, then Chiang Mai is a slow hug from a sweaty stranger on a warm day.

We got a great hotel - U Chiang Mai- that was right downtown. The room was great and the facilities were fantastic. The only downside was the lack of functional air conditioning, which was somewhat important in a place with 80% humidity and 90 degree weather at night.

Our hotel balcony

After checking in, we immediately headed downtown for the local temples, which were all pretty fantastic.  The only weirdness was that at least one of these included wax copies of monks that were amazingly lifelike.

The ruins of an old stupa 

For dinner, we went to Ratana's Kitchen. The food was good and cheap, even though the atmosphere was a bit odd. Clearly this place is on some international backpacker's restaurant list.

On our way to the famous night market, we passed through the International Lantern Festival. It was a small display of the lanterns of the world. Not entirely educational, but definitely really pretty to see.

 

International Lantern Festival

Night Market

The next day was our exciting elephant day! We did some research, and realized that Chiang Mai has lots of elephant places. We picked the Patara Elephant Farm,  which seemed like a nice balance between conservation and entertainment. They picked us up at our hotel, and after a short van ride into the country, we stopped at a spot where a mother and three baby elephants liked to eat. They gave us some small bananas and sugar cane to feed them, and we hung out for a while. 

Then we headed to the main camp, where we were each paired with an elephant. We fed and cleaned them, then hopped on board for a quick ride down to the local waterfall. Sidenote, my elephant was very grumpy and didn't like people. R's elephant had a baby that was a huge pain. It turns out that baby elephants are like bad human toddlers, only times 500 pounds. My elephant at one point, slapped R's baby. It was awesome. She was such a grump. 

My and my girl, Mae Moon

After we rode our elephants down to the local waterfall, we gave them a quick bath which was a lot like washing a moving school bus. Once completely exhausted, we gathered for a picnic. It was amazing. 

picnic!

So, after we said goodbye, we went back to the hotel to crash. 

Our third day was all about cooking. We had the morning to kill, so we signed up for a Thai massage at the hotel. I enjoy massages generally; I like the quite, calm, relaxing atmosphere of a massage. This was not that. A Thai massage is known as "lazy man's yoga" because the masseuse picks up the victim and forces them into yoga poses. We chose to get massaged in the same room, which for me was more about having a witness than having a romantic moment. I literally yelped multiple times. 

As soon as I could stand again, we headed down to catch our van to the cooking school. Like elephant places, there are a lot of cooking schools in Chiang Mai. We picked the Pantawan Cooking School because it wasn't just teaching the same generic foods all the rest were (ie, curry and Pad Thai). Plus, this place was amazingly beautiful. Again, they picked us up at our hotel. 

We stopped by a local market where they explained to us all of the many fabulous things for sale. One of the specialities of Chiang Mai is a pork sausage with lemongrass and other Thai seasonings. We sampled it and a few other awesome things.  

Perusing the Market

Then we went to the school and made a bunch of exciting dishes. The food was good, but the atmosphere was fantastic. 

Fried rice baby!

When we finished our many multiple courses of food, we stopped by the night market once again to sample the Roti- which in Thailand, means crepe with fried banana and chocolate, and is amazing. 

After three days, we felt like we'd gotten a good sense of Chiang Mai. It seemed like the right amount of time to experience the good stuff without getting ancy. And then, it was time to pack up and move on to the next spot. 

Next stop- Part 3 and the islands of Koh Samui and Koh Tao! 

Honeymoon Part 1: Bangkok

So, if you remember from my post on the Barbados trip, we decided to take two honeymoons: one short trip right after the wedding to get out of town and relax, and one longer trip later in the summer to more exciting and adventurous locations. We just got back from the longer megamoon, which was amazing. I'm dividing it into a few posts to avoid having one overly long post.

Part 1: Bangkok

After more than 24 hours in flight, we finally arrived in Bangkok early on Saturday morning. We checked into our hotel, the Lebua at State Tower, a huge highrise that happened to be the location where they filmed The Hangover Part 2. Great place with a fantastic balcony.

View from our balcony- note the river. 

We were both wide awake at that point, despite not having slept at all, so we decided to explore the city. Our travel book recommended taking a boat out on the river and canals that run through the city, so we started there. We signed up for a short ride in a long tail boat to tour the temples on the river and see the floating market. Unfortunately, something was lost in translation, so we saw none of those things and instead got a nice tour of the slums that grow on the canals. It was a great reminder of the poverty in this huge city, but a bit more of a slap in the face than either of us wanted to start out trip with.

One of many small temples seen from the canals

After that, we went to the shopping district which was supposed to have an amazing restaurant, but it turned out to be a food court in a huge mall. We were both disappointed and totally overwhelmed by the millions of people in the area- so we went back to our hotel and called it a day. 

