Koh Mak

One of my friends and former Wall Street teacher, Liz, was getting married on this little island called Koh Mak in the South East of Thailand and fortunately I was able to take the time off from work to attend the wedding. I was going to travel to the island with another Wall Street teacher, Jim, his friend Rik, a Wall Street Manager, Jesse, and one of our PTs, Pyo. It was definitely going to be an interesting journey. I woke up extremely early on Thursday morning to a lovely rain storm. I was hoping the rain would pass and it would be sunny on the island, unfortunately that did not come to fruition. We got on a bus to travel to Trat at 7am. We were assigned seats in the middle of the bus, but the bus attendant just took us to the back of the bus at least 4 or 5 rows behind all the other Thais. It kind of made me feel a bit segregated as if we were not good enough to sit near the Thais as if we had some kind of disease. The good thing about being placed in the back of the bus was that we all pretty much got our own row of seats so we could actually lay out and sleep. 6 hours later we finally made it to Trat and the bus/van station would arrange our boat ride to the island. The bus had not stopped once so some of us headed straight for the toilet while others were in desperate need of a cigarette. We arranged for a speed boat to take us to the island because the slow boat would have taken 3 hours compared to the 45 minute ride we would take with the speed boat. The water was also a bit rough due to the storms so the slow boat would have been a very long journey. While we waited at the bus/van stop in Trat we noticed that there was a pig wandering around, we weren't too worried about it. The pig pretty much kept to itself so we weren't too worried about it wandering around the station, but when we would come back in a couple of days we were going to be thoroughly surprised. While waiting for the boat, Jesse, who hates being on boats was filling himself up with beer so not to get sea sick. It was quite funny to watch him get so anxious before going on the boat. Once we were on the boat both Pyo ad Jesse put on their life jackets immediately because neither of them could swim and the sea wasn't the calmest.

Pretty much all the Thai/Cambodian passengers put on their life jackets as soon as they got on the boat. I thought we would be fine but if it puts their minds at ease then they should wear a life jacket. The boat ride was very long and wet, I could not wait to get off the boat. It wasn't the worst boat ride I have ever been on but it wasn't the best. We were immediately greeted at the pier by our hotel van and we were immediately taken to our hotel. Koh Mak is quite a deserted island with very few people, homes, or transportation. We knew we would be a bit bored especially since it was raining but I could see how this place would be a great place to escape to when the weather is nice. Once we got to the hotel we were immediately greeted by Liz, who started off apologizing for the weather. She wasn't even sure we would make it to the island because of the storm earlier in the day. She was worried that the boats weren't even running. Once we put down our bags in our room we went back to the restaurant, where everyone hung out, to have some lunch. After our day of traveling with no stops we were all really hungry. The rest of the afternoon we spent sitting in the semi-outdoor dinning room talking and drinking.

By early evening the weather had started to clear up so Pyo and I decided to explore a bit while the wedding party did their rehearsal. We walked along the beach and pier; we were just so excited that it wasn't raining. Once the wedding rehearsal was done we all meet back up to drink and have dinner. We had a nice large party only missing Jesse because he drank a little too much and passed out at 7:30. We spent the whole time telling loads of stories and laughing. After dinner some of the group decided to go swimming while the other part of the group decided to play cards on Liz's deck. We were all having a great time until the rains started going again and that kind of killed the mood. We had to run back to our room in the torrential rain but at least we could have a nice warm shower to make us feel better. We went to bed relatively early hoping that in the morning it would not be raining so we could head out to this island that you could reach by foot from our hotel during low tide. At 6:30 the next morning my alarm woke me up and as I listened to the rain outside I decided it would be pointless to get up, so I rolled back over and slept some more. It is so hard to wake up when it is raining, all I ever want to do is sleep. Thankfully Pyo was there to get me out of bed and make me go to breakfast. We were the only ones up having breakfast so we sat for a while watching the storm blow past the resort until David came from his resort to work on the wedding music.As we were about to look through the music David realized he lost his glasses on the walk over to the resort so we walked back with him to search the beach and grounds for his glasses as well as check out the neighboring resort. It was a quaint little place which would have been a nice place to stay at as well. We sat in the restaurant admiring the storm from our seats as the others ate. After a while Pyo and I decided to head back to our resort and relax a bit. We ended up going back to the room to warm-up and watch television. I went back to sleep, because that is what rain does to me, while Pyo busied himself in the room. Finally at about 1 the rain had slowed down considerably so Pyo and I went to check out the area around the resort. There wasn't too much stuff within walking distance of the resort, but we found a fun little restaurant and a massage place. The only way we would get to see anything else on the island was to rent motor bikes, which we were not going to do because it was already late in the afternoon and both of us are not very good motor bike drivers. We decided to to get a Thai massage instead, my first massage in Thailand and Pyo's first ever massage. It was a pretty good massage I did ask for a strong massage, but I felt that the lady could have used a bit more strength. It must have been a strong massage because throughout the massage the lady kept asking if I was ok and at the end of the massage she asked again. Throughout the massage I kept saying "yep, great it doesn't hurt at all." After the massage we went back to the resort and began walking the beach in the opposite direction of our morning excursion. There really wasn't much at this end of the beach just a few little beach huts with hammocks, surfboards, a rope swing, interesting looking fruit, and rocks.

