Friendship Beach Beauty

Another beach adventure. Yes there are still dozens of beaches on Phuket Island that I still have NOT yet seen. Friendship Beach was only a 20 minute drive according to google maps. I knew this weekend was supposed to be filled with thunderstorm weather so I didn’t want to go too far away and get stuck. I mean it is monsoon season here.

As I turned off the main road, google maps became very confused. Kept telling me to go south. Then go North east. Turn right, then turn right. These roads were very local and many look to be dead ends into nothingness. One road had 6 full sized ship containers sitting in the yard. I was lost. I saw a few children (about 4-5 years old) riding bikes and they were entertained by seeing me. I stopped to say hi and reroute.

As I did a young woman named Bahn came out of her house and asked if she could help me. I told her I was looking for Friendship Beach. She pointed across her property and said, “This is Friendship Beach. It is very small, but you are welcome to park here and take a look.”

I was very appreciative. The back of her property was beach front and she rented out paddle boards and taught wake surfing. She had a little restaurant there as well which looked to be family run. Hence the kids. On top of all this, which was a score in my book for a random lost stop, she had street art allover her property! I asked her about it, and she told me that her best friend, Amam was the artist.

I showed her my Instagram account with all the street art I’d been posting, much of which was Amam’s. She told me how he started out as a tattoo artist then worked his way into being a muralist full time. (seriously my luck in finding this place!) She told me to walk to the right on the beach and I would find a “local” spot with much more art.

The sign to her place. She immediately told me she did not have wifi. There was a sign that said, no wifi, talk to your neighbor. I love this place. The word SABAI means “happy but is also used to mean comfortable or relaxed”

Love the mannequin legs and painted coconuts!

I could imagine this place during high season rocking it out in the evenings. They had speakers on the trees.

View of Koh He Island. The water here was very green and super calm. Perfect for paddle boarding. Its amazing how different each beach is. Always having different sand texture and very different behavior in water/waves.

I started walking along the beach and it was high tide. This beach was very narrow and only about 200 meters in length. It is on the non-swimming side of Phuket.

Looking to my right where Bahn told me to find the local spot, this is what I had to walk through. My pants got wet as the tide went up through the trees.

When she said “local” I did not really expect this. It was a homeless shelter. You could tell several people sleep and live there. Surprisingly, no beer bottles or needles like you would see in such a place in The States. Instead it looked like they were collecting plastic possibly to resell. There were mats and chairs where it appeared people slept. There was a make shift grill and even laundry hanging up. I felt a tad …..intrusive, walking through. As if it was all too personal for me, a farang to see.
But the art was everywhere and I was snapping it up for my Instagram street art account Over 20+ murals.

Beauty was all around this make shift home.

Just sharing a few snaps of the art. The rest if you want to see will eventually show up on my Instagram tonyatakesthailand account. I cannot tell you how lucky I felt to have been guided here.

When walking the other way up the beach, there were a few resorts.

I walked up these steps, noticeably not used, to snap a few pictures through the crack in the walls. It seemed nobody was there.

Beautifully kept and looks like a spa of some sort.

The grounds of the above resort. Peaceful to say the least. Yes me snapping photos over a cement wall to see”.

I headed back to where I started. I felt at home there. I wanted to support them so I ordered lunch and just sat and enjoyed the atmosphere for about an hour. The little boy brought out my meal with a giggle.

This little girl planted herself in a hammock closest to me and I snapped this photo of her playing on her phone.

Just another artistic gesture on the property.

I did my best to leave in time to avoid the storm but no luck. Had to pull over and put on my rain poncho. Then had to pull over again as the rain became too heavy. I snapped this selfie as I was waiting it out. A lot of different pinks happening between my rosy cheeks, helmet and plastic attire. But you can see my joy of the day was not taken by the rain.

Bangkok or Bust with the Luckenbachs!

I purchased tickets round trip in one day to meet up with Rebecca who had just arrived with her family in Bangkok. Originally I purchased my ticket for the wrong month (July 17) and was unable to cancel. It was only about 54$ so I decided to keep it and go again next month on my own to explore. Make the best from my mistakes eh?

I was going just to get a hug! I miss my friends, family, and deep conversations. I was so excited to see her! I ordered a car pick up in advance, hoping to avoid any airport lines. Well that did me no good! I waited an hour and the car never showed up. (all paid in advance via web) I called the phone numbers on the website, emailed etc. NADA> I was pissed! But then when I calculated, it really was only a 20$ loss, so I sucked it up and got another private car to get my butt into the city. (Later the company sent me a link to give a review and I blasted them saying I would say bad things about them on trip advisor if they didn’t revert the charges….stay tuned on that)

My sweet friend! Was so good to hang out for the day!

