Finally got my act together and migrated everything to a much better blog platform, and I celebrated it by starting to actually blog again.
http://mikkelgramhansen.wordpress.com/ is the place where stuff happens these days, update your ancient bookmarks if they brought you to this graveyard.
Cya there.
When I summed it all up in the last blog I did forget one monumental happening from the last week of Thai life. Marianne entered the glorious pool team and she made her entrance with style.
Most of the team had been pushing her to play the girl-single for two full lseasons but she had refused, backed out and chikened out on numerous occations always a new excuse ready for why she should not play. But finally finally finally on the very last wednesday of our stay, she ran out of options and hesitanly donned the team t-shirt and put her name on the team card for the big match against Traveller Bar. YAY !!!
Courage in a bottle...
I still remember how I was reduced to a shaking wreck on my debut and Marianne did have to gulp down a few stiff drinks to calm the nerves and steady her hands.. but then she was ready to rock'n'roll and show the thai girls how a farang lady plays the noble game.
Michael won his single, I lost mine (as pr. usual it felt) and then it was time for Mistress Marianne to represent. Just to make matters more interesting, the opponent was none other than our good friend and long time team mate, Nuch. Not easy prey and of course it added mental pressure seeing Nuch smile like a predator at the handshake.
Anyways, Marianne stepped up, had a few nervous shots but then got it all together and played just like she usually does.. and won it just like she usually does. Big celebrations, high fives and cheers from the rest of the team when she sunk that last 8 ball. Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did hon.. I was damn proud of you, and I can now almost live with the times you beat me ;)
To wrap up a perfect debut, Marianne and Ram also took their double in fine style and as pr. tradition beers were drunk and games vividly recreated with gestures and loud yelling. This time with Marianne doing her part instead of just rolling her eyes on the sideline.
It was good, it was fun and I was over the moon that Marianne had officially joined the team just in time. Now we share that experience amongst many others. Thanks for stepping up and doing it.... I promise to do the same for that damn bungee jump thing later on ;)
To all you all in Copenhagen I can only warn you: Do not be tricked into playing pool for money with the girl on the photo above. She is now a veteran player and she will skin you despite the innocent looks.
That was that, nearly three years ago I jumped in at the deep end and emigrated to the far far east. Two days ago I re-emigrated with Marianne by my side. We are back in Denmark, all is well and we are trying to adjust and get a normalized life started while we plan for our next big move.
Has been some damn fine years out there in the far away and I would happily do it all over again if given the choice, but now it's time to close that chapter, turn the page and get on creating something fresh and new from what is in front of us.
The whole Paradise gang.. the Thai flag was signed by everyone and is now a treaured memento. Thanks all you all !
The Paradise Girlie Gang and myself...
It's cold, but we'll get used to it, friends are missing but we'll learn to live with that, no luxury apartment or maid but thats no big deal, no Paradise Bar but eventually that loss will heal and no cheap smokes and drinks.. but thats probably a good thing really. Instead we have the chance to do some thing new and make a fine go of it here in Denmark.. should be fun so let the good times roll !
The last week in Kamala was more or less one big goodbye party, so not much really happened if you exclude beers, pool games and coming home sometime after dawn repeatedly. We packed our stuff in between goodbyes, sold what could be sold and donated the rest to worthy causes. I guess a few more noteworthy things did actually happen that last week, but for now the pictures should be enough, so 25 new photos up here now: http://www.flickr.com/photos/14989538@N05/sets/72157624089533585/
Loads and loads of group photos and tender moments ;)
Not really sure if I'll keep the blog alive, I guess only time will tell if it seems worth it but I think I'll try to keep up the habit.
My head hurts, it was fun and I'm never drinking again.
Should be plenty of stories to tell, but until I have had a burger from Mam's the photos will have to do the talking:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14989538@N05/sets/72157624089533585/
Marianne and Johan still looking fresh
Myself, Ta, Marianne and Johan
Tai, Johan, Marianne, myself, Twins, Lucy and Nicha.
A very fitting finale to a couple of great years here.
With only 2 weeks left here in our tropical wonderland, the reality of going back to Europe is slowly starting to creep in... I'm not really sad to leave this place, after 3 years here it is time for a change. Even the most perfect of settings become mundane after a while and you forget to stop and smell the flowers. Unless you are very conscious about it you forget to enjoy the breathtaking vista from your living room or the ease of which life in general zooms along with no problems, no hassles, no real worries... just en seemingly endless stream of near perfect days, vibrant Far East evenings and hot tropical nights with the aircon gently humming along over the bed.
Living room with a view... will never grow tired of that scenery.
I am now very conscious about it and I do try to soak up enough sunrays and enough Easters Mystique (or at least Eastern Luxury as only possible for farangs) to last me a long time in dark, cold and negative Western Europe.... but I know it's not really like that and I know that I will be happy whereever I set up shop when we set foot on Danish soil again. It's not about the places or geographic location, it's about making the best of what you got and taking each change in life as a challenge. I'm a sucker for challenges, so I know I will end up feeling I made just the right move in coming back to Scandinavia once the hustle and bustle of relocating is over.
