I bought the tickets for this ball before Christmas, mainly to bond with my department more. I can say neither me or Luis were overly keen. But we ended up having a great time. It was great to get all dressed up and dance all night. I miss dancing. The New Zealanders put on a great evening. I was extremely impressed. We had a table of ten and I got to talk to people more that I do not often. The dinner was good and the band was fantastic.
Friday was full of birthday celebrations. After work I went straight to a local pub for a birthday toasting of my boss. I annoyingly did not get a picture of this. I then went home and got ready to go to Janelle's for a birthday dinner. Janelle has become such a great friend over the year. She is fairly inspirational and a great councilor (which I have shamefully taken huge advantage of). We had a funny evening playing games and celebrating our friend.
Just after we were married, possibly one month into living in Thailand, Luis's best friend came for a two week visit... on a one way ticket. Six weeks later, Juan left our home and from then I have affectionately (most times) referred to all one way tickets as Juan way tickets. He recently has been in Thailand for work, again on a Juan way ticket but this time down South. But he has been called back to Galapagos to start a course he was dying to take. But before he left he insisted on taking me out to dinner to thank me for my hospitality. We went to a great roof top bar/restaurant near by and even Andi (the other Ecua in Bangkok) came for a drink.
Three days actually felt like a proper holiday. I think it helped we were very close to the airport and except for Blue Tree we stayed put. It was also helpful for Sebastian to have a friend as he really does not want to play with us anymore! This transition feels early, not sure I was quite ready for it but nice to see him happy with friends too.
Saturday was a day of pool fun, beach and more friends to say hi to. Iwisyi and Rob joined us for breakfast. And we met Nina and Pete for Nina's birthday lunch. They are just the best couple ever, so kind. After a long rest we went back to the beach to see the turtles released in the ocean and have some dinner.
Last year we visited Phuket often and this school year had not been yet. That made it an easy decision when a friend asked us to join her family for a long weekend. We stayed at a beach right beside the airport for ease and I could not believe how much it had changed. Phuket is just crazy developed now, it is almost unrecognisable. Sebastian and myself arrived Thursday night and Luis Friday. Friday we had a great day with Janelle and family at one of my favourite places, Blue Tree. And Friday night we had dinner with friends on the beach. A perfect day. It is so nice to see trees, grass, beach and blue skies!