An average day at the airport with monks and their tinted orange robes.

Arriving in Bangkok was amazing. I haven’t been there in 20 years. The city is HUGE. I met Rebeca and her family on the 12th floor of their hotel which had amazing views!

Check out the JENGA like sky scraper in the back. It was such an architectural site!

The arched building on the left is the main train station.

Just a shot from my cab on my drive into the city. (ended up costing about 30$)

The Luckenbach’s had arrived the night before and we all know that first day can be difficult. Filled with excitement to explore, yet bodies pulling you in all sorts of tired directions. They rallied and booked a driver to take us on a 1.5 hour ride outside the city to experience a water market. I have never been! I see photos on websites, but I don’t think this is ever something I would do alone. I was so excited! Completely not disappointed in the experience and felt I had a purpose helping the kids negotiate pricing on things they wanted to purchase, knowing the fair market costs in Thailand. (I talked a Gucci hat from 1500 bht down to 400-proud moment)

Along the floating market were trinkets, art, clothing, drinks, food, temples, and houses. The canals were lined with amazing palm trees and we even stopped at a coconut farm and watched them make coconut cookies. I’m not a fan. WAY too sweet!

The fam packed in. Notice the water and the house with clothes out to dry.

Market where they had a long hook that they would then reach out to grab your boat and pull you over insisting you take a look. Was very tough to leave without purchasing. Eventually after a dozen store stops, we told our driver we were hungry and to boogie toward some food choices.

A lot of the boats were driven by no motor, paddle only, by elderly women who sported the traditional Thai hat.

Zoomed photo but I felt captured a lot of what we saw.

Stopped for food and this young lady and her family made our fried rice and pad thai right there for us. We found out later she was family to our boat driver, which totally makes sense. Connections and business.
Isn’t she adorable?!

Housing along the river. We did see one boat that was picking up any plastic they saw floating in the river. Even though the river looks murky, it did not smell at all. There were lots of floating plants/lilies of some sort always about.

Love the colorful laundry and the house plants.

Always so ornate and filled with gold and red.

The floating market would have been enough for one day, but we still had time to explore one more stop and we chose the railroad market. I saw a photo of this from Vanessa’s (English gal I met in Phuket Town) Vietnam Instagram and prior had never heard of such a thing. Rebecca and her family had seen similar sites on a travelling show. Not sure how many of you are aware these places exist. I seriously could not have imagined.

You walk down these railroad tracks and there are food markets lined up along the edges. That’s Steve taking a photo of Rebecca and I walking behind him.

This shows you how close the food was to the tracks. Later we saw when the train came down, the locals knew exactly the height their food could be at and not get touched by the train overhang.

Just love the process. I feel so lucky to be able to just take in all of this.

At exactly 3:30 the horn blares, all the store awnings get pulled back, the tourists seek shelter in the shops and then the train comes on through.

My Driver, Mr. Mali

For those of you that prefer pictures over words, this post is not for you.

Mr. Mali showing me the jasmine flowers he bought for his drive. The flowers in the car’s rear view mirrors are spirit protectors. He was excited about his fresh jasmine.

I want to introduce this man to you all. Mr. Mali. He has driven me the past 7 times and has shared so much of his story with me. I adore him. He texts me on rainy days to see if I need a ride anywhere. He is always on time, and/or early. He’s always smiling and loves to practice his English with me on our journeys.

He’s actually not the best driver. He makes me nervous as all hell swerving, not because he’s trying to get somewhere fast, but rather because he’s digging in his phone to find a FB photo of his best friend Leanne to show me. Or a photo from his childhood to help explain the countryside he grew up in. But most likely it’s to pull up the Taylor Swift videos which he sings along to in an out of tune voice.

He is from the countryside of Thailand, up north by Laos. He is a rice farmer. He tells me about the beautiful days of his childhood where he would get up at 4 am to walk his friend, the black waterbuffalo, to graze. Then after school would swim and catch fish for dinner. They never worried or needed. They lived off the land. Farmed their rice and took pride in their heritage. (he pulled up a photo from his past) The simple life. Then new equipment came in for farming, which they had to take loans out from the government, only to never get paid back fully hence now in a heap of debt. (we know the story….) His friend (the waterbuffalo) now has no job.