 I really wish it had been sunny because I really could have gotten a great tan because all I would have done was sit by the beach and tan. By about 3 the sun started to make its appearance and after a bit more exploring we started to get dressed for the wedding. The ceremony was to begin at 5 and originally set to be in the garden but do to the monsoon warning and the rain all day they decided to move everything into the reception hall. It was still a very beautiful venue. There were so many orchids on the tables, chairs, and altar. The resort had really done a nice job with the flowers. There weren't too many people at the wedding so it was a very intimate affair. Liz's walk was quite fast and the ceremony wasn't very long. The ceremony was presided over by the very nice Thai many who did have a little difficulty pronouncing some of the words in the script Liz and David had created but he still did a great job. Jesse did the reading which was a Bob Marley quote that was so Liz and David. The ceremony was over quickly and we were all ushered outside to take photos.

Wallstreet Group!

 Liz wanted loads of pictures with her guest so we did them on the balcony outside the reception room, on the pier, and in the garden. We had sunshine for the entire ceremony and the taking of pictures but as we were taking our last photos in the garden you could see the storm clouds rolling in and a few drops began to fall as we started walking back to the reception hall and as we took our shoes off outside the door the flood gates opened to a torrential downpour. The rest of the evening was spent dancing, drinking, and eating with all the normal wedding traditions of the bouquet toss, cake cutting, and the first dance. The best man and maid of honor speeches were so sweet and heartfelt. Unlike most wedding I have been to the bride and groom were asked to open one of their gifts in front of everyone and it was a honeymoon. A couple of the guests chipped in money to buy Liz and David an airline ticket and hotel room to Bali. At first Liz and David stood there staring at the gift, because Katie, who organized the whole thing, did not buy the tickets yet so they made fake tickets. So Katie and the others told them that those tickets were fake because we didn't have their passports but when we get your passports we will get you the real ones. Liz and David thought it was a joke not realizing that no one was joking, everyone had to tell them a couple of times that they really were going to Bali. Finally they realized that they really did get a honeymoon as a gift and were really grateful. To see the emotions on both their faces was so worth it. You know that they truly were not expecting this and really did not want gifts from their guests they were just happy we all came. The whole night was full of fun and dancing eventually we went to our rooms to finish off the booze and hang out. Some of our group went to bed while others went to the pool while we stayed in our room watching the pool group from our balcony. We thought it was much safer to sit on the balcony and watch as they played drunken chicken and Marco polo. We learned the next morning how much safer it was to sit and watch from the sidelines while someone hit their head on the side of the pool and another person was kicked in the eye during the game of chicken. We did finally go to bed because we unfortunately had to leave very early the next morning, we were told that the bus to the pier was leaving at 10:30 so we could get to the pier for the 11 o'clock boat so that we could catch the 12 o'clock bus back to Bangkok.

