Patong Beach

Last night we went to Patong for a night out.  Our thinking is that right now it is probably the safest place in Thailand.  Loads of security and I think it is pretty unlikely there will be a follow up bombings there anytime soon.  Well let's hope there are no more follow up bombs anywhere anytime.  Obviously many other people felt the same way as it was packed out with people.  Patong is definitely a unique place, that is really the only way I can think to describe it.  It is a place that I will definitely not frequent, probably only when we have guests here that want to see it.  Bangla Road is packed out with bars, night clubs, people offering you ping pong shows and loads of other various things.  We also saw lots of other parts of Patong as we went from hostel to hostel to get one that would take Lola (a taxi there and back would have cost us at least $50, a hostel for the night $10), I think it is a place I could be fairly frustrated as the age gap of most of couples we saw at bars down the side streets made my skin crawl.  But that was not a surprise, I have been to Thailand before.
Having said all that we did have a great night.  We went out with our new friends Jackie and Brian.  Jackie is also new at the school and her boyfriend Brian is also a trailing partner.  We went to a few bars and then dancing for a bit.  I cannot wait for our next night out, hopefully in near by Bang Tao, as we drove through and looks more our vibe.

 Our new friends :)

Luis's first bucket, which has helped contribute to our very lazy watching TV Sunday.

Bombs in Phuket

Yesterday morning I woke up to a phone call from my Dad, we chatted for a bit and he mentioned he read there were a couple of bombings in the South of Thailand.  Although I had not seen the news yet I assured him that most of the past violence in Thailand has not been targeted at tourist areas so Phuket would be fine.  I got off the phone and checked the news to find that, possibly during our conversation, there had been certainly one but possibly two bombings in Patong (a popular tourist destination in Phuket), a short drive from us. In fact we spent some time on the beach there last weekend.   Thankfully, we are fine and actually I am not even sure of what the damage has been in Patong, and I am not sure we will find out any time soon, as we are sticking to our local quiet beaches for a bit.
These seem to be in response to the referendum that was held here last weekend.  The result has given the military quite a lot of power for the next few years.  Having been here only five minutes and knowing next to nothing about Thai history and politics I have no opinion on the result.  But I do know that I will not have much to say on Thai politics on here, I am not sure it is a wise move.

Our New Home

After a week in our current home I was beginning to get quite fond of it.  It is actually really lovely, I think just not ideal for a non-family.  We really wanted to be somewhere we could walk to local places and where Lola could go on long walks.  So a beautiful place, just not one hundred percent us.  
Our new house is definitely one hundred percent us!  We spect the last few days driving around looking for our hidden gem home.  Today we found it!  Off the main road, great location, closer to the beach, great place for Lola, still close to school, just a million times better.  Oh and did I say house, I meant houses, we have two two-bedroom villas, with a pool!  The owners decided it would market better as one villa (still the same price as the one we have now!).  So people when you visit you will have your own private house that is attached to ours.  We are pretty excited about it :)

We cannot wait to start entertaining, come on visitors book your flights.  Once you are here it is cheap as chips, wait till you read my upcoming food blog!  I am going have to be an exercise queen not to gain a million pounds. Super yummy!

First School Days

I have just finished my second day of school, not real school, orientation school. Basically learning about the school, the newbies and how to use a Mac (apparently I will be a convert in days).  The school is properly amazing, actually a bit scary, I have never seen anything like it.  The facilities are like none I have seen before, these are some lucky kids (not to mention I will now be their teacher!).
The newbies seem great, of course everyone is one their best behaviour and full of smiles.  I suspect I will get to know them better after our welcome party when they have a few glasses of wine in them.
Luis and Lola have been doing well, organising the house and learning new things about Phuket.  Of course, it will take us ages to get our head around things here.
Here are some pictures of my new school.  Pictures of the house to follow, it looks like we will be relocating soon so I may hold off on those for a bit.

It really is quite stunning, I have not even included the ridiculous sports facilities, swimming pools, gym, tennis courts, a dozen football fields oh and of course a golf course.  I am so nervous to teach!

Friday Food Market

Luis had definitely died and gone to heaven. As we drove in I knew we were going to be there for a while. It was packed out with people, food stalls and other things for sale. It is our local Friday night market and it is pretty special. Lola enjoyed what Luis decided he was not fond of, which to be fair was not much. I think in total he spent under 5 dollars and ate like a king.

 Decisions Decisions

 Six pieces of sushi, one dollar

A lovely way to spend a Friday night. As we have no internet or tv (how did people survive!), it was a great find.

Learning Lessons

Not even a week in and we have learnt some key lessons 1) NEVER make decisions jet lagged 2) Follow advice 3) Spicy means spicy 4) And oh my goodness I now know what hot is.
We moved into our new place yesterday. It is lovely and bright, 3 bedrooms and a garden and totally not us! Whoopsie!! Luckily our landlords are amazing and have agreed to shorten the lease, so we are viewing this as our temp home.
Last night we had dinner with a couple from the school (their place is so amazing it was a little depressing!), we got some tips and feel like we are finding our way around.
Today we drove down the Coast to see Patong, Karon and Kata. Beautiful beautiful beaches, but our local ones are pretty fabulous too and ten minutes is better than thirty.

Lola looking at the view in Kata beach. She is hot but happy to be the beach dog she has always dreamed of being.

Finally!!

Finally, I have managed to crack Google security! I have had the most frustrating week trying to get this blog running again, google drive (all my files in the world) and email.  But finally I did it and I can tell you they do not make it easy.  Not one bit, but hey ho I guess that should make me feel better really (not that there are anything in my folders to hide).
So we made it, all of us, no scratches, maybe Lola is a little more shaky but all in all here in one piece.  We have found a place to live and are moving in later this morning.  I have also started a second blog including Luis. But I have decided to keep both going as I just think if is safer to have two of everything!
I shall update this one soon with photos.