The second day we started out early. After a quick run in the hotel gym, we headed out for the old part of town where all the big temples are located. We started with the Grand Palace, in which the famed Emerald Buddha, a symbol of the country, is housed. We didn't actually find the Buddha, but found lots of other very cool things. The grounds are just covered in very ornate, very colorful things everywhere you look. 

Guys at the Grand Palace

Us at the Grand Palace

Then we headed across the street to Wat Pho- a temple with the largest reclining Buddha in Thailand. He was definitely huge, and hard to capture on camera. 

Reclining Buddha at Wat Pho

On our way to the next stop, we ran across a small stand selling nothing but Pad Thai. Being quite hungry at this point, we eagerly sat down. I think we both had the impression that Pad Thai was an American dish, but it was everywhere in Thailand and oh so tasty.

R and Pad Thai

Next we hopped on a water taxi to take us to Wat Arun, a classic temple on the other side of the river. It looks kind of drab from a distance, but when you get close you realize it's covered in small bits of ceramic. It was quite cool, and a great place to get a view of the whole city. At this point, the rain clouds started rolling in, and we ran for cover under the overhang of a ticket booth. We were stranded in the pouring rain for almost an hour, and completely soaked by the end.

Ferry from Wat Arun

Ceramic-Covered Wat Arun

Tired and soaked but eager to push on, we hopped in a cab for the famous Chatuchak Weekend Market. This place is claimed to be the biggest market in the world, so we both wanted to see it.  Our book told us to expect that this market would sell everything, from old shoes to baby squirrels. We knew it would be intense, but somehow didn't expect the chaos that it was. This place was completely overwhelming and sometimes disgusting- with a huge section of live animals and thousands of people. After an hour or so, we were completely overwhelmed, utterly exhausted,  and ran back to hide at our hotel for the rest of the night. 

Chatuchak Market

Drinks on the roof bar of our hotel

The next day was our third day and scheduled day trip. After feeling pretty slapped around by Bangkok, we were excited to get out of it and into a bit of nature. We hired a taxi to drive us up to a nearby national park (3 hours away), wait for us, and then drive us home that evening. It seemed like a weird thing to do, but it's apparently entirely normal. It was actually a nice drive- we used the time to try out our Thai phrases on our very nice driver. We also swung by the location of the famous Bridge on the River Kwai- which isn't really anything to see because the bridge was destroyed a few months after being built, but interesting anyway. In the summer heat and jungle humidity, it's hard to imagine building anything there. 

We arrived at the Erawan National Park, known for its series of seven waterfalls. You start at the bottom, and it gets harder and harder the higher you go, so there's something of a competition to see how many waterfalls you can see. Our bellboy proudly told us he had gotten to the fifth waterfall. After a quick stop at the noodle shop (because there are noodle shops everywhere), we started the climb. Pad See Ew, btw, turns out to be fabulous in Thailand. Much lighter than the American dish.

Me and Pad See Ew

We climbed to the top and saw all seven. They were each amazing and very different from each other. It was funny to watch the other hikers. Many disappeared after the first few waterfalls. Many were hiking in flipflops and swimsuits. We, of course, were fully geared for the event.

One of the seven waterfalls

On the way down, we wanted to stop to swim in the fourth waterfall, but were chased off by a pack of monkeys, so we stopped at the second or third instead. It was beautiful, but full of small fish that like to eat the dead skin and scabs off your feet. The pool of literally man-eating fish kind of creeped us both out, so it took a while to get up the nerve to jump in. Eventually we jumped in and swam rapidly to the waterfall and back. Sidenote- across Thailand, you can pay to put your feet in tanks of smaller versions of these fish to eat the callouses off your feet. I will never do that.

One of many monkeys on site.

Our swimming waterfall

 

Man-eating fish

After a quick swim, we returned to our cab, which was still there and waiting for us. We arrived back in Bangkok and happily retreated to our hotel. We ventured out briefly for dinner, but otherwise turned in. 

In our three days, we failed to see the side of Bangkok that included ragey, alcohol benders and drug-induced comas with prostitutes and transgender strippers. Maybe we weren't in the right parts of town for that or maybe we just didn't stay up late enough. Instead, we did get a strong sense that Bangkok is a huge, densely populated city with a lot of poor people. It was fascinating and exciting, but also totally overwhelming to behold. We skipped a lot of meals in those three days because we were too tired and too hot to eat, and because it was too intimidating to venture outside. As we packed up our bags that night, we were both glad we came, but excited to move on to our next stop in Chiang Mai.  

Curtains

So, on the long list of things that were bugging me about the house was curtains. Like every old house, our windows are not standard size. The previous owner left behind some store-bought options that weren't exactly our taste, but more importantly, didn't come close to touching the ground. They reminded me a lot of that kid who had a growth spurt over the summer and then came back in the fall with pants that are three inches too short. Are they long shorts or short pants? Some new style i'm not aware of? [Awkward].

At first I tried just rotating around the various options she left behind, but it was clear that that was not a permanent option. Not only were all of the leftover curtains kind of cheesy, but they all had the same too-short issue.

