Full Moon Part-A
July 10 – full moon ‘party’
It was the full moon and just a 30 minute ferry ride away in Koh Phangan, hipsters from around the globe were getting ready to party the night away. In our case, we were lazing the day away.
Most of us were at the restaurant breakfast before 8:30, but few of us left before 10am. Just sitting and enjoying the bountiful buffet was enough activity. Around 10, the kids got their swimsuits on and went for a quick dip before returning to the room during the heat of the day. For the first few days in a tropical destination we relax the iPad rules from 11-1pm and let everyone do what they want. Avoiding a sunburn is more important than using our time wisely.
While the kids vegged, Sue and Tom taught the local kids how to play the math based card game ‘set.’ Since it is 100% visual, we could explain what was or wasn’t at set with the ubiquitous phrases ‘same-same’ and ‘same-same-different.’ The kids s caught on quickly and they enjoyed the game. We enjoyed playing until it was too hot for everyone and we all dashed to the water for swim.
Around 2pm, it was time for a do-over lunch and we walked down the beach 5 minutes to Baobab for another dose of France. This time we complimented our French fare with some Thai food which was also excellent. After lunch, it was swim time and the kids enjoyed being tossed in the air by Tom. Then we strolled back down the beach for our next adventure – ice cream.
It is not often that banana split ice cream sundaes are sanctioned as a before dinner item, but clearly all the rules are out the window in Koh Samui! The name on the ice cream tubs said “Bud’s of San Francisco” as did the sign over the door, but we remain skeptical that a $5 split with 3 scoops is being air shipped from San Francisco on a regular basis. Whatever the source, the splits were delicious.
After our pre-dinner desert, we wandered down the street for some street market shopping, Evie for bags and clothes and Tyler for spinners. Tyler was enamored with a brass spinner that was 500 baht ($15) which could be had from amazon for $8, so cooler heads prevailed. While the girls continued shopping the boys walked down to the beach and stumbled across impressive fire show.
We later reconvened at the night market and Sue and Evie decided to head home while Tom and Tyler stopped for a late dinner. Their timing was excellent as 5 minutes after sitting down a massive thunderstorm rolled in. Within minutes, the streets were flooded as the rain streamed down amid flashes of lightning and booms of thunder. Sue and Evie made it within 100m of the hotel before darting into a shop to ‘wait out the storm.’
The storm continued for well over an hour and Tom and Tyler finished their dinner, collected the left over pad Thai, stepped out into the street, and removed their shirts for the short walk in the pouring rain.
When they got to the hotel, they found Evie and Sue enjoying the light show from the restaurant deck. Around 10pm we had heard and seen enough and retired to our room, walking trough calf-high puddles.
Another fun day of doing practically noting.