If we end up with a house we'll have a base to explore a new way of living from, if we don't then we'll be free to drift across the globe again. Both options are fine by me, I'll be content whatever... and if it all does get too dark and cold and orderly and organized and rigid and preplanned then we can always just throw caution to the wind again and go for the adventure. Whats there to stop us other than our own preconcieved notion that "ooh thats not possible and noooo you can't just do whatever YOU feel like doing". Fact is... you can. And you certainly don't need to be rich to shape your own life, just as you don't need to be free of all ties or burn all bridges. Nike said it best, JUST DO IT !
Us looking clean and spiffy before heading out into the night
Philosophical musings aside, I'm sitting in my towel now still drying after yet another trial run to see if my leg is finally holding up, Marianne is trying her hand at painting and I have a good book waiting for me in bed in a little while. Tomorrow is all about work, work and more work, except for one of the last trips to the physiotherapist in Phuket City... and I have seen enough movies to know that surviving 3 years of Thai traffic is nothing, it's the last 3 weeks.. or 3 days that count. Something always happens just as the old policeman is finally about to retire, same deal with Thai traffic ;)
Wednesday is the last evening where the whole Paradise Bar Pool team is together as a unit so I think it's safe to assume that we'll all be more focused on having fun than on winning. After the game there might be colorful drinks with umbrellas and stuff in luxury couches on the beach.. or there might be straigh G&T's in a rundown dirty girly bar with a shoddy old pool table somewhere. It will be easy, it will be fun, it will be cheap and there will be no trouble and no thinking required. Going out in Denmark is more of a complex endevaur where logistics, cost, smoking areas, weather and company all have to be so damn carefully planned that the whole thing feels more like a chore before it's even begun.
Heading out... posing before I start to sweat too much ;)
Ahhh thats what I love about Thailand. No real planning needed, no thinking required, just go with the flow and see what experiences the evening brings you. You can smoke anywhere, you can always get your scooter home (a cab costs nothing if you actually ARE too drunk) and the weather is always on your side. Still I know that I will manage to tweak my perception in a few weeks and suddenly think that Denmark is the best place in the world.
The benefit of being sucked into your own positive propaganda with such ease cannot be overestimated ;)
As indicated in a previous blog Johan, Michael and myself had made a bet where one or more of us had to get a radical haircut in the middle of Kamala Mainstreet depending on our pool matches... and wednesday it was all to be settled. I packed the electric razor and we arrived early to Paradise where Johan was pacing around, having a hard time thinking about anything else but the very real chance of losing his long Swedish hair ;)
As luck would have it we were up against Charlie Bar, so the evening would get loud, rowdy, silly and a lot of fun nomatter what. The bet just added an edge to the whole thing and for me personally it was nothing but positive drama since I really didn't fear the razor.. to the point where I was ready to make sidebets continually until I lost on something and had to get in the chair. Michael seemed pretty fearless as well, but of course he don't have the same amount of hair as Johan to begin with mwuahahaaa.
(As a sickening sidebet Jano trotted in from Traveller bar and announced he wanted in.. and since he is already completely bald he would instead wax his entire, very hairy, body if he was to come out second best in his match over there... luckily he won, pretty sure the sight of a public waxing would have brought the police and we'd be fined for disturbing the mental stability of all spectators)
Anyways, things got under way; Michael had a pretty easy match, and Johan got lucky drawing Billy who is a good player.. but not a great player like Ahm who had expected to face. Both of them won their singles and thus retained their hair.
No such luck of the draw for me, I had Max in my singles game and he was on fire.. easily the best player of the team that night and as the match progressed I had to pull out my extreme A game and play defensive to make it even slightly interesting. In the end my hard fought comeback was all for naught as I missed an easy put just when I had finally turned the match upside down and looked to win. Marianne claims she saw me miss it on purpose, insinuating that I wanted to throw the match.. I did no such thing ;)
I walked the walk of shame and got in the chair out on the pavement... Johan and Marianne took charge of razor and scissors and the rest is history.
I particularly enjoyed the look of disbelief on the faces of the bargirls... spiced with comments like "you handsome man now, why you want to be ugly", "Now I think you will have fat face" and other assorted words of support and encouragement.
I'll be happy to admit I had a great time.. most things are fun if you manage to make it into an event, and this was an event for sure. Half the place ended up giving a hand in the massacre and within minutes the razor had nothing more to eat. MAN it felt wierd.
After the dirty deed was done... time to party ;)
Finally did have a bit of luck as I could see from the look in Mariannes eyes that she was not totally repulsed by the new look. After a few hours getting used to it she even went as far as to compliment me and tell me to keep it like this for a long time instead of letting it all grow out again. Not bad, not bad.
Getting used to it....
