Hey everyone!

"Little" update for ya'll.

So we made our way from Chaweng to Lamai, which is Samui's second largest beach. Many people told us that this part of the beach is a tad quiter, and less busy.. although we found that to be partially true, we also found that this part of the island is still quite bussling with people and things to do.
We found ourselves a little pricey of a bungalow, however, it being only 100baht more than what we were paying in Chaweng, and now having A/C (with a remote comtrol!! YEAH!) we're quite happy with it. We're again, within 2 seconds from the beach, which we've found is muuuuch quieter than in Chaweng.

We'll probably just shack up here for a week or so, as Mia really likes it, and we have just too much time on our hands.

Now for some pics.. since that's much funner than just reading what I'ma typin!

This first pic is of our day trip to Angthong Marine Park a couple days ago. we got on a boat and travelled about and hour & 1/2 to remote islands for a day of kayaking, swimming and exploring. This pic shows the inland lake that we caught from the viewpoint way up top of the mountain. Wished we could swim in it, but the guides said it was a no-no.



Picture of us .. obviously ;P

--> This is a shot of the caves that we were kayaking around. Lots of these sorts of overhangs were the water has eroded away the rock.. super cool!



Once we got back to one of the islands, we found a bunch of people gathering around a small hut, only to find these two guys perched up top scampering about.. the dude told us that they are wild, and that the island is full of 'em!




On our way back, we happened to have the one and only Bob Ross paint the sky with clouds for us.. -->




<-- Kath, I know you can appreciate this one.. these kittens are our official guard cats at our bungalow!

<-- one of the Wats that we stopped at, was of a monk that they ended up leaving in the same position as he died, cross legged in the monastary. You can see in behind the sculpture, that his body is still preserved, and seated in the same that it was 20 years ago when he died.

Another wat ->>>

<-- Now THIS was cool.. a guy let us into this very special hidden" buddah room, that has 17 buddah statues from various parts of the world. The biggest one in the back was made in India..

->>

We have more pictures to post, but my back is starting to kill me and I need some food.. we'll post the rest in a couple of days so keep reading!!

Much love to you all, and we'll ttys!

Mia & Vlad

Ahoy hoy!

How ya'll doin?!?!
We're so super! Thanks for asking..

some more pics for you all.. with commentary this time.. BOOYAH



So these photos are obviously just somee flowers that Maria found.. pretty cool foliage in this neck of the woods ;) The smell eminating from these flowers is a sweet melange of fruity and spicy aroma that makes you smile.



We took a trip one day to explore the Island and find all of the wats. Some were pretty hidden away and though there are many of them, we just couldn't get to see them all. We are still going to stay on Samui though, and we're hoping to see some more before we leave.

The first photos are of the Big Buddah, located on the North Eastern tip of Ko Samui, right at the top of a hill. Naturally, we were quite astounded by the shear size of the statue, which sat high atop a set of well decorated stairs. As you can see, the amount of detail and intricacy in the design of the walls, and surroundings of the statues is unparalleled, and quite breath-taking.





Once we left this Wat, we found ourselves going to several other smaller Wats, hidden amongst houses and smaller temples. Some of these Wats were off of small dirt roads that made travelling to very interesting to say the least. Amazingly enough though, regardless of the surroundings, within the gates of these holy properties, the floors are immaculate, and the architecture amazing.



Also, a small shot from the more hilly part of the island. Here you can see far off into the blue horizon that we see every day from the beach at our resort.



And finally, after a long day of Wat Hunting, we felt we deserved a nice little cool off in one of Samui's several waterfalls. The Nu Muang falls has two sections. This picture is of the first section of the two, and was a wonderful place to take a dip. The surrounding were very BCish, with natural woody and stony stairs that led down to the pool. Think Lynn Valley, only tropical!

To end our night off, we hada to make our way back to Maharaja's, cuz seriously guys.. you have not had indian food the likes of this.. Plus the owner (a super cool and well scholared indian man)
decided to sit and talk with Maria and I about all sorts of stuff for the duration of the evening. It was a really neat experience to hear about the island, and humanity around this part of the world. Plus he bought us drinks.. always a good thing!

Tonight we're on our way to bed since tomorrow we'll be heading off (early) to Angthong National Marine park for a day of beach bumming, kayaking, and whether permiting, some snorkling. Should be a blast, but we'll be needing our strength.. enjoy the photos!

Toodles ;)

P.S. If anyone is wondering about an "earthquake" that has happened round here recently, fear not.. this happened down in Indonesia, and we weren't even aware that it occured until we watched the BBC..

