Wet Market Day... (June 23, 2006)

Another weekend and very fortune that one of our power user, Kris, offered to bring us to a wet market since she knew that we always cook our food and we always buy it from Spinneys. She came to our apartment to pick us up at around 9 and we went straight to the market. I was quite surprised to see how organized adn clean the wet market here is. Actually, it's more like a department store. The shops (as I will call it cause it really looks more like a shop than a market) were organized and the place is very clean. There were like 6 to 7 shops selling seafoods, 2 shops selling live chickens, 2 shops selling meat (mainly beef and mutton), 3 to 4 general shops and maybe 7 shops selling fruits, vegetables and other cooking items. The seafood shops were selling a very wide range of fish, shell fish, shrimp and prawns, crabs and squid. It's quite surprising that the fish are quite fresh. Some of the popular fish here includes, king fish, shark, hamour or grouper, tilapia, milk fish, pomfret or "pampano" and snappers. It's my first time to see that much fish here in Dubai. Hmmm, actually not surprising since we haven't been to any market except Spinneys which is more of a grocery. In terms of fruits and vegetables, I still prefert o buy a Spinneys since the price and quality is almost the same.

The so called "Wet" market.

Shark...

Fish and crab...

Squid, shrimp and prawns...

Seafood shops...

Happy Suda buying her favorite seafoods.

Huh, after a grueling purchase.

Fruit and vegetable shops...

Sun Jun and Suda with our hospitable host, Kris.

Al Karama Market

The shops here are run by Indians and the funny thing is, they can speak Tagalog, you read it correctly Tagalog. I was quite surprised that they give prices in Tagalog and even call you "Suki" or "Pare", something I will not expect them to say. You can even tell them in Tagalog waht you like to do with your fish, sample would be for milk fish which is bangus, you can tell them "Daing" and they would know to cut it in the middle some of them even de-bone the fish. For beef, I heard some of them saying "Tapa" which means thin slices and for stewing. They can also differentiate if you are a Filipino or from other countries, or maybe I guess only locals and Filipinoes knows where to buy these type of foods. So now I can really say that this place is something like a small Philippines with a mixed culture.

After going to the market, they sent us home and I started cleaning the fish, prawn, chicnken and beef that I bought. I didn't really expect myself to do this when I was in Bangkok or in the Philippines, I mean I know how to do it but I will not do it since we have maids doing it. In Bangkok, I would rather go out and eat since food there is quite reasonable and good. No need to exert effort in cooking since it will cost you more. Thing is there's nothing much to do here except go to office. At home I rather spend time cooking and writing blogs :P than going to the malls. I think everything here is more expensive than Bangkok and I don't need that much stuff anyway.

After cleaning the stuff I bought, I cooked prawn and squid fried rice. It came out to be quite nice and, Sun Jun or Sam (as he liked to be called), my flat mate liked it. I was thinking of preparing it like the fried rice in Bangkok but it turned out to be something else, like Paella, nevertheless still good. It's funny how I'am cooking here. In Bangkok, everything is very easy, wake up buy food, eat and that's it. But here, we have to cook by ourselves. I also came up with new receipies in my almost one month stay here in Dubai. Some new addition to my culinary ventures are: my new prawn and squid rice (I will definitely do it again), my potato pan cake, tomato and hotdog omelette and the ever famous mixed stir fried tomato and cabbage. Hahaha, I eat cabbage and romanian lettuce almost everyday since these are the only vegetable we can buy. So I will just update you guys again on what is happening here in Dubai since it's almost 2 in the morning and I have to go to office tomorrow. I think 1 day weekend will be normal here in Dubai or maybe my entire single life. ;)

Dubai new observations listed below, not that much since I still spend more time in the office or maybe I'm not observing that carefully?

It's either the city is polluted or too much sand. A brownish cloud or fog is covering the populated area.
Many people but not in heavy concentration.
Should learn to cook since food is expensive. Not a problem for me though. :)
Very hot during mid day. When walking need to use sun glasses since the sun is very glaring.
Traffic here is also bad and you need to travel long distance to get to another place.
Taxi fare is very expensive, we normally spend 50 above dirhams to reach the office. That is more than 500 Baht, damn I can go to Pattaya already with 500 Baht.
Spinneys is still the best, no other place to buy grocery anyway hahaha.
I think the place is as safe as Bangkok.
Sometimes I cannot distinguish and Indian to an Arabian, ok most of the time.
Still a lot of Filipinoes and Chinese (from China), they I can distinguish.