Thats it... right now I'm trying to find a stream for tonights Champions League final and I'm nursing a slight hangover from yesterdays outing that was supposed to just be short thing but ended up damn near epic ;)
It's starting to sink in that we'll be relocating back to Europe soon... only 4 weekends to go now and I always knew that the last few weeks would be a personal hell of organizing and packing and figuring out what to do with all our collected belongings.
Not so !!! For once I was on the ball in time and with a full month to spare I have already settled the whole thing by selling everything we own (and won't transport home) in one nice package to the owner of the apartment. No packing, no shipping, no messing around with anything. Just leave anything we don't want to bring and thats that.
Now I only have to work out a way to get my über-geeky super huge PC with me home. Also still have to dream up a way to see the match between Denmark and Holland in the World Cup that is on right when we board our flight in Bangkok... but those are details.
The big going away party is in the planning along with Johan and Sarah who will also be going back to Europe... should be a blast and a good chance to say goodbye to all the people we have come to know over the past 2½ years.
If you want to jon the party, details are on FaceBook here: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/event.php?eid=119743238056023
Everyone is welcome, Paradise Bar, Saturday June 5th from 20.00 to... late.
Will be a strange period, but I guess we'll survive and find happiness in Denmark once we get settled there again.
As I think I have told more than a few times, Team Paradise won the pool tournament last season so now the fire in our collective bellies have kinda gone down to a flickering pilot flame and we are there more to just socialize and have a few beers... winning is not really important anymore. We already done it and we already have the much coveted photos of us lifting the trophy.
So... pool night no longer giving any adrenaline kick, what is a man to do?
This man invents silly bets and stupid beer induced dares in order to once again "make it interesting", so thats what I did last wednesday when I got hit mid-game by what seemed like a fantastic idea. In no time I had both Michael and Johan convinced of the merits of the dare and we clincked bottles and shook hands on it.
Everyone knows what a bald man looks like,
so here is a photo of Marianne and a snake instead... ;)
The facial expression should carry over and be completely on topic !
Next wednesday when we play Charlie Bar, I will be bringing my fully charged electric razor and then things are once again truly "interesting". Anyone of the three of us who lose our single match will leave the place with a nice new hairstyle, often referred to as "completely bald".
Since we are all three facing stiff competition in that match, there is a very real chance that a lot of hair will be on the floor at the end of the night.
What can I say, it seemed like a great idea at the time ;)
(and Marianne is crossing fingers that three men with distinctly white scalps walk out of the bar at the end of the night... not particularly supportive)
Upped a few pictures from last nights pool game.. and subsequent celebrations. http://www.flickr.com/photos/14989538@N05/sets/72157623424970906/
Been a long long time since work has permitted me to participate in any real late night sessions, so when the chance presented itself last night I jumped in with both legs and dragged Marianne along for a good old all-nighter. (Rather, she dragged me into it and refused to go home ;))
Just about the only new thing since last is that there is now a bona fide man-eater employed at Paradise Bar. After a stint to learn the ropes in sinful Pattaya, Tai is back and he/she is causing some commotion in our little community... mostly of course due to the fact that she might not be as entirely female as first looks would suggest ;)
It's a laugh and a half to observe the old mating dance gone haywire for some of the unsuspecting tourists that wander into Paradise. The look of confusion and panic on some faces when it finally begins to dawn on them why Tai has such big big hands to go with her lovely figure... priceless!
In Bangkok, Pattaya, Phuket City and of course in Patong kathoyes are part of everyday life, they work in the supermarket and serve you in restaurants.. but here in quiet Kamala they are sightly more exotic and rare, so she has found the perfect spot to make waves and grab loads of attention.
Some weeks ago we bumped into Tai out on town just in time to step in between her and a guy who had had a few too many drinks. Nice friendship struck on that note, so now we finally have someone we can ask all them personal and weird questions about being "gender challenged" as I guess political correctnes would label Tai. Some REALLY fun and funky discussions being conducted over drinks in Paradise now.
Just hanging with the girls...
Marianne and Tai doing a Chang beer add ;)
Female bonding... or somethign like that.
All that aside, the highlight of the evening was when a tropic thunderstorm rolled in around midnight and lightning struct a lamp post just across the street... scary and bad for my ear drums. (For some reason the old Live tune "lightning Crashes" just got on my radar after writing this.. gotta gotta find my Live albums and relive my early twenties again me thinks ;))
Come to think of it, one more thing did happen... I sort of happened to issue one of them silly beer induced dares to Michael and Johan and they both jumped on the chance to make our next pool match slightly more interesting. More on that in the next blog, need to build up couragte to face the fact that we shook hands on it ;)
We decided that the last visa run before we return to Europe had to be memorable so we debated back and forth about Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia or Myanmar.. but ended up opting for a return to good old Kuala Lumpur instead of bravely going where we had not gone before.
Usually this would be seriously against how we do things, but when faced with the choice between an exiting new place and unbridled luxury in a familiar place, I caved in and voted for the extravagant hotel instead of the unspoiled nature. We all have our weak moments I'm sure ;)
I won't regret the choice and I think Marianne agrees that we had a very memorable time in KL which ranks high on our mutual list of great cities of the far east. Bangkok, KL and Hong Kong tops the charts for us both, but where I have Macau up there in the running I think Marianne prefers Singapore. Guess none of the cities or citizens there really care how we rank their fair location, so enough about that...