V & M

Hiiiiyooooooo!!

Here we is once again writing from the Island of Tropical Delights, sweaty, sticky, and cherry faced.
Today we'll be going round the island for some touring. Particularily to see all of the "wats" that are around the island. "wats" being the term for "statues" .. I beleive. If not that, then I imagine the term refers to monumental sort of sites.

Here on the island, there are apparently tons of these sites, and today we are devoting to go and check them all out and get some great photos!

We've been spending some time trying to figure out our upcoming travel, both from Bangkok to Athens, which finally seems more feasible thanks to my darling sister (love ya babe!), and from Croatia to Vancouver, which seems utterly hopeless at this exact point.. not much under $2000.. which is a complete farce.

Hopefully, we'll bee able to sort that one out sooner or later. Either way, not gonna let it rain on our very hot and sunny parade. Today is beautiful out. Nothing but clear skies and a slight cooling breeze.. perfect for a ride around the island.

Tonight our plans involve going out for the night.. to a bar called "mint" where DJs spin house and electronica for the sweaty masses. Sounds like a rip roarin party and so long as we don't pass out before 9pm as we have been doin, it should be lotsa fun.

Yesterday we made our way to the Tesco Lotus, which is a little ways out of Chaweng on the main highway. Think Walmart in Lougheed Mall, with far less stores, and a kickass Theatre Complex.
We decided that we couldn't wait to go and see X3, so wa made our way to see Wolverine own the silver screen. It was a pretty stellara movie, and anyonw that knows me, knows that Wolverine owns all and any movie that features him should win multiple oscars.
Go see this movie!!

... annnnnnd here's Maria! MWAH!!OXOX

Yeahhhh
So its really hot here and last night we finally found a way tobe comfortable in our really hard springy mattresses. We actually got lucky the first night we were here and they accidentally forgot to turn off the power source of the a/c, but we werent so lucky after that. But the fan has proved to be efficient enough to get some shut eye. Its crazy though because we have been sooo wiped out by 9pm every night, its crazy! We must be getting old or something...

SO yeah, weve had a hard time trying to get any flights from Zagreb home, they are soooo expensive!! I really hopee we can find something...eeekk

So today were gonna try and find a beach bungalow in Lamai beach for when our time runs out here in Chaweng.

I must admit, i am getting a little homesick this week. Its more of just being afraid of the next little while and how we are going to get from here to there. Well keep searching though! Anyways, gotta boogie.
Talk to you all soon!
xoxo mia

Hey all. Its us again. So we are going to be staying in Chaweng for a total of a week and we will go see the other beaches on this island. We were thinking of taking a kayak tour for the day pretty soon, that would be a lot of fun. it turns out to be about 60 bucks per person.
Weve been doing quite a bit of shopping. We purchased some lovely steals for our home when we get... home... like a silk duvet cover and some pillow shams to match. Some wall hangings and some beaautifully crafted wooden plates. We could only find three, but im sure it will suffice, or we will just find some more. We went to the post office to ship the stuff off and were kicked in the gut with the price. 74 dollars to ship air mail to canada. We had alreaady paid for the shipping by the time it clued in to ask about land mail, which was half the price, but it did take 3 months to get there, but who cares? Anyways, we know for next time.
So currently were trying to figure out what we are going to be doing when our visa runs out here in Thailand. We were gonna go to Vietnam for 2 weeks and are finding flights, or trying anyways.
Tonight were gonna try and go to the cinema they have at the edge of town.. that should be interesting.
Anyways, well see you all soon keep posting comments!
m & v

Hey All!
So weve settled into a cute little bungalow called Kings something or other blah blah... Really cute. We went to go and look at one suggested in lonely planet and it was such a crap hole. 500 bhat they were asking, so we kept walking. We came upon this cute place and for 300 bhat more a night, we have air con , tv, hot shower and fridge, and the property is so quaint and close to the beach, it was so worth it. Let me also add, on a completely unrelated note, that bras here SUCK and are unnecessary. I have exiled them to the nearest garbage (which are practically non-existent here) for the duration of the trip. Woo hoo!