So I started looking for new options. Because of the unique size, finding premade curtains that would fit was impossible. The only place I found was Pottery Barn, which had some lovely options. We particularly liked these, but at $300 per window, it wasn't going to happen any time soon. Since the shortness was bothering me, and these are all our south-facing windows, so the summer sun was getting really warm-- I needed a cheaper option. 

Slowly the idea of making my own curtains started growing on me. I had never sewed anything really, but I did some googling and found a number of blogs that made it look easy, like this one.  I remembered that I had received a sewing machine as a graduation gift from college that was sitting in my dad's attic in storage.  I found a place called onlinefabricstore.com that despite its cryptic name, turned out to sell fabric. 

We picked two fabrics that were both under $20 per yard, and got material to line them to keep more light out, and additional material to make sheers- all for what it would have cost to buy one window from PB. 

Tragically, the sewing machine that was in storage at my dad's was misplaced in the fire. We think it's in storage somewhere, but had no luck funding it. So, when I happened to be browsing for new sewing machines on amazon, I discovered that you can actually get a good option for really cheap, so I bought a new one. 

So, all geared up with my new machine and loads of fabric, I decided to give it a go! 

Honestly, it took about a half hour to get the machine set up. I don't get why that part has to be so complicated. Then, I started out with the office. I cut the length of the main material, and then a second panel of lining to match. Then I cut an inch off of each side of the lining so that it was the same length but slightly more narrow than the main panel, and sewed them together along the long seams. Then, along the top, I flipped the material over and sewed a hem with a pocket for the pole to fit through- and hung them. Voila- success!

They aren't hemmed yet- since I expect we'll want to replace the curtain rod at some point in the future (and I was just anxious to get them up there). I'm pretty happy with them- the fabric is more interesting than just plain. They are lined, so they can keep out the sun pretty well. They fit the window, and are made out of real fabric (cotton is real).

So, buoyed by my new sense of confidence, I decided to move on to the green room (our summer bedroom). Remembering the advice of one of the blogs, I decided to cut the fabric and then throw in the wash to preshrink. I skipped this step for the first set and had lots of leftover fabric, so I thought I should heed the advice this time around.

I also skipped the lining, since these will have sheers behind them. Once washed and dried, I ironed them flat, and then pressed a small hem along the sides to sew closed.  I stitched up the sides, and did them same pole pocket top and hung them.

Panels getting ironed and pinned

As I stepped down from the chair, panic set in. The curtains were six inches too short. I was back to exactly where I started- except this time I had paid a lot to get there myself.  Feeling like a total idiot, I moped around for about a half hour. I expected the fabric to shrink by an inch or two, but it shrunk by at least a foot.

Then, I had an idea! I was making pole-pocket curtains, which create a pocket out of fabric for the curtain rod to fit through. If instead, I had no pocket, but a simple curtain hung with rings, I could save at least 6 inches of fabric (think of a sheet hung by clothespins, only a little nicer)! So we ran to target, paid $6 a window for the largest rings they had- and ran home. I stitched up the sides of a new panel, and then made the smallest hem across the top I could. Then I hung them and stood back.

It worked!!

Curtain on the left is the failed pole pocket. Curtain on the right is the simple, ring-hung panel that touches the ground!!

So, I continued with the remaining two panels for the other window. Then i ripped the seam out of the first panel and restitched it under the new approach.

Success! They all touch the ground!

I'm waiting on the new double curtain rods to arrive so I can rehang them and hem them. And I still need to make the sheers- but mostly I'm feeling pretty good about this project! At night they seem to keep out the street lights well, and during the day they let in just enough light to let the room glow. The fabric coordinates nicely with the bedding. And, it turns out that the rings are easier to open, so that's a nice unintended side effect.

I won't pretend the quality is quite the same as a professional curtain, but you really can't tell unless you get right up in them, and if you're getting that close to my curtains, then shame on you anyways!

Total time= 1 weekend

Active time = ~15 hours

Painting the Garage

Ok, so you may remember from the yard discussion that the garage was originally orange with yellow trim. As we were landscaping, I painted the side of the garage that faces the house, but I sort of cheated and didn't paint the back of the garage. I felt kind of bad that our neighbors still had to stare at the ugliness, so i've been meaning to finish painting it for a while. I decided it would be a good furlough day project.

So this is what it looked like to start. Sorry for the colors- it was really sunny so the pics are all kind of blown out.

First step was to scrape everything. The paint was really bubbled up, so this was super necessary and super slow. Particularly awful task on a hot day when the chips stick to you. 

Once scraped, I did a quick coat of primer. 

Then I covered it all in one coat of paint. 

I went back to edge with a brush, and voila- no more orange!

Then two coats of paint on the trim and ta daa!! All done. 

Itdn't she pretty? No more eyesore for us! The neighbors all seem appreciative. 

Total time= 1 week

Active time = 10 hours

Total cost = ~$50