The view from the roof top bar... magnificient !
Work was a complete nightmare the weeks leading up to the trip, with 13-14 hour days being the norm and way too many balls to be kept in the air, so in some ways the timing was a blessing since I really really really needed to get away from things and recharge the batteries. On the other hand it brough even more chaos to a chaotic project when I had to sign off and leave for the airport mid-milestone. So again I caved in and I brought the laptop after asking permission from Marianne of course. She knows me well enough to allow for this change of plans for our romantic get-away weekend since I would never be able to relax without logging on and chekking up on things during the weekend. I managed to keep it to an absolute barebone minimum and the project gotr delivered monday morning european time as intended. All thumbs up and happy happy ;)
Simple as I am, I never tired of the "I'm all the way down heeeeere" game ;)
My mission in KL this time; to enjoy, relax, pretend to be rich, pretend to be suave, and to not set foot outside the fancy hotel one single time. I wanted a padded timebubble.. and damn did I ever get it :D
Won't go into details, but we were pampered and we loved it. The roof bar had the most extreme drinks, the view was breathtaking, Mariannes dress equally so, the lightning flashing over Petronas towers.. errh and the room service. I could get used to that whole "Dial 3" and a gourmet burger is served on a hot plate in front of one of the suite TV's a few minutes later. I would survive one month there before my arteries clogged and my legs withered from lack of use.
Now THATS what I call a drink !
(Yep that is a full size Oreo hiding in there, should give a good sense of scale)
The most intense action of the trip came when we tried to get back to the airport and our timing put us smack dab in the middle of KL rush hour. Around KL tower rush hour equals gridlock, serious gridlock... every single day of the week and with impeccable timing we caught the worst of it. When the taxi finally arrived, he explained that he was late because it had taken him 25 minutes to go the last 300 meters to the hotel. Then some switch flicked in his head and he become GridLockMan, the fastest cabdriver in the far east.
I have been in a few cabs around the world and I have had some interesting rides, but nothing like this.
He started out by going a couple of hundreds of meters against oncoming traffic, through gaps between vehicles where I felt for certain we'd end up a pile of burning metal and smashed glass... I swear there was NOT room for the stuff he did, and did at a pretty reasonable speed while everyone else was at a complete standstill. The next few kilometers was more of the same.. round the outside in roundabouts, against traffic, pushing through on the inside then crisscrossing to the far lane and back with mere centimeters to spare. Best part is that it wasn't even scary, the guy could drive so it felt more like a fun rollercoaster ride. (and we got to the airport in time ;)
So... KL was good to us and except for getting caught out in a tropic rainstorm of biblical proportions the weekend went without a single mishap. Was a weekend to remember and well worth the slightly higher than usual budget.
A few nights ago a frog attached itself to one of our windows, giving me the change to take a bunch of closeups from a somewhat unusual angle.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14989538@N05/sets/72157624051933180/
Much to my surprise some of them actually turned out pretty dencent, especially when seen in the large original size.. so I callocted them in an album for your viewing pleasure. Threw in some grasshoppers, a praying mantis, a walking stick of some sort and a huge moth just to balance out the collection. No spiders, so it should be safe for anyone to have a peek.
Amazing textures and details on some of the creatures.. spikes and claws and fur and scales... nature is a funny old place.
Just..hanging on?
Different window, same procedure.
Been busy and haven't had a chance to update this blog for a while, but today is a day off and I better get some stuff down on paper before I forget it all.
Messing around with hundreds of photos from the last months but before I get all that stuff up, enjoy a set from Mariannes recent girlie trip to Koh Yao Noi. http://www.flickr.com/photos/48655341@N07/sets/72157623920954133/
I was obviously not invited but it looks like they managed to have a pretty good time anyway ;)
32 days until we head home to Denmark after nearly three years here in Kamala, wierd feeling and we still have so much to see and do. Going to be hectic and I guess it will be good to finally return and try life in Denmark on for size. If it goes all bad we can always pack our suitcases and emigrated again.. maybe.
Time to sort photos and try to shake the slight hangover from last nights pool victory celebrations. Go have a look at Mariannes photos, they are good !
After nearly a month of dry hot sunshiny days the heavens finally opened a few hours ago and now it's pouring like Monsoon season had started.
Still hot as hell, but now it will get humid too.. yay !
Found the first signs of coming rain a few days ago when frog s started getting noisy again, dunno how them little buggers do it but apparently they anticipated the change in weather. Frogs... around here that equals NOISE. Small bullfrogs the size of your pinky finger can make enough noise to make it seem a full grown cow is hiding right beside you. Loud little buggers and when you factor in the sheer amount of them it should become obvious why we sometimes have to close all doors and windows after a downpour when they become really agitated and active. LOUD buggers I tells ya.
