4. 07/07 - 15/07 - Friends, Friends and more Friends

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09/07/07

Woke up bright and shiny (well about 10ish) today and managed to move apartments first thing. We've moved to Haadrin Hill Bungalows which is cheaper and nicer than Same Same, and most importantly closer to the beach and therefore the nightlife (all the bar/clubs worth going to are on the beach). We also found a Thai cafe so things are looking up on the food/cost of, front. The weather wasn't fantastic so we spent the afternoon on our balcony playing Shithead and Rummy (Barrie generally wins but he hasn't lost interest yet), and even managed to maintain our full pack of cards despite it being windy (1 of the cards did get blown of the balcony (3 of Spades, v important to Shithead) but we managed to find it in a bush!). After dinner we had a 2 and a half hour power nap (although strangely daytime sleeping makes me feel anything but 'powerful', more Montgomery Burns than Hulk Hogan), and headed out for a beer and a few episodes of friends at Casablanca restaurant. We've been cracking on with Chang, the local cheap and strong beer, and we've now got used to it, especially the fact that you definitely should pace yourself. In good spirits, we headed for the Cactus Bar on Hat Rin beach (all the best club/bars have a inside club part with dance floor, DJ and bars, as well as a fireshow, flaming limbo and tables/chairs on the sand). We tucked into a few more Changs and eventually found ourselves dancing the night away on the beach. Luckily Barrie managed to dance (nothing else) with a girl called Vicki (zero attraction evident, don't blame him) and i got stuck talking to her mate whilst she drooled round after Barrie (in similar fashion to the behaviour Barrie sports on any night out). Hilariously it actually took for Barrie to get invited back to her's to play 'cards', before he grew the balls to make it clear he wasn't interested (good old Baz). I ducked off early (partly to stitch him up), and had an earlyish night (about 4).

10/07/07

We woke up about 11, i felt fresh after a night of taking it easy on the booze and going to bed at 4, Barrie on the other hand looked rough as he got in at 6!! Still we made it to the beach via Breakfast for 12, and i spent the day sulking cos i can't play bat and ball, or do any real swimming, due to my injuries. It was also v windy so despite the beach looking great with its fine white sand, i went back to the apartment with most of it glued to my body...After a long shower and 'non-optional' exfoliation, head to toe, we headed out for early dinner and watched friends and Blades of Glory (we've dropped down to 2 meals a day for 2 reasons, 1 with beers every night we're trying to avoid the calories , and 2, one of the guys we met explained to us the drinking mantra 'eating is cheating', soup or ice cream only pre-Beers). As you may have noted we've been watching Friends, Friends and more Friends, they play it in a couple of the restaurants so we catch a few episodes over dinner/a beer in the evening. Not the most quintessential (hope i've spelt that correctly) travelling activity but helps the homesickness if you've got a smile on your face.

After the film we headed back, had another power nap, and got ready and went out for the evening, starting with a couple of beers whilst watching Die Hard 4. We headed to the Cactus Bar AGAIN, it seems to be the busiest club, the drinks are cheap and they provide entertainment til 12 (fire show and limbo). I had an early one, turning in at half two, although partly because Barrie broke his 'Swedish' duck and basically binned me for a blonde Swedish girl (cheers mate). Needless to say Mr 'Dog on Heat' had a 'fulfilling' evening, and i've heard about it ever since..................

We've also made some new friends on Ko Pha Ngan, Isi, Melaina and Sian, 3 trainee Lawyers fresh out of law school. All 3 are great company and we've been spending a fair bit of time with Isi, who is in a similar boat to Barrie (single), so they can ogle girls at the beach (Amy, i'd never be that demeaning towards women) and go out on the prowl in the evenings.

11/07/07

We woke up fresh (ish) on Wednesday, viewing Haad Rin through our usual hangover daze, and impressively made it to the beach by 12. This was a waste of time as it started raining soon after and we killed the afternoon on the internet. I particularly can't wait to get on the internet, it allows me to catch up on important things such as, whether Man Utd have signed
Carlos Tevez, oh, and e-mail Amy, family and friends......We did download some pics to the blog, which took some time, and assuaged our fears that we had lost them due to the 'Mummified Monk incident'. Surprisingly we tucked into dinner whilst watching Friends, and went for our early evening power nap. We got up at 8 and headed out for a couple of Chang's (beers not Chinese girls) whilst we watched Ocean's 11.