 Unfortunately the next morning the weather was gorgeous and our boat had broken down so we had to leave later than planned meaning we had to catch the later bus to Bangkok. We really didn't want to wait for the later bus because we didn't want to get to Bangkok so late in the evening. The journey back to the mainland was quite calm, the boat ride was smooth but once we got to the bus/van stop all hell broke loose. By the time we got to the van/bus stop we had missed the first bus and no other bus would come until 2. So we decided it was time to hunker down and eat. The last time we were at the stop the pig left people alone and hung out by the kitchen, but this time it was running around wreaking havoc. It was sniffing and chewing on everyone's bags, coming under chairs to get to people's food and butts, throwing chairs and boxes across the stop (and yes it really did throw the items across the van/bus stop) and in general it was running around the van/bus stop like a bat out of hell. Needless to say for an hour we were left alone with this pig and never had I felt more scared of an animal in my life. It would come charging at our table out of no where leaving a trail of sludge and stink behind. When we got our food it ran over so quickly we all jumped into our seats so fast that Jesse had broken his chair in the process.

We all screamed while the staff thought it was the funniest thing they ever saw. The pig left us for a bit so we began to feel safe so I decided to chance it and stand up to look in my bag and as I did that the pig ran past me grazing my leg. I literally screamed at the top of my lungs and somehow jumped into the chair as the Thai staff laughed hysterically at me. It took me a good minute or two to calm down and this all happened while Jesse had escaped to the toilet. As Jesse was coming back to the table the pig decided to run to that side of the van/bus stop tossing two plastic chairs in his direction. Had he been 10 seconds earlier he would have been hit by the flying chairs. The pig then ran off in the direction of the toilets which did not help Pyo or I because we both desperately needed to go to the toilet before getting on the bus. We tried waiting as long as possible hoping the pig would come back but when it was getting too late we had to just chance it and make our way to the toilets.

The Crazy Pig! 

I did a quick sign of the cross and cautiously walked toward the toilets next to Pyo. As we turned the corner to the toilets the pig came out of the mens toilet and ran into the adjoining field.We both quickly did our business hoping that the pig would be too interested in whatever it was doing in the field to follow or attack us. When we first left the toilets it seemed pretty interested in what it was doing, but when we looked back after walking 50 meters it emerged from the grass. We kept walking slowly but with urgency we were both so scared that it was going to chase or attack us. Thankfully it went in the opposite direction towards the kitchen. The pig pretty much left us alone for our last 30 minutes and when the bus finally came we ran to the bus hoping to never see that pig again. The bus ride back to Bangkok was pretty uneventful other than being so long. We had stopped numerous times to pick and drop off passengers we also got stuck in Bangkok traffic (no surprise there). I finally made it home and spent the rest of the evening relaxing and preparing for the next day at work.

Hong Kong

On Mom's first weekend in Thailand, well my weekend (Tuesday and Wednesday), we decided to go to visit a family friend, Suzi in Hong Kong. We were both very excited and couldn't wait to visit Hong Kong for the first time. We were pretty awful tourists we didn't do any research or buy any maps before going to Hong Kong. Originally we planned on jumping on one of those red double decker tourist buses, but I wasn't too keen on doing that while mom was but we planned to play it by ear. We woke up very early Monday morning to get to the airport with plenty of time to spare. We made it pretty quickly through immigration and anxiously awaited our flight. Even though our flight was  3 hours we were fed and had individual televisions in the headrest. It was very different from the United States where you are lucky to get fed on a 5 hour flight let alone a 3 hour flight. Once we began our decent into Hong Kong I had the most excruciating pressure in my head. I had very difficult time equalizing and my head felt like my face was being split open. It originally started during the decent when I was popping my ears and then the pain began in my ears traveled down my my jaw line and then to the center of my forehead. I was doing everything in my power to see the Hong Kong harbor. I managed, even through the excruciating pressure, to see the magnificent Hong Kong skyline. I always knew that there were a lot of skyscrapers and tall apartment buildings but to see them in person was truly amazing. I also couldn't believe how much green I could also see. Once we landed we made our way to a taxi driver Suzi arranged for us to take us to her home. She and her husband Barry, who was in the United States at the time, live in Sai Kung in a national forest. It was quite difficult to get there especially if you have never been to Hong Kong. After the hour drive we finally got to Suzi's home where we treated with a wonderful lunch and a greeting from 4 very friendly dogs. After a lovely lunch in the garden we began to plan our trip into Hong Kong thanks to the advice of Sasha, Suzi and Barry's daughter. We planned to catch one of the buses that pick up outside of Suzi's home and catch a transfer in Sai Kung where we will hop on the amazing subway system of Hong Kong. After the game plan was made Suzi took us up to the reservoir in the national forest for an afternoon swim with the dogs. We did have to wait until 5 because you are not allowed drive to the reservoir so we had to wait until the park rangers went home for the evening. 