Maybe

by Neocolours

There I was
Waiting for a chance
Hoping that you'll understand
The things I wanna say

As my love went stronger than before
I wanna see you more and more
But you closed your door
Why don't you try
To open up your heart
I won't take so much of your time

CHORUS:
Maybe, it's wrong to say please love me too
'Coz I know you'll never do
Somebody else is waiting there inside for you
Maybe it's wrong to love you more each day
'Coz I know he's here to stay
But I know to whom you should belong

I believed what you said to me
We should set each other free
That's how you want it to be

But my love went stronger than before
I wanna see you more and more
But you closed your door
Why don't you try to open up your heart
I won't take so much of your time

CHORUS:
Maybe, it's wrong to say please love me too
'Coz I know you'll never do
Somebody else is waiting there inside for you
Maybe it's wrong to love you more each day
'Coz I know he's here to stay
But my love is strong
I don't know if this is wrong
But I know to whom you should belong

(Instrumental)

CHORUS:
Maybe, it's wrong to say please love me too
'Coz I know you'll never do
Somebody else is waiting there inside for you
Maybe it's wrong to love you more each day
'Coz I know he's here to stay
But my love is strong
I don't know if this is wrong
But I know to whom you should belong

-------------------------

God didn't promise days without pain, laughter without sorrow, sun without rain, but He did promise strength for the day, comfort for the tears, and light for the way.

Disappointments are like road humps, they slow you down a bit but you enjoy the smooth road afterwards. Don't stay on the humps too long. Move on!

When you feel down because you didn't get what you want, just sit tight and be happy, because God is thinking of something better to give you.

When something happens to you, good or bad, consider what it means. There's a purpose to life's events, to teach you how to laugh more or not to cry too hard. You can't make someone love you, all you can do is, be someone who can be loved, the rest is up to the person to realize your worth.

The measure of love is when you love without measure. In life there are very rare chances that you'll meet the person you love and loves you in return. So once you have it don't ever let go, the chance might never come your way again. It's better to lose your pride to the one you love, than to lose the one you love because of pride.

We spend too much time looking for the right person to love or finding fault with those we already love, when instead we should be perfecting the love we give.

When you truly care for someone, you don't look for faults, you don't look for answers, and you don't look for mistakes. Instead, you fight the mistakes, you accept the faults, and you overlook the excuses.

Never abandon an old friend. You will never find one who can take his place. Friendship is like wine, it gets better as it grows older.

Please Don't Ask Me

by Martin Nievera
Please don't ask me what am I thinkin'
It's about you
Please don't ask me
I never can see you
What can I do?

My first impulse is to run to your side
My heart's not free and so I must hide
Please don't ask me what I'm gonna say to you

I toss and turn, can't sleep at night
It's worrying me
I go to bed, turn out the light it's your face I see

It only hurts the more I pretend
That we could ever be more than friends
Please don't ask me why I'm so in love with you

You could easily make me happy, that I know
And I'll try my best to never tell you so
I will sing to you my love songs and pretend
And I'll keep this secret right down `til the end

Please don't ask me why I'm not talking
I just can't explain
And please don't ask me why I go walkin' out in the rain
I could not live the lie it would take
To have you near would be a mistake
Please don't ask me why I'm still in love with you

No, please don't ask me...

---------------------------------

Remember these five simple rules to be happy:
1. Free your heart from hatred.
2. Free your mind from worries.
3. Live simply.
4. Give more.
5. Expect less.

No one can go back and make a brand new start. Anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending!

