Slideshow of Pictures

We have posted a slide show of all the pictures from the Thailand Trip https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B15goOvfR6vQemtzd1BFNFZxTFU/

Enjoy!

Final Posting from Thailand

We hope everyone had fun reading about our Thailand trip over the past three weeks. We have had an incredible trip, but unfortunately today is our last day here and we are headed back to the US this evening. We just finished packing our luggage with all sorts of gifts and keepsakes from Thailand. The past two days we layed low by finishing up some last minute shopping as well as saying good bye to a lot of family. This was one of the best trips I have taken and couldn't have asked for more. We will each post some final impressions of Thailand once we get home, but, in the meantime, here are some pictures of our final days here.

See everyone in the US soon! We will also be stopping by Silverbrook to see Murphy and his training progress!

We will also be going on a diet from the all the constant eating we did on this trip.  I think I may have gained ten pounds.

Picking out my fish for our last dinner in Koh Samui.

Said fish.

Tuna app.

The best banana pancakes as advertised by the street food cart.  Pretty darn good.

Sushi dinner when we got back to Bangkok.

The salmon set.

Tuk Tuk at the convention center.

Fresh spring roll and yen ta pho noodles.

Deep fried herbs, fish ball stuffed with salted egg, fried calamari, and calamari soup.

Desserts - French style.

Open air market.

Shrimp pad thai wrapped with egg.

Tapioca stuff with a sweet pork and peanut.

Fried oysters with egg and tapioca. 

Protests - Thai style, it felt more like a concert. 

Afternoon pick me up with P'Som.

Our last dinner here in Thailand - Ba Nom hosted a wonderful family dinner at her home, so we could say goodbye to everyone. Above is Waterfall beef.

Chicken larb.

Bamboo shoot salad.

Grilled chicken.

Deep fried mini whole calamari.

P' Por's family.

Lueng Nien's family.

Mangosteen - not in season, but we still managed to find some at the market.

Renee's first taste of mangosteen, she liked it!

Na Nee and Ba Nom.

P' Bong's family.

P' Pui and her mother in law. 

Last full day on the island

Today is the last full day in Koh Samui and we wish we had a couple more days here before we start to head home.  Monika says that after looking at our pictures she thinks that we have vacation face and in her words, "For me that means when it is obvious that the person is so truly relaxed. It takes especially long vacations for me to experience letting go of thinking that returning to work is just around the corner."

I would tend to agree with her that this has been one of the best and relaxing vacations that we have taken and I don't want to see it end, however we do want to get back home and see the Murph-dog and all of our family and friends.  I think that was probably a run on sentence, but this is my blog and I do what I want!

Anyways, back to what everyone is looking for - pictures of food! There are also pictures of our excursion today, where we went to the Ang Tong Marine Park.  Happy Monday and see everyone soon!

Late night munchies. (you wouldn't think a silly bag of chips would be spicy, but those drum stick thingy's were f'ing HOT! -says Renee)

Our lunch spot yesterday - see the vacation face?

More vacation face.

Chicken ka-pow. (good, but Renee wanted more Thai Basil)

Koi Soi - a little different than the one we had up in the north but still equally as good.

We went back to Cafe 69 for dinner since it was so good the first time.  Duck red curry wontons.

Fried rice Tom Yum - interesting twist on fried rice - super spicy.

Salt egg stuffed chicken legs in a penang curry.

Kayaking today at the Marine Park.

A view of the Marine Park.

A shot of us.

I think we had to climb about 10 flights of stairs similar to this to get to the Emerald Lagoon.

The Emerald Lagoon.

Adventures in Koh Sumui

The Fisherman's Village does a night market every Friday night, so we decided to check it out after a day of relaxing on the beach. We had heard it could get really crowded, but it was nothing compared to the night market in Chiang Mai. We managed to get all the remaining souvenirs/gifts we had been looking for, so it was also a productive night. We read that you can get cheap cocktails from the drink carts and really yummy street food, so we decided that was going to be our dinner for the evening. Cocktails were only 70 baht (a little over 2 bucks each..um, yes please) and the street food was delicious. It was a really fun night!

We didn't actually eat any insects, but of course we had to take a picture.

Our Mai Tai's for 70 baht and delicious little noodle thingy's!

Today was our trip to Koh Tao and another island nearby (blanking on the name at the moment). We took a speedboat to these islands which took about 1 hr 30 mins. Both the scenery on the way there and once we got there was beautiful!! We had the option to go snorkeling, but Natie and I don't really enjoy doing that very much, so instead, we walked around the island which is famous for gorgeous viewpoints. They had a trail that you walk up that led you to an amazing viewpoint above the islands (was about a 15 minute hike straight up the island, so not too bad). Definitely worth the little trek (and my body definitely needed the exercise) - check out the pics below. 

View from the top of the view point...picture doesn't even do it justice.

More amazing island views.

Once we got back, we got showered and dressed up for our fancy evening out. We had decided we would do at least once fancy dinner out where we would get dressed up and spend more than 20 bucks on dinner (which is actually hard to do around here, ha). Earlier in the week we had endured a 90 minute presentation which tried to convince us to buy a vacation package, but in doing that, we got a 4,000 baht voucher (appx 121 bucks in US dollars). So, in the end, the painful presentation was worth it. There is a very good restaurant here at our resort called Full Moon, which gets great reviews, so we decided to try it out. The meal was delicious - we got lots of seafood since we are staying on the water and it was a nice little break from all the thai food we've been eating.

Natie's Sea Bass marinated in Thai spices along with some veggies, salad and potatoes.

My Snow Fish (never heard of it but it was sooo good) topped with Fois Gras (yum) and stacked on top of creamy polenta with some veggies.

Kahula and Chocolate Tiramisu - so good!

our fancy date night picture :)

Tomorrow, Natie and I are going to hike to a nearby waterfall and then laze around at the beach/pool the rest of the day. On Monday, we have another excursion lined up to go see the National Marine Park that is nearby. Stay tuned!! 

Can't believe we only have a week left, but definitely missing Murphy (we seriously look at pics of him everyday) and Owen (please send me a pic, Megs...I need a fix) and dying to meet our newest little friend, Aleksander Klancer!!! XOXO

First Days in Koh Samui

On Wednesday, we took off from Bangkok and headed about an hour and some change, south to the island of Koh Samui. We decided to stay at the Anantara Resort on the north side of the island in Bophut near the Fisherman's Village.  We chose this side of the island because we heard it was a bit quieter than the bustling Chaweng Beach where all the youngens go to party - man we are getting old. We are also able to walk to a lot of places around here, which was another advantage.  

For tomorrow we booked a day trip to one of the other islands here, Koh Tao, where we will be able to sightsee and get some good pictures.  Hopefully we can get those posted soon, but in the meantime here are some of the pictures so far of the hotel and the food on the island.

We are sad that it is our last week here but are excited to see how Murphy and his training with Trish at Silverbrook Kennels are doing.