The Reservoir

It was a very peaceful and quiet area, the water was a perfect temperature and extremely clean. It was a nice way to wash off the stink of traveling as well as cool down on a hot day. The trip to and from the reservoir was gorgeous I never thought that this place would exists in Hong Kong. Hong Kong is known for being a concrete jungle who would believe that something so beautiful would be here. I am so lucky that I know someone who does live in Hong Kong and she took us to see  the other side of Hong Kong. That night Suzi took us out for a traditional Cantonese dinner with 10 of her closest friends. We had a giant circular table with a large lazy susan in the center. They ordered about 9 or 10 dishes with enough food for us all to share. It was so nice to have someone order us traditional items and that we were able to taste so many differ kinds of traditional foods. I truly enjoy having meals like this because I am able to experience all kinds of food. After hours of eating and drinking we finally went home. Mom and I were completely exhausted, we had been up since 5 am so by 9  we were falling asleep at the table. The next morning we woke up at the crack of dawn once again for a full day of being a tourist. We took two buses to the subway and purchased a ticket for unlimited use of the subway lines in Hong Kong. I must say that the subway is the way to go in Hong Kong. It is really clean, the lines go everywhere, and most of the commuting is underground so you don't have to worry about being on the street to face the elements. Our first stop of the day was to The Peak. After getting off in Central Hong Kong we followed the signs to The Peak. The Peak is a place at the top of a mountain that overlooks Hong Kong, you can get there by an old time trolley or by bus. We decided to go for the full experience and go by the trolley. 

When we first got there we immediately saw hundreds of young children and we were a bit worried. They had already purchased their tickets so we just had to work through the crowd to get to the ticket window which had no line. Even though there were hundreds of kids we got on the trolley right away without the children. The trolley could not hold all the children and the group of tourists so fortunately the kids were taken off. Good thing for me because I hadn't had breakfast or coffee and it was too early in the morning for a cramped ride to the top of a mountain with screaming children. It is a pretty fun ride to the top of The Peak, you pass numerous high rise apartment buildings while still being surrounded by trees. I could not believe how tall these high rises actually are and that people actually live in them. I don't think I could live that high up. Once we got off the trolley mom and I decided to grab some breakfast at one of the many cafes on the top of The Peak. We had a nice breakfast sandwich and coffee while looking out the window to all of Hong Kong as well as  the trolleys coming and going. We then made our way to the first observation deck where we walked around a bit but I really wanted to go to the upper deck because I always like to go to the top of any structure when I visit a new city. 

There we took numerous photos of the Hong Kong skyline. It was a gorgeous day and we truly had some amazing shots. After taking loads of pictures mom and I walked around some of the shops and picked up a couple of souvenirs before heading back down to continue our exploration of Hong Kong. As we walked the streets one thing I immediately noticed was how clean Hong Kong is especially compared to Bangkok. I have been in numerous major cities and Hong Kong has got to be one of the cleanest. You never expect that from major cities, so it was another delightful surprise I experienced from Hong Kong. Finally after a little bit of searching found the bus to go to Stanley Market. The city of Stanley is a fishing village about 45 minutes outside the Central area of Hong Kong. It is known for its wonderful market. Stanley was a wonderful city with this great pier lined with restaurants and pubs. While we were in Stanley we visited Tin Hau Temple and Kwun Yam Temple. After exploring the city a bit more we ventured back to the market where we picked up painted Chinese writing of each of our family member's name. When mom gets back to the States she is going to have it framed to hang in the house. We thought it would be a cool art piece to have in the house, but unique enough to start conversations. I really enjoyed the market at Stanley, it was so much nicer than any of the markets in Bangkok. Parts of the market had air conditioning and the market was really clean. What I really loved seeing was all the art pieces if I had a home of my own and a way to ship these pieces I can see myself buying a couple of them. We didn't want to waste our afternoon in a market so we caught a bus back to Hong Kong to continue our excursion. 