COC Wide Team Event (April 28, 2006)

This one I forgot to blog, so here it is now… a photo blog, more of it, not much to say except that it was very nice and I sure hope that everybody who attended had fun. :)

COC wide would mean Financial, Controlling and Business Warehouse team. The team event was held in Major Bowl Thonglor, Soi 15. The group left office at around 7 and I went there to meet Cho Cho and Paveena. I came back from my very short home visit a day before. I do not want to miss this event. Luckily, they went there early the coordinator from Major Bowl forgot to order the food for us so we have to order the food separately. Finally, they gave us two hours of free Karaoke as a compromise for their mistake. We booked 6 bowling lanes and we split the group to three teams. Off course, no body really played seriously since everyone was a bit busy mingling and iteracting with each other. Almost everybody joined the event and it was a very rare sight to see everyone having fun and chatting with each other without any stress and worries. We played around 3 games per person and after that we went to karaoke. It was really nice and we have Cho Cho and Paveena to thank for preparing this very nice and succesful event. Hope we can have more of these events in the future. :)

Here are some of the highlights...

Bowling at Major Thngolor, 1st COC wide team event.

Are you game???

Say cheeessseee...

Cool poses...

Big smiles...

Candid shot, wait two guys manage to see the cam.

Olga and Jane

The "Lane".

Cool dudes...

FI/CO/BW Team pic, or family pic??? :P

Karaoke time...

A day off…

After 2 full weeks of power user training, we finally had our full day off (June 16). Last night (June 15) we each cooked some food and ate at Suda's room. By far, It was the best meal we ever had here in Dubai. Food here is expensive so we have to cook by ourselves and I guess everybody is quite happy with this anyway. Suda cooked mun sen goong (prawn with vermicelli), Chantalak and Surasit cooked tom yam goong (sour and spicy prawn soup thia style) and kai phad prik paho (chicken in chilli, but the chilli is a bit burnt). Sun Jun baked pork chop and I cooked stir fried cabbage with chicken and I roasted some eggplant with my special herb mixture.

Preparing for dinner

The banquet, grilled eggplant, tom yam goong, baked pork chops, kai phad prik phao and mun sen goong.

The cooking team also the project team. Lucky to be with these guys :)

So I started the day by going to the gym and doing my workout. Worked out for a full hour then went back to the apartment to prepare breakfast. I tried to create some potato burger but ending with an omelette. The recepie is quite new, first time I did it, but the outcome is quite nice. I chopped the potatoes to small pieces and added milk, egg, bread and my special herb mix. After breakfast, we all went to Deira Gold Souk. There were a lot of gold and jewelry shop in this place but the thing is our timing is bad. The shops here in Dubai closes during 12:00 to 2:00 on Friday. They say that they have to pay extra tax or something if they are open by this time. So we just walked around the area and then decided to go to Dragon Mart.

Deira Gold Souk

Looking at the gold stuff

Local stores

Local street

Intermission: Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, my beef soup dried up and the whole pot was burnt. :( No more beef soup tomorrow... damn blog hahaha.

We took a cab going to Dragon Mart, it took us around 15 to 20 minutes to reach there, knowing that the mall is still closed and will open at 2:30. So we went to WAFI City mall. The shops inside the mall are also closed but lucky that the food court is not. So we took our lunch there. Sun Jun and I shared a sizzling chicken chinese style which is quite nice. After lunch we just walked around the mall and then went back to Dragon Mart. Dragon Mart is a very big mall with nothing much in it. I wiould not reccomend this mall to anyone but ok, maybe to see what they have. The mall is completely occupied by chinese. The stalls are run and operated by chinese and off course they sell chines products. There are different section in the mall like general merchandise, clothes, furniture, etc. We walked around 3 hours then decided to go home.

Reminds me of a song by Beatles but this is "The long but not winding road."

Wafi City mall taken from the 3rd floor

Relaxing after lunch

Taxi shot

Another taxi shot

Dragon Mart

Dragon Mart entrance

Our princess has arrived...

The 4 musketeers???

Mars ice cream, first time to see one.

Lebanese snack, can't remember the name, green stuff is made of ground herbs cooked with olive oil and sesame seeds

Eating the lebanese snack

After a long walk

Dragon Mart

The dragons are watching my back or maybe behind, hahaha.

