Thai Military: Staging a coup

Hello, just wanted to let y'all know that I'm okay down here in Krabi. Bangkok is the only city within Thailand that has military presence. I think this will all blow over in a couple days. Thailand is a very peaceful place (except the south these days) and the loyalty to the King will prevent any hostile military takeovers.
I started my TEFL course and today was my first day teaching Thai learners. All I can say is "Whoa", not what I expected. It was much more difficult but as everything in life: a great learning experience.
Hope all is well around the world.

Local Wildlife

This spider is part of the Black Widow family: very poisonous and not so pretty either


"Monkey, Monkey, Monkey"

All settled in

Well, I think I found a really great place to live. It's only about 1 1/2 miles to the beach and 1 mile to my school. I stumbled upon this place totally randomly and the first door I knock on (my downstairs neighbor) just happens to be a teacher and knows my instructor for the course. We all went out to dinner later that night and had a blast. We hung out in this outdoor thai cafe and ate really, really, really spicy food and drank many Singhas to wash it down. I got to meet my thai instructor as well along with some of my English instructors friends. They are all really sweet and very accomodating. I feel much better having a place to call home, although I'm not sure what it's called yet and I have a hell of a time telling the taxi driver where to go (I'm sure this will change). This part of Thailand is so beautiful. It's a lot of jungle and huge limestone rock formations sticking straight out of the earth. It's really breathtaking.

My new pad

"One Cool Cat"




this is my private balcony. It needs a few homey touches and maybe a monkey.

Ko Phan nga

Cool Gecko: We found him on our porch light



This place is an absolute paradise. Your day goes something like this: Walk out of bungalow and stare off to sea for hours, find another beautiful beach and order fantastic thai food and stare some more, and to top it off, have a cocktail while learning some thai phrases.

Eating, Drinking, and being Merry

Well I have officially embraced the life of a princess or goddess during my stay on Ko Pha nang. It is so beautiful here. The island is rather hilly and from certain roads you get the most incredible view of the sea and surrounding islands. My biggest fan and blog-buddy Maryanne, and myself have had the best time exploring the shops and the bars...oh, and the beaches. My bungalow is "cheap, cheap" as they say and you get a motorbike. I've been too frightened to ride myself but I hop on back with neighbors. The latest pictures I have posted are mostly from this island. The night market we visited in Surat Thani, a little town on the mainland that is used only as a jump-off to the islands, had spectacular silk worms and grasshoppers. Maryanne was the bravest, enjoying both while I only could partake in a silkworm. I think she actually liked it. The people here are lovely (as the brits say), very sweet and warm. I will be staying here for a couple more days and then I will head back down south to Ao Nang. I brought a limited supply of clothes with me to the islands so I'm washing things everyday.
There's a monk-in-training living at the bungalows and is learning a lot about Buddhism since he arrived here in Thailand, 14 months ago. I will have to explore it as well.
Hope all is well back home.