All the middle aged people had to leave his community to find work. Leaving behind the elderly and the children. He just recently started his own taxi business in Phuket and recently moved his family down with him, but his 75 year old mother is still left behind. His son came with him one night to pick me up from the airport. He had a binki blanket with him, even though he was maybe 8 years old. Mali explained he goes nowhere without it. (I remember taking mine to college, so no judgement here)

Mali is the youngest of 6 children. His dad died when he was 3 years old. I think something about being in the Navy, but I was confused a bit. He said he is the child that has to provide and care for his mom, because she named him Mali which he said in Thailand is something to do with a mother’s flower.

Remember how I explained the beeping around sharp turns? Well Mali beeped at a roundabout and then took off his hat and bowed. That was at 4:30 am, so I didn’t bother to ask, he was already pulling off the side of the road to dig in his phone. He’s quite talkative in the am and I just wanted to get to the airport on time. When he picked me up that same night and did the beep, hat off, prayer again- I asked him why there. I didn’t notice any other cars beeping like the corner turn. He said he was showing respect to the heroines monument in the roundabout. He beeps to alert them (the heroines) and then bows to show his appreciation.

As much as sometimes I just wish he would drive and get me to where I’m headed, I really LOVE hearing his stories. Mind you, his stories are not easy to interpret and he is very soft spoken, so you can imagine me sitting the middle seat leaning forward to listen. Next time, I may just jump in the front seat 🙂 Kidding. That is where he keeps his guitar. He is saving money to buy his daughter a guitar like Taylor’s. He plays the lottery in hopes of winning enough. He showed me all his losing tickets.

I love the locals here. Much more than the tourists. I love their stories and kindness. They are genuine and unassuming. Respectful of the spirits, family, and being present.

Tomorrow I have a lunch date with a fellow expat, named Barbara Smith. I met her on the Internations app I downloaded for Phuket. I video chatted with her on Sunday and know I am going to LOVE her energy. She is in a good place and has been in Thailand 3 years. I have a ton I can learn from her.

Patong Beach

I actually slept last night, with the lights on. May be my new thing. I feel like I need to light a candle or something in my new condo. It has an energy that taunts me at night. (or maybe that’s just my head) I had read in the expat blogs that the third month is when you hit a depression with moving. So could be that in combination of my new location and other adjustments I am working on.

The closest beach to my new condo is Patong. Although that doesn’t excite me, it’s nice because it’s literally just up the road and over a mountain. I decided I had to get out today so I adventured there to soak in some rays.

I bought a beach matte, towel and goggles. I used to just use them from the hostels, so now I have my own. I tested the goggles out later at my condo pool where I was thrilled to be able to swim a few laps and not guess when to stop. I think swimming will be my new daily activity. It cost me goggles and a beach towel and I could use the cardio.

The ocean water today was sort of mucky tan . I have never seen that here before reminded me of the Carolina’s water color back home. The waves and current were much easier to manage than my swimming experience last month.

Yep me and my ta-tas out in the sun again.

It all looks the same. They have a saying here “same-same, but different”.

When Traci comes to visit in August, I will have someone to take photos of me on the beach swings! Or someone to sit with on them!!! Can’t wait! Just hope she’s ready for the crazie. (best to pack a bottle or two of Bullit)

Clouds started rolling in and I headed to a pizza joint for shelter.

After the rain and a small pizza in my belly, I walked around a bit. For those that haven’t experienced third world country wiring/electricity, thought this would be a reminder of how good USA has it. I mean can you imagine repairing those? Where do you begin?

Patong has the white sky scraper which is in the top left photo.
The other photos were taken outside their shopping mall.

Love that you get your choice of color here in Patong with the tuk tuks. There was even a Hello Kitty one!
***Notice the spirit temple. It was quite a nice one in the background for the mall. Today I got to experience the spirit temples on most dangerous curves. People honk their horns in honor of the spirits to ask them for safe passage. I joined in the fun on the way back once I figured out what was going on. So I guess honking here is not the same meaning as in other countries where it’s more of a get the heck out of my way etc. Here is a friendly hello to the spirits. I like it.

Love this photo of the grill with eggs. So creative right? Portable. Easy to transport charcoals and the eggs-bread. An all in one kitchen.

Stuck in my Head

Today was not such a great day with two hours of sleep and thoughts of drowning myself in a bottle of whiskey. I decided my condo was my safe place to remain and with the rain starting up that seems to be a wise choice. But without WiFi here, it’s hard to escape into a movie and get outside of my head.

I continue to wonder if I need to get out with playing tennis or the surf lessons I inquired about awhile back. But everything requires equipment.