Another Uneventful Important Day

So yesterday marked my 32nd birthday. It started as another normal tensed day since I will be conducting a training which I am not familiar with. I am not comfortable in talking about something that I do not really know. Yes, I like to bullshit but these only applies to my friends during times that we are chatting to one another. I have quite a reputation as a bullshit guy. Anyway, so I conducted the training and somehow along the way all the information just flowed to my mind. I think I have to thank someone for that and I mean someone up above. I was really blessed this day that every thing went well.

It's almost 3 weeks since we arrived here in Dubai and my friends were asking me how Dubai is. Frankly, the only thing that I can say is that the office is really nice. It is situated in Dubai Internet City and we are here in building 6. Since we arrived we have been going to the office everyday. I learned a few lessons doing this project and I guess it paid off. In terms of work I have learned a lot maybe a lot more than my 1 year in Bangkok. We conducted trainings for two weeks and I can say that it was quite tough and fruitful. Tough in a way that all of us is on the edge of our seats and fruitful cause the experience that we had for these past weeks was really good.

Today will be my last day of training and I am still awake (4:00 in the morning) writing this blog. Don't know why but maybe something to do with the excitement for my last day of presentation later. My birthday just passed without much activity. I just had dinner with my teammates here in Dubai.

So I will end this unforgettable day with this song that someone I know really liked. Hmmm, until now I still don't know why that someone liked this song??? Damn, I really need to saleep... no type error here, this is how Thai's will say it. :)

-------------------------

I DON'T LOVE YOU ANYMORE
by Lea Salonga and Ariel Rivera

(Lea)
I've been thinking
It seems we're going nowhere
You don't share my feelings
It doesn't seem fair
I guess there's nothing
Much more I can do
I know I've got to try
And make it without you

I don't love you anymore
Can't you see, it's just no good
I've gotta walk out that door
There's nothing left to say
I've gotta go my way
Try and understand

(Ariel)
We've had bad times
But that's no reason to go
I can't live without you
I need you, don't you know
That I still love you
Don't, don't do this to me
You know I won't make it alone
Can't you see

(L) I don't love you anymore
(A) Don't do this to me
(L) Can't you see it's just no good I've gotta walk out that door(
A) That's no reason to go
(L) There's nothing left to say
(A) I can't live without you
(L) I 've gotta go my way
(A) Oh no...

(L) I don't love you anymore
(A) Don't do this to me
(L) Can't you see it's just no good I've gotta walk out that door
(A) That's no reason to go
(L) There's nothing left to say
(A) I can't live without you
(L) I 've gotta go my way Try and understand
(A) Okay If there's no other way Then, go

How to Orchestrate a Dignified Breakup

There comes a time in all relationships when the end is nigh and there is nothing that can be done about it. Sometimes your partner will be the one to realize that, and they’ll break the bad news to you – and that is never pleasant. But arguably, it is even worse when the break-up boot is on your foot. Suddenly an awful responsibility descends upon you: the responsibility to orchestrate the break-up with respect and dignity and consideration. Just because you have been treated poorly in the past is no excuse to behave unkindly now.

1. Break up in person, face to face. It’s difficult but it’s a matter of respect.

2. Pick your moment carefully: don’t let it arise in an awkward moment – halfway through a holiday abroad, say, or while having dinner with friends. But once you’ve decide to do it, do it as soon as possible.

3. As best you can, ensure the timing is considerate of your soon-to-be ex. If he’s in the middle of a critical period at work, say, or it’s his birthday, hold back a little. In such circumstances, a few days won’t kill you. Breaking up a day after Christmas id kinder than the day before, although you will be faced with an ethical dilemma about the Christmas presents.

4. To avoid possible future unpleasantness, try to remove treasured items, favorite pieces of clothing, anything you’re seriously attached to, from his home in advance of the conversation. The jilted will often use anything at hand to maintain some contact with the jilter – it’s understandable, but you’ll just experience it as pettiness.

5. Choose a private place in which to have the break-up conversation. That guff about breaking up in public so he can’t make an emotional scene is fine if you’re both 17, but by now, if you can’t handle some tears and heartache at the end of a relationship, you’re not adult enough for a relationship in the first place.