^^^ That was Maria typing out.. now this is me. V!
So yes, what she said is true.. we have settled in and plan on staying for a couple of nights, and thank god for no bras :) True.
I have to admit I was getting a little worried about how this was all going to come to fruition. We left our first bungalow (shown in the last post) and have certainly upgraded. Again, though the cost is more, the place just cannot be beat.
Here is a quick show of what we're talkin abooot..





to give a quick recap of the day, we found a nice little restaurant called "Three Monkeys" where we sat and ate (free pool and internet access) not far from our place. We managed to check our page and see all your guys' comments which, again, we appreciate SO MUCH.. you guys have NO idea how nice it is to be able to keep in touch and see that people haven't forgotten about us.
Yes its only been a couple of days, but we feel like we've been gone ages already.

Anyways, so we got back, and it was time for the beach.. no words can at ALL explain this event, so I'll let some of the photos do the talking.



We initially had planned to stay at Mae Nom, which is where we first stopped once we got to Samui, however, our truck driver just kept ripping down the road and we had no idea where to stop, so we ended up going all the way to Chaweng, which has the longest (6km) nicest of the beaches on the island. we hadn't planned on coming here until next week but.. oh well. we paid them a suprise visit.. :)
After our very difficult day of swimming and tanning, and in my case burning, we decided to go out to one of the few indian restaurants here in Chaweng.
Maharajas its called, and baby, I was packing an artery and ready to chow.
Great service, absolutely FANTASTIC food, and one of our servers looks shockingly similar to Adrian Brody! So in his first public appearance since the Pianist, HERE HE IS!



WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA I know hey??? And you thought I was full of Chana Massala.. well that too :)
Anyway, that's all for now.. stay tuned for your next installment of "where are those loonies now"!

p.s. im making vlad come with me to the four seasons spa for some pampering thai style, and its gonna be so awesome!
p.p.s. I'm only doing it so that I don't get the look for the whole rest of the trip :P

Hello all! Sorry that we have not posted in a couple of days, for anyone who has been following along. We have left Bangkok after being there for a couple of days so that we could begin our island hopping. To recap our adventures up till this point, I'll start with our last day in Bangkok, which was a wash of all sortsa weird stuff. We decided that we wanted to go island hop, so we went to Hualamphong Station to get a combo package, which included an express train to Surat Thani, bus ride to the Don Bak(?) port, as well as the ferry ride to Ko Samui, Thailand's largest island. We settled for the second class train seats thinking that it would be suitable for what we needed. Unfortunately, it was not what we expected. The train was eeegh... lets just leave it at that. And a note if you ever travel to Thailand, or anywhere else for that matter... nothing is complimentary!! The next day, we spent rummaging around Siam Square. The square features all sorts of shops and restaurants for the avid tourist, and fit the bit quite nicely. Of course, we didn't realize that EVERY SINGLE THAI PERSON IN THE WORLD goes to the square on Sundays, so it literally took us almost 40 minutes to get through the traffic. Also, keep in mind that this is right after we have checked out of our room at the hotel, so we have all of our bags with us. Sweet eh? Alright, so we find ourselves in MBK mall in Siam Square completely emursed in People, Clothes, and any other consumable you can imagine. This place.. was un REAL. They have one floor devoted to JUST cell phones. Obviously this floor was full beyond any comprehension, and we could barely make our way through. After a couple minutes of carrying our bags, we made a very serious and important discovery. Our bags were simply too heavy. My back was giving out on me, and maria and I (still jet lagged and naucious mind you) were not down with the situation. We sat down to eat, and literally in the middle of the restaurant, went through all of our stuff to decide what we were going to jettison. Mom, I'm sorry, but the sweater idea?? Not so good. I turfed it. Along with a couple other things. We ate, and after we got rid of the stuff, our bags were considerably lighter. Phew! Now we could shop! We were and continue to be amazed at the sheer size of this mall (think metrotown times 20). Tons of floors, and so many things to buy, and the best part?? SO FRIGGEN CHEAP. Diesel jeans for $30?? whuuuuuut?? I managed to score a cool thai cotton shirt, and maria some pants and a watch.How much?? 20 bucks.. We didn't want to go crazy on our first trek, but oh we'll be back. Maria wants to grab a new cell phone, and I may just do the same. So after our long day at the mall, we needed to retreat back to Hualamphong station to catch our train. Upon arriving at the berth, we chatted up a British couple who were telling us about their horrendous day of getting hassled by the taxi drivers in Bangkok. They ended up buying 500 dollars worth of suits as she put it! Apparently thai people are very shy and will only talk to you if they are selling something or want to scam you. It certainly made us feel a lot better about our own situation, seeing as how we realized very quickly that the taxi drivers were always on the hunt for a quick buck. We finally boarded the train only to realize that the train was probably built in 1855.!! And nothing in Thailand is complimentary!! A long and hugely noisy and bumpy train ride and ferry ride and about 16 hours later, we haggled with a cab driver and we got a ride for 380bhat. Too much, but they werent willing to budge. Were gonna rent some bikes. Anyways, we found this cute little BASIC beach bungalow, not right on the beach but its quaint. No a/c though, so that sucks, but ityll have to do. Were gonna splurge tomorrow and probably go to a resort. I tshould be nice. Anyways, apparently there will be thundershowers for the next 5 days so we may be posting a lot. Keep in touch with your messages , it keeps us going and we love knowing you guys are watching!! Love you all, dont worry about us, were doing great. mia and Vlad p.s. here are some pictures of our trip so far (in completely the wrong order :)