Which made me think of how as parents we sign our kids up for so many activities. I remember struggling as it wasn’t just the fees to play, but the uniforms, the health care forms, the travel expenses, and the snacks and outings. And while all that creates great ( hopefully) memories- it’s exhausting. So when I thought about tennis again- over here with no real income, I thought why is it?

•The less you do

•The less you need

•The less you spend

•The more you see.

Just sharing today’s thoughts for what it’s worth.

N-e-1-4-10-is?

All my Westmoor friends will understand this title. I swear our parents sported it on their visors, tees and even spare tire covers.

Today after speaking with Stephanie (love love love that we got caught up) I realized that I am not eating well since I got back to Phuket. There are no walking distance restaurants and everything seems like a journey away in my new location. I continue to get lost driving around here, there are U turns in every direction which somehow mess with my brain. I know I need to give myself patience. In reality I have only really been in this new area this week.

I set out today to go to the grand opening of Lucky 13 sandwich shop which I saw a notification for on good-ole FB.

Yes, my day’s event is just going to a flipping restaurant. Sad I know. But in my Jesus Calling daily (Thank you Denise) it said to not worry about my plans and allow God to guide my days as He wants them to be. I realize this is much easier for me to do here than in the chaos of America. I set my mind open to whatever He wanted me to see in this outing.

I mean 50% off! How could I go wrong? I’m going to pig out.

Love that they believe in the slow quality bread making process and state “crisp” bacon on their menu. The fact that they offer free delivery 365 days a year could be a problem for me. So I am pretending I don’t know that so I don’t become a hermit.

Do I really want to know what larb balls are?

My meal. Curry yogurt dressing on my chicken sandwich and truffle fries.

Seriously I may just go back for the dessert. This was an amazing muffin with ice cream in the middle and raspberry sauce.

When I first came in, the small tables under the greenery wall each were filled by a single male. Facing outward. Alone. As I. Expats for sure responding the same way to the post of a 1/2 price Western meal.

I am not sure why hammocks at a restaurant, but sure! Why not?

This place was very pristine. There were actually two white people working, which was very rare. I assume one was the owner of this chain. I have never seen a white person working before at ANY restaurants here. I can only assume they are not allowed to. I am finding the Thai Kingdom is very good about protecting jobs for its citizens.

Right beside Lucky 13 is this beautiful Spirit House in front of tennis courts. I thought it was a calling. Maybe I should play again? Or take a lesson? So I went in to inquire further. They can provide/loan me with all the tennis equipment, I just need to have the proper attire”. Lessons are every day during the week, from 9 am til 10:30. I honestly felt this was something I was brought to do. Maybe the reason for me journeying to this opening.

I am thinking of signing up for ten lessons. Just to see. Maybe I will meet some friends. The guy telling me about the tennis facilities said I could rent a court and play with my friends. I quickly responded that I don’t have any friends here, which seemed like an honest but odd response. $20 a lesson. Worth it?

I came home pretty excited about the thought of something to do. A place that I needed to be. Like yoga in Phuket town. Maybe it would help me out of my funk. As of right now I am not sure I could handle a job yet. I feel like I’m still struggling a bit. But when I got back to the condo I pushed myself to swim for the first time in my condo pool. (I know this seems very odd to you all- but just taking Tia out to eat is sometimes a push)

Being in the water was amazing. I read a chapter in a new book Julie K sent for me to read. As a terrible reader I was worried because its quite a novel with small print if you know what I mean! But it was great. I am going to try to make this swim/reading part of my daily routine. Weather permitting. Again, thank you for your encouragements and pushing me to continue to explore. My mind is back open to looking”- to see where it is I am to land.

Insufferable Immigration

Well today I went to Phuket town and saw Min and Mimi! I was so happy to see them! Mimi fed me some of her potato samosas which I devoured. Min printed out all the rental agreement documents I needed for immigration. ( I asked her where I could go to get copies and she said to just send to her. I swear she doesn’t want me independent)

I headed to immigration, with a different attitude this time. I basically went in thinking I wonder what I won’t have right this time. Never expecting really to come out with what I needed. All of that true. I still need further documents of passports from the owners of the property with their original signatures on them in blue pen. It’s never anything I can do. I just have to then ask the agent to help me to ask the owners to do it. I keep threatening that I won’t be able to stay in Phuket if I don’t get this document. Am thinking maybe I will go to the Patong area immigration office next time. Maybe they are more lax.

After that I decided to go into a skin care center to find out what the heck was going on with my neck. Ever since I’ve gotten here, my neck is showing up very odd coloring. The doctor explained what it was and that it was going to cost about 5500 bht to fix with no guarantees .