We were seriously blowing bubbles tonight, yawning throughout the film, and in all honesty, its probably because we feel like every day is Groundhog Day. We desperately needed to change something, so we went to the Cactus Bar (again), got pissed (again, although i'm laying off it a bit so 5 beers was my pathetic sum total), Barrie chased girls (again, although i don't think anything will live up to his Swedish 'Dream Girl', who i have been hearing about today, over and over again), although we did break with tradition and actually talked homesickness whilst out. We are both starting to miss people (and no, i'm not mentioning who the most), and had a chat about 'things' but we've got each other to keep us going so we'll be ok. On a brighter note the Cactus Bar haid an arm-wrestling contest (more of an Ad Hoc winner stays on basis) and i'm glad to announce that an absolute w%$ker who spent 5 minutes pre-wrestle stretching and generally pulling his shirt sleeves to the heavens was soundly beaten (no not me...............).

12/07/07

I woke up on Thursday feeling a bit down, homesickness, crap weather, boredom, bit of disillusionment with Haad Rin and Ko Pha Ngan (i can see the attraction if your 21, or just finished uni and want some fun or your a dreadlocked, kaftan wearing tattooed hippy but if you actually want to engage with Thai culture, enjoy Thai food and interact with Thai people that aren't numbed by the masses of pissed foreigners, i would give Ko Pha Ngan a miss. Now i'm no expert, but from what i've heard and experienced, give Ko Samui, Ko Tao or the West Coast Islands a blast).

However, that all disappeared when i looked out of the window, the clouds have gone. Now we've been blessed with reasonable weather, warm enough to tan and spend all day at the beach with a few rainy days thrown in, but this was something else. The sun was shining, it was almost unbearably hot, life was good again, and to the beach we marched. Spirits lifted we discussed some of life's great questions. Forgot how to end world famine, how about Who will win the Premier League? Why can't you swim and pee in the sea at the same time? Raising as many questions as were answered, the day passed in a blur. With momentum gathering we skipped a nap and hit the weights (well we have improvised and have started curling water bottles, carrier bags full of water bottles, ruck sacks full of water bottles!!!). Following weights we played some cards (Barrie won again but i'm getting more competitive) and headed out to watch an awesome film with Justin Timberlake in, Alpha Dog. Now, i'm not gonna spoil the storyline but think a 'white America's' version of Boyz in the Hood. Its a fantastic potrayal of white drug, gun and gang culture in 21st Century America, and even a bit emotional..............well worth seeing. We were also blessed with our first monsoon style rain during the film, which pleased me no end, it was clearing the skies for tomorrow.

13/07/07

Despite an early night we didn't get up til 11:15 today (partly because Haad Rin is party town and it seems the Ministry of Sound do a set on our balcony until 6 in the morning), this was a bit of a pain seeing as we were supposed to move to Thong Nai Pan Noi today and check out was 11. So we changed our plans and decided to stay in Haad Rin until Monday when we were heading back to Bangkok to get Amy. We limped to the beach via breakfast, where we got chatting to our Burmese (now Myanmar) waiter, Chika. He spoke quite impressive, if excitable, English, and let us know he was a Man United and Wayne Looney fan (not sure of this was the typical Asian mis-pronunciation, or just a description of his playing style....). He also let us know about Burmese Kick Boxing, which is similar to the Thai version ie anything goes including elbows, knees but they don't wear gloves..........note to self, do not argue with anyone from Burma. Chika also explained that the reason he worked 80-90 hours a week in Thailand for 5000 Bahts a month (about 78 pound), was that in Burma, he'd earn the equivalent of 2000 Bahts. This was quite sobering and certainly has made me appreciate the opportunities and wealth we have in the UK. I guess not having enough money to go on 2 holidays a year or get pissed every weekend pails into insignificance when you compare it to having to leave your home country and family and send money home because they are poor. Something to think about........

We hit the beach by 13:00, generally roasted for a few hours and then e-mailed Amy as it was her last day at work!!!!!!! Craving some calories, cholesterol and junk food we stopped for a fried egg burger and some Friends for dinner, hit the spot.......We got all manly when we got back to the apartment and did some clothes washing (Barrie took on the Dot Cotton role, myself Pauline Fowler), before i stuffed Barrie at cards. This was a momentous moment for me, which i can only compare to graduating from University or proposing to Amy, and funnily enough, we haven't played since.......someone is scared i think. In good spirits we headed down to reception at 10 to get some cash from the safety deposit box as we were in the mood for a big night out.....................but it was shut. All our cash was locked away, bank cards etc, and we had little or no money to go out with. After some f'ing and blinding we decided to be resourceful and head back to the apartment to search every draw and pocked for cash. 15 minutes later we had scraped together 177 Bahts, or 3 pound, hardly enough when 2 beers costs 100 Baht. Gutted, we decided to play cards til midnight and drink local whisky to get the job done.