This one was getting ready to rock a few nights ago when we came home.. had the camera ready so I thought I might as well test the macro function.
Check the full size photos here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14989538@N05/sets/72157623424970906/
At the end of the set.
Photos here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14989538@N05/sets/72157623595120151/
Been a nice long weekend full of nothing except a few beers last night (and a few games of pool where Marianne ruled the table beating myself, Bill, Michael and Johan in one nice go.. thats 4 of the 5 male members of Team Paradise which so recently won the championship !?!?!)
The visible result of all our efforts
Celebrating that win is the topic of this blog btw. in case you had any doubts, but since it's getting late and I am all out of words, I'll again just point to a busload of photos from the evening where we were presented with our well earned trophy and celebrated a damn fine season with all the other teams.
The build up to the party was very very Thai... 1 hour before the event was scheduled to start we got a call that it had been moved to the bar owners home since all bars in Kamala had been ordered to close by the police, reason unknown, unspecified and unimportant. When we arrived at her house one hour later it was dark and no beer or trophies were in sight. We got hold of a guy there who told us that the party had been re-rescheduled and was to take part in paradise anyway. Seems the police had decreed a 2 day full bar-stop due to a local election, but after a bit of negotiation it ended up a 2 HOUR stop instead. Very Thai ;)
Anyways, we won the damn thing, we got the trophy and drank champagne, we played some more pool and drunk more stuff and enjoyed being top of the heap for once. We took loads of photos, most of the ruined by the friggin' 2makeup" feature on the new camera chich apparently overrides any attempt to turn it permanently off. Still might as well upload a whatever I got and save the moment for a time where a bit of cheering up is needed.
The team celebrating and posing
The team celebrating and posing
Again, lots and lots of high res photos from the night here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14989538@N05/sets/72157623595120151/
Including Mariannes new "FOCUS" series ;)
In 10 days the next season kicks off... Paradise is in it to win!
When we had Mariannes friends visit us a few weeks ago we convinced them to go on a 2 day diving trip to the Similan Islands to get a taste of what we did a years and a half ago when we headed out on what ended up being our best ever diving trip, and experience never to be forgotten.
They had a fantastic trip as well and brought back lots of photos... now I'll use some of those to do a bit of promotion for anyone contemplating whether the Similans are really worth it. They are and you should go !
Uploaded a bunch of superb underwater action here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14989538@N05/sets/72157623593415847/
And here http://www.flickr.com/photos/14989538@N05/sets/72157603790970032/
are some of our own rather spectacular shots (including what must surely be the biggest Manta Ray ever to grace to aquatic domain.. one of the most special moments of my life when that massive hulk came gliding out of the deep blue and passed me just a meter away)
And of course a blog like this needs a few teaser images, but do go and look at the high res option instead, there is soooo much detail in many of the professionally done photos.
Getting ready to jump into the big blue unknown.
The Manta Ray that made me a true bliever in diving... 5-6 meter wing-span, nothing short of aweinspiring when it glides right past you.
Just another day off the Similans...
"Emma" the Muray Eel thats become a celebrity at the diving spot "East of Eden" in the Similans.. She is apparently very curious and like to sneak up on people and scare the hell out of them ;) Errhh and also she earned her fame for biting off the thumb of a diver who fed her, all caught on tape : www.break.com/index/eel_bites_off_divers_thumb.html
PS: I HATE Muray Eels, the are nasty pieces of work !
Lionfish.... pretty and full of poison. Don't pet it ;)
Always gotta have a "Finfing Nemo" photo
Color is the name of the game down there...
except if you are a small translucent fish looking not to be eaten.
Come on.. can you NOT be impressed ?
This will be mercifully short since I'm in the middle of another 14 hour stint at work, but I grabbed photos from the camera and wanted to share ;)
I had a long ode to long summer weekends in paradise all composed, but it ended up a little disjointed even for my usual rambling standard, so I'll drop it in the back log and return to it next time I feel all elated about life in general and long lazy saturday afternoons in general.
Friday we put on our best threads and went out for dinner with Johan, Saranh, Bill, Nuch, Michael, Koi and Ta to celebrate the recent wedding. Since they are going back to Sweden in a few months it seemed stupid to give them a washing machine or something so instead we all chipped in and bough ourselves.. and them a nice evening out.
Johan, Nuch, Bill & Koi... Sarah, Ta, Marianne & Michael.
Michael, myself, Sarah, Ta, Johan, Nuch, Bill and Koi..
all at TASTE restuarent in Surin.
Was good fun, good food, good company and as always good weather.. and good beer at Paradise Bar later on. But we had top cut it short and leave early since we had an appointment with our scooter the next day.
Woke up pretty fresh and ready to finally forget about work for a day and instead explore the island a bit. Been a long time since we just jumped the scooter and drove around for the hell of it... but we covered a good 100 kilometers and got reacquainted with the beautiful southern part of Phuket.