6. When he asks you why, don’t feel obliged by some cruel orthodoxy of truth-telling to be completely honest. Don’t explain to him his shortcomings and inadequacies. Simple say you’ve drifted apart, or you’re not compatible, or that you’re just one of those people who need to be on their own. In short, it is generally kinder to lie. Similarly, don’t be drawn into justifying your decision. Simply state them gently, but as firmly as is necessary.

7. Spend enough time at the break-up meeting to say as much as you need to say, and to give him a decent opportunity to begin processing it in your presence. An hour should be about right. Do not linger all day, rehashing every moment of the relationship; neither should you drop the bombshell and skedaddle. Establish in advance that you have an appointment in an hour’s time. This will enable you to leave without too much personal difficulty.

8. What to do with the ring, assuming you’re engaged? Unless it originally belonged to a member of your family, there is only one decent thing to do – give it back. Some women believe in keeping the ring, even if they initiate the break-up – life is too short to be one of those people.

9. By all means, remain friends, but if you should find yourself feeling lonely and sad at some point in the future – not because you miss him, but because you miss the feeling of being with someone – do not even think of going back. Believe me, 999 time out of 1000, you will regret it, and probably that thousandth time too.

--------------------

Got this article from a local magazine here in Dubai, the writer is a guy. Curious... I can only write like this if I expereince more than 20 breakups hahaha. :)

Before I Let You Go

by Freestyle

I can still remember yesterday
We were so in love in a special way
And knowing that you love me
Made me feel, oh, so right

But now i feel lost,
Don't know what to do
Each and everyday i think of you
Holdin' back the tears
I'm trying with all my might

Refrain:
Because you've gone and left me
Standin' all alone
And i know i've got to face
Tomorrow on my own
But baby

Chorus:
Before i let you go
I want to say i love you
I hope that you're listenin''coz it's true, baby, oh yeah
You'll be forever in my heart
And i know that no one else will do
So before i let you go
I want to say "i love you"

I wish that it could be
Just like before
I know i could've given you
So much more

Even though you know
I've given you all my love
I miss your smile, i miss your kiss
Each and everyday i reminisce
'coz baby it's you
That i'm always dreamin' of

Repeat refrain & chorus

Bridge:
Letting love go is never easy
But i love you so
That's why i set you free
I know someday, somehow
I'll find a way
To leave it all behind me
Guess it wasn't meant to be
But baby

Before i let you go
I want to say i love you
I hope that you're listenin'
'coz it's true, baby, oh yeah

You'll be forever in my heart
And i know that no one else will do
So before i let you goI want to say...
So before i let you go
I want to say "i love you"

------------------

Setting someone free is the hardest thing to do, but somehow it would be the right thing to do... If it's meant to be, it's meant to be.

Kon Hin Kon Nun

by Rose
revived by Gift

ker-ee me krai suk kon dai bork chun maa
Someone once told me that

waa we-laa krai tam gup rao hai jeb chum jaiif
there ever were a time when someone hurt me.

long bai geb gon hin keun maa suk un
I should try picking up a rock,

teu mun yoo yaang nun lae beep mun wai
holding it, and squeezing it.

beep hai raeng jon soot raeng hai meu tung meu mun rerm sun
Squeeze with all of my strength 'til my entire hand starts to shake,

krai kon nun yim hai chun taam waa jep meu chai mai
'til that person smiles at me and asks if my hand hurts.

mai mee a-rai ja tam rai ter dai tao gup ter tam dtua kong ter eng
There's nothing that can hurt you as much as you hurt yourself.

hai ter kit ao eng waa chee-wit kong ter ben kong kraiI
want you to ask yourself, who does your life belong to?

mai mee a-rai ja tam rai ter taa ter mai rup mun maa sai jai
There's nothing that can hurt you if you don't care about it.

took kao tam rai prow jai ter baek rup mun eng
You are hurt by someone only because you willingly take the pain.

(Interlude)
krai maa tam gup ter hai jeb hua jai
When that someone hurts you,

gor kae hai gon hin gon nun hai ter rup maa
just take that rock you picked up.

piang ter jup mun yohn hai glai sai dtaa
And just throw it as far as your eyes can see.

reu ter brat-tana ja gep mun wai
Or do you wish to keep it?

haak ying yorm ying baek bai hua jai kong ter gor dtong sun
The more you're willing to keep it, the more you bear it. Your heart can only tremble.

haak yung tam dtua baep nun taam waa buat jai chai mai
It hurts doesn't it, to keep putting yourself through that?