We went to the Chi Lin Nunnery next and it was absolutely gorgeous. It was this beautiful wooden monastery built in the middle of concrete buildings. It had beautiful gardens and Lily ponds. It was so surprising to see such a calm and peaceful place like this in the middle of Hong Kong. We then hopped on the subway to see Wong Tai Sin Temple. This is another religious place in the middle of concrete buildings but surprisingly quiet. I really enjoy going to Chinese Buddhist Temples. I love the details and colors that are used. I thoroughly enjoy spending my time looking at all the intricate details each temple has to offer. After the temple I really wanted to have high tea at The Peninsula so mom and I hustled toward that part of the city so to make it in time. 

We did make it with plenty of time and we were able to have a traditional British afternoon tea complete with clotted cream, warm scones, fresh jam, finger sandwiches, and lovely desserts. It was a nice way to wind down after a hectic day of traveling and being a tourist. After tea we began walking towards the pier because we wanted to take a ferry ride across the harbor. On the way there we happened across this great historical restoration area called1881. I believe it was an old fort with a lighthouse and weather devices that was converted into restaurants and shops but still maintained a lot of it's old features. There was an old home that had been restored but the inside was still historical and stunning. We had a lot of fun exploring 1881 and were happy to happen across it. We arrived at the pier in time to catch a ferry in which we got to see sunset from our seats. It was a good day we finally made it back to Suzi's at 9:30 and we were thoroughly exhausted. We had a quick dinner and went straight to bed. The next morning we got up early with Suzi to have a walk in the forest with the dogs. There was a lovely path that went through an old time village and former tin factory that ran along the river. It is was a great way to start off the morning it was so peaceful and relaxing to have a walk with Suzi and Mom. After our walk we went to the seaport in Sai Kung to have a traditional Cantonese breakfast of dim sum and dumplings. I was so happy that I was able to have traditional dim sum before I went back to Thailand. I know that I went to a traditional place because all the elders of the city were there first thing in the morning having their morning dim sum. After running a couple of errands in the city we went home to pack so we could  go on our final adventure in Hong Kong before going to the airport. I wanted to ride the cable cars to see the giant Buddha.We took the crystal cable car so that the floor of the car was all glass so we could see everything as we went to the Buddha. It was kind of a long journey but it was really fun to go over the water, see the airport, travel over the mountains, and see the forest. Once we got off the cable car we exited into a little village full of stores and restaurants. It really was a cute little town. We walked through the town and went in search of the giant Buddha, which isn't too hard to find. 

We then had to climb hundreds of stairs to to the actual Buddha, which really showed me how out of shape I really am. The Buddha was worth all the bitching and moaning because it was pretty amazing and the view was spectacular. The climb down was so much nicer and easier. We then visited another Chinese Buddhist temple and then we made our way back down to civilization. We still had a lot of time before our flight left so we decided to walk around the mall and area surrounding the cable cars to just kill some time. We then made our way to the airport in hopes that we could catch an earlier flight to Bangkok. Unfortunately when we got to the airport the 11pm flight was had was the only night flight. Of course this always happens when you have to work the next day, the flight was over an hour late. When we finally arrived in Bangkok of course every other international flight arrived at the same exact time so the line for Passport Control was extremely long with not very many passport agents working the desks. We ended up waiting in line for nearly 2 hours. So by the time I got home and in bed it was 5 am and I needed to get up at 9. Needless to say I was a little exhausted at work but the whole trip to Hong Kong was so worth it. 

I took so many wonderful pictures in Hong Kong please check out my Flickr account to see them all:
Hong Kong Photos