Of course we picked the hottest sunday in ages for this trip, so now I'm sunburned in a very similar fashion to what is seen on Tour De France bicycle riders. Yup, I got farmer tan ;)
Promthep Cape... a billion degrees in the sun and lots of parasailors in the sky.
The highlight of the trip was meeting up with my sister and her family again in Kata where they were making a quick pitstop on their great South East Asia tour. Was very good to see them all again, and especially to see how much to two lizards have grown in the few months since we last saw them here in Kamala. Someone has been doing a LOT of growing up since last and even Emil (3 years) had picked up a passable smattering of English !?!
Nephew Alfred took this one... now titled "The goofball freakshow"
After the expected input-overload-breakdown the kids got ready for some eating and uncle Mikkel had juuuust the place. Best pizzas on Phuket according to local legend and they were good.. but nobody had mentioned how gargantuan the damn things were and even if we played it carefull and bought a large pizza to share we still only got halfway though it. The thing was biblical... and came with it's own table when served :D
To get a sense of scale... the Italian sausage slices are palm-sized. Not kidding.
Present to witness my first ever loss to a pizza were also Jacobs brother & family as well as his mum (Hello Leni, hope you kept reading this far and that we'll meet back in Denmark soon enough)
All in all a great evening topped off by a fantastic moonlit ride back to Kamala. 25 kilometers twisting along the Andaman sea, temperature a soothing 28 or so, moon laying on it's back and stars twinkling above... a belly full of pizza and Marianne sitting pretty behind me. Yup good times indeed.
Made it home just in time for Marianne to be tugged on in the couch while I settled in for some Premier League football. Thats it for now, was the perfect weekend but now work is calling very seriously.
Marianne all tucked in on the couch.... 28 degrees is apparently cold for her now.
Not many would have believed that a motley and rag-tag crüe as the one donning Paradise Pool team t-shirts every wednesday could ever amount to anything. But we could and we did, and now we are Pool Champions of Kamala which amounts to Pool Champions of South-East Asia in my modest view.
(Ok, Lasse believed in us all the way, he knows how I am about winning ;))
Yesterday late afternoon we all gathered in Paradise to hype ourselves and down some drinks ahead of time, this was to be our night and damn be all realistic predictions that we would fold and place somewhere mid-pack as would be right if skill and talent were any match for luck, extreme team spirit and dogged determination. I think most of us were finally realising that the finish line was in sight and the nervous bravado and batering ahead of the match had a bit more of a desperate edge to it than usual.
We did the math and figured out that solid win would see us crowned champions nomatter what, a small win would give us good chances while a narrow defeat (God forbid it) would bring us the big trophy only if all other results shaped up perfectly. Perfectly meaning Charlie Bar scoring less than 10 points and Malibu Bar defeating Mountainview bar by the specific score of 8-3
Lets get it ON ! Great photo-art by Marianne.
Nervous mid-match posing... trying to hide the pressure ;)
I guess there is no reason to prolong the suspence since Team Paradise never ever make things easy and of course we did end up with precisely the narrow 5-6 defeat after a very long and way way too interesting bout of games. We had spies in Malibu bar (10 meters to the left of Paradise) and they kept us updated through the night just to add to the tension. Anyways, Malibu beat Mountainview by 8-3 and when the final ball in that match dropped to cement the scoreline, mayhem erupted in Paradise.
The little team that could... Bill, Martin, Myself, Nuch, Michael and Johan
The little team that could had beat all the big guns and based much more on team spirit than actual skill we had managed to come out on top in what is a pretty damn competitive tournament. If you think winning the kamala Championship is small potatoes, then you have not been to these parts or experienced the serious attitude behind the drunken smiles ;)
Won't come as a big surprise that we did party a bit afterwards, but I had to get back home and in bed before closing time since I had yet another all too long day at work facing me this morning. Next wednesday it's the big trophy party, all teams will gather in Paradise to eat, drink, be merry and tell tall tales from the season past while applauding us when we receive THE trophy.
Pictures will be taken, t-shirts will be made and solid promises to "beat you guys to a pulp next season" will be made. It will be fun!
Matching t-shirts showing our celebrations from last season.
Kissy kissy basking in the glory of the then cool 2nd. place trophy.
Making t-shirts from photos is a big fad here, and we WILL wear them !
A big thanks to all who participated both as regulars and as replacements during the season, everyone who have been in and around the team have performed better than expected and all have accepted the spirit of the team.
"Yeah it IS important to win, but we want to do it in style and have fun with it"
Last but not least, a big thanks to my steadfast support team.. Marianne, who have been there for all the highs and all the lows (for my part, more lows since I lost more than I won) and I almost forgive her for messing around with the camera last night so she missed out on videotaping me finally playing like a damn Greek God and winning a closely contested single against some dude who though he was all that and a bag of whatever. HAH !