(Chorus)

mai mee a-rai ja tam rai ter dai tao gup ter tam dtua kong ter eng
There's nothing that can hurt you as much as you hurt yourself.

hai ter kit ao eng waa chee-wit kong ter ben kong krai
I want you to ask yourself, who does your life belong to?

mai mee a-rai ja tam rai ter taa ter mai rup mun maa sai jai
There's nothing that can hurt you if you don't care about it.

took kao tam rai prow jai ter baek rup mun eng
You are hurt by someone only because you willingly take the pain.

(Interlude)

mai mee a-rai ja tam rai ter dai tao gup ter tam dtua kong ter eng
There's nothing that can hurt you as much as you hurt yourself.

hai ter kit ao eng waa chee-wit kong ter ben kong krai
I want you to ask yourself, who does your life belong to?

mai mee a-rai ja tam rai ter taa ter mai rup mun maa sai jai
There's nothing that can hurt you if you don't care about it.

took kao tam rai prow jai ter baek rup mun eng
You are hurt by someone only because you willingly take the pain.

took kao tam rai prow jai ter rup wai eng
You keep getting hurt because you willingly put yourself through it.

-------------------------

The first Thai song in my blog. The english below the lines are translation of the song. Very simple but hits very deep. Why should we allow anyone to hurt us, specially if he/she is not a part of life anymore? Tell me, why should we?

Somewhere in Time

by Martin Nievera

Somewhere in time,
we'll share
one love,
one life.

And with each gentle touch
i know this much,
its true.

And when we kiss,
i see forever,
and in your arms,
im lost, you find me again.

No words, no writes,
describe this pain inside,
no matter how hard i tried,
i die inside,
to let you go,

To say goodbye
my heart breaks forever
somewhere in time, i know
we'll meet again

You're in my heart
You're in my soul
and if you go away from me
i cant let go.

Until begin,
i know, we'll meet again
Somewhere in time.

-------------------------------

"... isang araw magigising ka na lang umiiyak at hindi mo alam kung bakit." This came from a movie from Piolo, can't rememer the title. I would always say that being hurt by someone is ok as long you are not the one hurting yourself. Well I guess saying it and doing it is totally a different thing. :)

CO Team Event at Koh Samet (May 20 - 21, 2006)

My third Rayong trip within 2 months. First trip, I went there with Susan, Mervin and Chiqui and stayed at Hinsuay Namsai, Rayong. Second trip, I went there with Paui and Rochie and we stayed at Phala Cliff Beach Resot and Spa, Ban Chang (w/ preivous Blog posting named: Ban Chang Trip (May 5 -7 , 2006) posted on May 12, 2006). For this trip, I went with more than half of the CO Team,Susan, Angela, Cho Cho (she is not the owner of the beach), Aew and Hai San, guess I was the lucky one since I am the only guy, hmmm, am I sure it is lucky? Anyway, we went straight to Koh Samet and stayed at Aocho Grand View. Finally, I was able to go there after two tries.

Big Brother, CO Team Edition

Aocho Grand View Resort

So the day started, as usual, in Ekkamai Bus Station. We met there for the six o'clock bus ride and reached Ban Phe around 9:30. It was raining, quite funny that no one even minded the weather for this trip. It was rainig for several days already and no one bothered to complain or voice out. Maybe we are too busy in the office or everyone was really excited and looking forward to the trip. So when we reached the pier, we bought our tickets and went straight to Ao Cho, this is another beach which is farther than Hat Saikeaw. The beach is almost private since there aren't many people, or maybe it is because of the weather. So the boat stopped near the beach and we have to take a smaller boat to send us to shore.

OK, almost can't see the boat but we are in a small boat

Then we walked to our resort and checked in. Upon check in we chnaged to our beach outfit and then walked out to find some food. We had brunch, since we did not eat any breakfast and it was lunch time, at a local beach side reaturant. We ordered siko (pork ribs), pla kha tiam (fish with garlic), som tam (papaya salad) and kai yang (barbeque chicken). We were accompanied by some of our friend who joined us for brunch.