Holy crap is it hot here.

OVERWHELMED is about the only word that comes to mind. This definitely is justified considering what the last 24 hours had in store for us. Not only was it a painfully long trip overseas, but we ended up getting to Bangkok airport at 12am.

Walking outside to the front of the airport was like walking into a sauna at your local swimming pool. We had to wait in a huge lineup to eventually make our way to Khoa San road, which I may add, is quite the scene.

We settled really for one of the first places we saw as both of us were exceedingly tired. We barely got a wink of sleep due to the air-con being on all night and the very unfamliar sound of bottles??? I dunno.
Anyway, we sat down for breakfast and ate, and are just about to depart and take a walk on the town to look around. We've been discussing different routes, and we really would like to head to the islands asap, so to the train station we go.

We will keep you all updated fairly soon.. AHHHHH WE'RE LOST!!!!

So the time has finally come.

It's about 8am, and there is no way that I can sleep any more. I still can't quite describe the feeling. A complete wash of thoughts and fears and excitement. You would think that all of the packing, moving, and unrest would have beat the idea into my head, but still I feel like its just another day.

We're pretty much all packed. Our bags look a lot heavier than I figured they would be. I'm going to throw them on a scale to find out just how much heavier. Though I'm definitely anxious over the "backpack" situation, I'm hoping I'll gain some new insight into how its all done, and done efficiently. We've taken so many precautions and made sure to double check most everything that I feel very confident, which from the get go I felt would be a tall order.. to make myself really confident on the day.

But here we are, all packed and ready to ship off. I was able to take Maria to dinner last night for one last fling at the Sequoia Grill. We managed to catch the sunset and say goodbye to the city we love. Unfortunately, the phone remains a loss.. but I have no one else to blame. Hopefully the guy will just keep it :)

8:34 and needing some coffee... we'll see you in Hong Kong!!!

Its getting so close now. I am definitely feeling something new and unknown flowing through my usual composure.

I'll be picking up the wife tomorrow from the airport (again). I will be very glad to have her back, so I guess I shouldn't complain, buuuuuuut I will anyway. A week in Calgary is a farcry from her being there for over a year, which was not that long ago. Sometimes I wonder how I was ever able to make it through that.

Mostly everything is taken care of that I can think of at this point. My rents have been extremely helpful in letting us cram all of Mia's stuff here at the house, and even more so letting her stay here for the time before we leave. I owe them so many thanks that I can't even begin to start.

The last couple of days will surely be a mix of both happy and sad moments. I fear that I will really miss this home upon my departure, but hope that I will have plently to keep my mind occupied. We will be spending these final days close with family, going out for a couple dinners, and just trying to relax. Tonight I'll be going out for a few drinks with some people from work also; a group that I will also miss a bunch. They've made the last few months of work for me not only pleasant, but down right fun. Not many places can make any work actually "fun" but Tilt does it with ease. Again, can't really begin to thank them enough for that, and for all that they did for me in the time that I was there.

Speking of which, I better get ready to get down there for my second to last shift. Peas..

I'll admit, this is not my first time having opened a "blog" for my random thoughts to be unloaded to..

I originaly opened one with the intention of .. well.. I didn't have any intention to be honest. It was pointless, mostly becuase I felt a lack of point at the time; in anything really. My how things can change so quickly.

At this exact moment, I write with purpose.. with a passion, and with excitement for the days to come.

The focus of this long-awaited endeavor, and what will undoubtedly prove to be the foundation of the next decade of our time, will be placed on this page for all to see.

This page will be the reference for all the good, the bad, and the beautiful from our travels, and our experiences.

1st Stop? Bangkok.. if you're at the airport there on May19th, do us a favor and throw a wave..