Thats it for now, only problem is the fact that now I need a new goal to strive for... the world has become a little smaller *sigh* ;)
Oh and here are a bunch of new photos from the last week or so, just a random selection of life around these parts: http://www.flickr.com/photos/14989538@N05/sets/72157623424970906/
So.. Johan and Sarah got married last week and before you do anything else, please go have a look here: http://ginaellen.smugmug.com/Weddings/Sarah/11404755_EpS9k#802005169_qAFQ7
Oodles of high quality, crisp, clean, clear and professional photos from the big event. Johan even put on a tie, so you really should take a look at them !
As you can tell from the photos in this blog, our old camera is pretty much dead and now takes really low quality shots, so go with the pro ones instead and all you will miss is the party... I'm sure the, at that time, slightly intoxicated happy couple will prefer it that way.
If you haven't really kept up with this blog and have no clue who these people are, then a quick recap would be that they are Swedish, they are nice, we enjoy their company and Johan is almost as gifted a pool player as yours truly ;) They have been here for nearly a year now and will also be going back to Scandinavia this summer, but now they have the memories of a tropical wedding to take with them when they leave.
It all started a few weeks ago when Johan dragged us aside and made Mariannes eyes grow to double size when he revealed that a marriage was in the cards... and that it would happen 5 days later. Clever move from them since it meant we never had a chance to throw him a true bachelors party... probably a good thing here in the land of sin and questionable genders. (We'll get him later though)
After the initial chock had settled Marianne got into practical mode and first of all decided she needed a new dress and she needed to get busy helping Sarah prepare for her big day. My role was limited to make sure Johan didn't get cold feet and to make sure he arrived on time for the ceremony. Big responsibilty *phew*.
Eliza, Michael & Koi all dressed up
Us before the heat got to us ;)
On to the big gig... and you'll have to excuse me, I'm a guy so weddings are not something I obsess or grow misty eyed over but I'll make a fair report and do my best here even if this should really be a Marianne blog;)
Man-mind or not, even I could see that this was a beautiful wedding and that it all went smooth as clockwork (Thai Clockwork that is ;)). The setting was on a viewpoint up on Millionaires Mile, overlooking the entire Patong Bay as well as offering a fantastic vista over the Andaman Sea back towards Kamala. The convoy of scooters ended up there right around sunset after a slight delay due to the customary last second hair/makeup panic from the bride.
The viewpoint area had been dressed in flowers and cloth to make it a scene right out of a girlie girl movie (probably featuring Hugh Grant and/or Julia Roberts) and with the weather hoding up and the sun going down the scene was set for a near perfect exchange of vows. Sarah in a extravagant Thai/Western style dress and Johan dressed to the nines and even manageing to look like he was enjoying the fuss and perhaps especially the company. They were cute and it was pretty obvious there would be no cold feet or changes of heart.
In charge of the ceremony was some semi-celebrity from Sweden that I must admit I didn't know, but she did a great job and made it all feel dignified while hitting the right note of serious business while allowing for a bit of fun. It's a marriage, not a funeral... right ;)
After the exchage of rings and the extended photo session, one of Sarahs colleagues gave them the gift of a newly composed song. It hit right home and I think I saw Marianne shed a tiny little tear there... I'll be happy to admit it WAS a fitting end to the ceremony and it DID make it look even more like something out of a movie.
The happy couple
And one more of them.. it was their day after all ;)
Kathrin performing a self composed song to seal the deal.
Beautiful, fragile and emotional performance.
The whole gang was there...
Marianne, myself, Sarah, Johan, Noi, Ta, Nuch, Bill, Eliza and Michael
It all ended with the sun settling into the Andaman and around these parts that means BUG HOUR ! There is 30-50 minutes or so right after sunset where everthing with wings takes flight and goes on the prowl for a face to smash in to. In areas with untouched jungle there are quite a few things with wings and the view point is smack dab in the middle of a huge patch of jungle with just a few mansions scattered around on the cliffs overlooking the ocean. We had a 5 kilometer drive down the mountain on scooter and I believe we hit around half of the various bugs in the southern hemispehere. (2 hours later I was still picking bugs out of various bodily crevasses, but I guess that constitutes info overload...)
The wedding reception/party was set at Charlie Bar... of course. Where else than the only place in town with no walls and no real floor would a pristine wedding dress and a guy in Armani pants, delicate white dress shirt and a tie fit in ?
The wedding photographer left us alone there which is a bit of a shame really because it ended up one hell of a party and our old camera caught a little of it. Lots of nice food and nice people to get things going and then later on when families and weak souls had departed, things turned KAMALA. Food cleared from the pool table, sambuca shots poured in stupid amounts and after the bride was sent home to change out of her way way way too hot dress she got in on the action as well.
Mrs. Peacock looking as lovely as ever
The customary wedding dance
Was a great evening, turned night, turned early morning before we finally bid the married couple a good night and managed to crawl out of Charlies and find our way home to sleep like the dead.
A very tired couple says goodnight.. or goodmorning.. or whatever
If you ignored the initial plea to go look at photos then do it now... http://ginaellen.smugmug.com/Weddings/Sarah/11404755_EpS9k#802005169_qAFQ7
and then give the couple a thought on the way and wish them a long and happy life.