Our cottage...

Friends who joined for lunch, would you believe that the cat eats the chicken and the dogs eat the fish, yes believe it.

After brunch, we walked and sat around the beach since evryone was really and we don't have anything to do. So being the photo guy, I took some photos along the beach.

Photos at the beach.

We then decided to go to Hat Saikeaw. Initially, we plan to walk but along the way we saw some signs for watching the beaches at around Koh Samet,snorkling and fish watching. So we decided to get the package tour. I can say that this wasn't really the best time to go to any beach since it was the rainy season. We were able to do some snorking but soon the waves were really big and fast that it was a bit dangerous the boatman asked us to board the boat. We went along with the beach tour not knowing that the waves were really big. It was quite dangerous since the boat was jumping like 8 to 10 feet. There was a storm coming our way so we have to cut our trip short and miss some of the beach. I think it was a good decision by the boatman cause it was really getting more scary.

Snorkling and speedboat pictures.

We then went to the fish watching site. We walked around planks that are afloat to see various species of fishes. We saw very large groupers, spotted shark, sea bass, I had to shake a turtles flipper and some popular fish that I can't remember the name. After a few minutes rain began to pour again and we were not able to go back to the back since the wave was really big. So we decided to take shelter in one of the floating structure there and tried to survive the cold rain and wind. We left after a few minutes and we headed to Hat Saikeaw. We stayed for half an hour and then went back to Ao Cho.

Look at the fish, no look at the cam :)

Popular fish??? Can't remember the name.

Snacking before going to the shore of Hat Saikeaw.

Upon reaching Ao Cho, we went back to the resort and started washing up so we can go for dinner. We walked to the other side of the beach and tried to look for the best spot for food. We stoped at one of the sea side restaurant which they lay out all the seafoods in front. Here you can order and ask them to cook. So after deciding where to stay for dinner, we ordered our dinner. We got a fish, prawns, crabs, cuttlefish, potatoes and corns. Not much huh, I went with a group of growing kids.

Getting ready for dinner.

Walking along the beach looking for food.

Ahan tha le, aroi na.(Delicious seafoods.)

Dinner shot

After a very heavy dinner we walked to the pier near our place where I tried to play with my camera setting again, what's new. I was able to set the camera on a post and took a shot of the shore. We then tried some shots ourselves but it came out to be silouette. Ohh, btw, to day was Angela's birthday. We almost forgot, well actually we did not. We just tried not to greet her for the whole day and surprised her with a birthday song and cake, beachside.

Don't move, until I move. Shutter is at 15 seconds.

Happy birthday, Angela. Hey, Hai San, it's not your birthday.

So that's it for day one. Everybody was dead tired so after eating the cake, we went back to the cottage and did some preparation. I fell asleep I think within 5 to 10 mins when I lied down.

Next day, I woke up and went for a swim. After swimming, we went for breakfast. Breakfast was a bit light after the deadly, lunch and dinner of the previous day. I gained 1 kilo by the way for this two day trip. So after breakfast, I was accompanied by Aew to walk around. I took few more pictures of the surrounding area and some rocky place and went back to the cottage to prepare for departure. In the meantime, Angela, Hai San and Cho Cho went for a beachside massage.

What a life, breakfast by the sea.

I like taking photos of sceneries.

Rocky place, as I said.

Massage by the beach side.

My CO buddy, the best anyone can have, in her cute bleeding teddy bear shirt. Also the event organizer, bravo. :)

Almost the end of the trip, we are just relaxing and watching TV while waiting for the boat to pick us up. The trip back to Rayong started very smoothly but still we have to face a final adventure before we can reach Rayong. Another storm was on our way and again the waves were very strong and high. So everybody was instructed to wear life vests. Also, there were no roof for the boat and since we are sitting on top and you know what happened next.

Waiting for the boat to pick us up.

Last shore shot of Koh Samet, through the boat.

Rain, rain go away, little jco wants to play.

Another final shot, how many did we get? This time on Nuan Thip Pier side.