I told him I would think about it. How much do I really care? But I do hate it whenever I pull up my hair. What I hate even more is that purple vein on my cheek that I’ve had for years. So I asked how much that would cost to zap out.

Hilarious right? I come to Thailand, where I’m sure the regulations are not to par, but decide, what the heck- throw a laser on my face and will give it a go for the equivalent of $50 usd. I crack myself up sometimes.

Anyways—-to share today are a few photos of random “structures that I pass by on the roads. I love driving a scooter because you can just stop anytime and snap a photo.

Beautiful mosque. Muslim is the second most popular religion here.

Chinese influenced Buddhist temples are everywhere.

I tried to look this up to see what it was, but maps won’t call it out. Huge home of some kind.

Upside Down House

This felt appropriate to be my first excuse to the leave the condo after my blood donation failure. I mean, my life has been turned upside down more than once so why not visit the house that encourages it? It’s a very touristy attraction which I usually try to avoid, but nonetheless it was close by and a cheap entry fee. Gave me the excuse to exercise Tia again. 🙂

You walk into the roof and then up to the outside patio. Makes sense.

This adorable staff member helped to take photos of me since I was alone. It was cute.

Even the fish tank was upside down and the fish swam that way.

I loved the detail they put into everything! Obviously was all secured onto the ceiling.

I took a photo of my helper friend. She was thrilled.

A good view between the floors showing an adorable family in the background posing.

They had opposite signs throughout the facility. Sorry we are open. etc.

I literally wanted to lie down and take a nap.

From the tree house looking down you could see the maze I wandered through. It was cute, the gal opened the gate to let me in, showed me the exit and said “see you tomorrow!” They really have great sarcastic humor here.

Expat Emergency

Thank you for all your loving support. I had no idea how many people would reach out to me in my time of distress. It is not always easy to be travelling alone. I have yet to make a friend over here beside Min, and I’m beginning to wonder about my relationship with Tia and my stuffed animals, if you know what I mean. I talk to them way more often than is probably normal at this point. 🙂

That being said, with your encouragement, I have gotten back out there. Trying to be my best me. Finding joy in what I discover and sharing it with my blog. Not allowing fear or self worth to get the best of me. Cannot sincerely thank you enough!

Since I haven’t slept much since my return, I am always looking for something to occupy my brain besides my thoughts. I looked at the Phuket Expat blog and saw there was an expat in a motorcycle accident that needed A negative blood. There was none to be found in this area. (anyone remember that scary immigration sign a month back?) Being that I am A negative, I decided to go donate in the hospital he was in as they couldn’t preform the surgery until they had enough in the blood bank for him.

I have never donated blood before. But at this point, I was wanting more pain, so I decided this was a healthy way to do it. Well dang what an experience! Tia and I went out with my pink plastic poncho on and took on the tropical storm at 7:30 am to go to this hospital, which didn’t quite look much like a hospital. I got there and they made me eat in front of them. I got to visit their cafeteria on the second floor which is more like a 7-11 looking grocery where scooter cooks come in and drop off bags of pre-made meals. God knows where they were made and how clean that is. I optioned for some fried rice.

Guess my shaky hands were an indication that I had not eaten in awhile. They asked if I had consumed any alcohol within 24 hours. Miraculously since I was flying the last 24, I had not. I filled out this form. Took my blood pressure. Then scooted me off into a room where they eventually denied me for having a tattoo. I just found that interesting. I mean don’t they clean the blood anyways?

Found out later via FB that you can get denied for the tiniest of things here. I liked the question where they asked if I ever had sex with a man. They also won’t take blood from a tourist, anyone over 65, or who has lived in the UK for the 10 years during mad cow disease. Miraculously the expat gathered enough volunteers to donate and was able to successfully get surgery and is on the mend. My adventures continue knowing that I could easily be in his shoes !

Detour to Dublin

My hands are shaking as I type. This will be my last post. I am going to go dark for a bit as I need to regroup on what my purpose is and why my emotions run so deep. My heart has been shattered, and I am not quite sure how to live again without that support I so comfortably relied on. I obviously do not know intimate love as it continues to elude me.

Heading back to Thailand tonight in hopes of absorbing more sunshine.

It’s been quite rainy here in Ireland. The people in Ireland are beautifully friendly. Kind as their grass is green. Their accents can be a bit difficult to understand, so I catch myself nodding a lot but that doesn’t seem the proper answer needed only causing more confusing conversation.

I spent two fantastic days in Dublin and then we headed to the countryside of Moate where I no longer fit. I did want to share this beautiful country with anyone reading. I hate that I am leaving it with such a sad note.