After cards we went to the Cactus Bar and bought out Whisky Bucket (140 Bahts), which left us potless. Whilst we were vaguely merry, 2 weeks on 6.4% beer has toughened us up so we resigned ourselves to a nights sober clubbing!! We met up with Isi and a couple of other backpackers, Eve (scouser and Liverpool fan, still not everyone is perfect) and Josh (American), and headed for a new bar, shock horror. Isi kindly lent us enough for another bucket (Vodka this time), and then Barrie was he/she'd. By he/she'd i meant robbed, of his phone. After we downed the bucket (about 2 minutes) Barrie was approached by a he/she that had clearly been swimming. Soaking wet she crawled all over Barrie as he tried to push 'it' away. By the time he had, and had noticed, she had slipped off with his mobile phone. Barrie spent the next 2 hours hunting for 'it' around Haad Rin beach, before i persuaded him to admit defeat (it is very un-wise to cause agro with locals, which Barrie attacking 'it' would have. A) They out-number us. B) They go all-in, no holds barred, and no good can come of this. We tried to enjoy the night but eventually gave up and headed for home. Luckily to top the night off (we decided to walk along the beach, and no, we haven't turned gay) we bumped into 2 pissed Thai birds who generally begged for sex etc, and then preceded to hit my a few times in the arm/chest when i told them to get bent. Luckily i'm nails so the blows bounced off and we walked (quickly) home................

14/07/07

We were up by 11 and at the beach by 12 for another glorious day of sunning ourselves, and this seemed to pick Barrie up despite the loss of a few personal photos and videos (oh yeh.....) and numbers from his phone. Bat and ball has been resurrected due to my recovery from a career threatening injury, and we hit an impressive 185. We met up again with Isi, whose other friends Melaina and Sian have headed to Ko Tao, and took him for a fried egg burger and Friends after the beach (creatures of habit or what!!). It is also worth noting that Barrie played beach footie with some Dutch, Spanish and Chilean guys and has crippled himself (his right foot looks like something the Elephant Man would be proud of). We are in Bangkok now, on the 17th, and he can't walk properly.

We had now run out of cash so we headed for the bank to exchange some cash, but is closed at 15:30!!! Fearing some de ja vu from last night, we remembered there was another exchange bureau, our night was rescued. We headed back, slept til 20:30, exchanged some US Dollars and headed out, with our final destination being the Black Moon Party. Few beers at the Cactus Bar and Same Same Bar (live band which was a nice change) followed, and we jumped in our cab for the Black Moon Party. Now Ko Pha Ngan has got one thing off to a tee, squeezing every last penny out of Westerners. It was 500 Bahts each for the return taxi and entrance, each, which doesn't sound much but thats before you buy drinks, and a usual night out will cost 600 Bahts between us. The party was also a bit of a let down, a very pale imitation of the Full Moon Party and set near Ban Tai, which involved a cab along some decidedly dodgy roads. Still we made the most of it, enjoyed the 1 DJ and 1 style of music, all-night, and just made the most of the phrase 'mai kraph, i don't want any pills'. There were also plenty of Thais so we got the usual hassle from the chicks, although my politeness is starting to slip, and they get the message pretty quick. We headed back at 5 with Josh, leaving Isi and Eve to it.

15/07/07

Woke up at 11, hangoverless (due to the cost of drinks and our desire to stick to our budget, free spirits eh) but absolutely knackered, i didn't get to sleep til the sun came up and the Ministry of Sound finished its funky house set on our balcony. Sunny again, we religiously headed for the beach, but were so tired we forgot the bat and ball. I was good for nothing but lying down, and the day passed hotly, under the glaring sun. Dinner (and Friends), was followed by a nap (we wanted to be as fresh as possible tomorrow as we were heading for Bangkok and Amy, yippee), and we met Isi at 8 in the pub to chew the cud over last night.

Ridiculously he had got back from the party later than us, about 6 i think, and decided to go back. He braved the return taxi on a moped cab (lunatic), but was dropped in the middle of nowhere. After stumbling through jungle for 10 minutes he stumbled across humanity and was kindly guided to the BM Party. Unsurprisingly, he seemed a little jaded tonight. We also bumped into Eddy from Hitchin, Herts (apologies if this is wrong Eddy, correct me if so) and were entertained by his stories of his trip so far. Both Isi and Eddy could meet up with us at a later date which would be good. Later in the Cactus Bar i got chatting with Yolanda from Switzerland (Isi was meeting her friend), whose uncle is the owner of Heidi's Patisseries, small world. He started up 40 years ago with 5 swiss francs, and now has about 10 shops and 80 staff.

We headed back at midnight for an early night. I was in great spirits because we were going to pick up amy in less than 48 hours and i was kinda glad to be leaving Haad Rin/Ko Pha Ngan, the San Antonio/Ibiza of Thailand!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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