Had a nice sunshiny day splashing around the pool and mostly trying NOT to think about work and instead to respect the day of rest. Now it's early evening and I'm halfway watching Super V8 from Australia while trying to get some bloggin' going and then later we'll head out for a couple of games of pool.. only this time without the usual drinking since I want to relax tomorrow.. not have a hangover.
The pool sparring with Marianne is preperation for the big season finale next wednesday where we face AussieBar in a match that may make Paradise Bar season champions. We have had two interesting games since the last update and right now we the top 3 teams are all more or less even so anyone can take home the big trophy with a last gasp effort come wednesday. It's almost too nerve-wrecking especially for me and Johan as it is our last full season and our last chance to hold up the mighty trophy and have loads of pictures taken for posterity.
There are no pool related images, so enjoy this fantastic grashopper caught on our porch a few days ago instead.
Two weeks ago we walked the 5 meters to Malibu Bar and got ready for the fight of a lifetime. They are a GOOD team with no weak players, headed by Julian who is generally recognized as the best player on Phuket... lets just keep the shot by shot commentary short and say that we got lucky. We lost 5-6 on an evening where nobody could really have complained if the scoreboard had said 0-11 at the end and we celebrated the loss like a major victory. Johan beat Julian in his first game as a married man and he is now officially know as "The Lord Of The Ring".. or alternatively as "Hey You.. Married Dude"... or actually just as "errh you there... " near the end of the evening where your vocabulary has gone down enough to makes names 'n stuff difficult ;) Bottom line was that Malibu in second place only gained a single point on us, leaving us with a 6 point gap with two weeks to go.
Last week it was time for the visit to CharlieBar and we had lined up a nice crowd to come cheer for us and help with the party afterwards. Me, Johan and Michael were grabbed Charlies table 2½ hours before the match was on and got busy practising while trying not to get too drunk before "kick off". We made a perfect balance act and got ahead 3-0 in the singles with yours truly grabbing my first single win in ages... and I even played well ;)
Then things went kinda downhill and the only other match we won was me and Michaels double which similarly to last season was a prolonger nailbiter of a defensive battle. We lost the rest and ended up down 4-7... NOT what we had expected after popping open the bottles at 3-0 up. Perhaps a lesson might have been somewhere around the bar to be learned, but I'll be damned if I know what it is. Ah well, we have huge fun in a nice friendly (albeit ultra competitive) atmosphere. Charlie even declined the drinks he was offered, in order to stay sharp while playing, I have NEVR heard about him doing that before.. but ok, he did play pretty damn good so I guess for them it was worth it
Malibu only managed another slender 6-5 win over Aussie Bar, so the gap narrowed to 4 points before the final match day.... no worries we though and started planning gimmicks for the last round, feeling certain of taking home the awards to the massive underdogs of Paradise Bar. Things quited down a bit when an exhausted runner arrived from the other end of town where Mountainview who didn't figure in anyones plans had made the upset of the season by trhashing the Frogs of Traveller with 11-0.. catapulting them to a very unexpected first place in the ranking before the last day. Damn... Top three is covered by ONE single point before the last day... it's anyones trophy for the grabbing. Ooohhh the pressure !!!!
Mariannes take on the "Fresh" theme in our family photo challenge. Love it !
Enough about that, now instead to a quick update on the guests we had this week. Hildegun and Ronny from Norway came to visit and while I had to work and stay serious Marianne jumped at the chance to show them a good time so she dragged them off to Rock City in patong where it seems a very very good time was had by all ;) Was nice withj some company, feel free to drop by whoever you are.
We also went diving for the first time in over a year, but it was quite frankly the worst dive ever in the history of anything. We got hit by freak weather otherwise only seen off season and the visibility was around 1 meter instead of the 20+ we usually have. Might as well have been diving in a warm mud pool in Slovenia for all I know, we saw absolutely nothing but silt & sediments. The weather also meant waves... big ones, and long tail boats are not really built for inclement weather so it was a seriously bumpy ride that at times had me slightly worried. Didn't get seasick though, so I guess thats a thing of the past To make the diving day perfect I got a problem equalizing my left ear and had to bail after about 1 minute of the second dive. Yay diving is fun :(
Still, after that abyssmal trip, we managed to convince our guests to book at two day diving trip to the Similans and they had a fantastic series of perfect dives there, so all ended well. I'll grab some of their photos and up later so you can marvel at the creatures of the deep. Some truly stunning shots there that you won't want to miss. (Sharks even!?!?!)
Errh.. what else... oh yeah.. the wedding, that will come in the late evening blog ;)
And nope it's not ours ;)
Two days ago Johan dragged us aside and revealed that he and Sarah had decided to get married... tomorrow. Johan and Sarah are our Swedish friends, and constant readers will most likely have seen plenty of pictures of Johan especially from our various pool antics. He is the guy starring as Bad Santa in the christmas photos on Flickr, go have a look.
Marianne got misty eyed but quickly pulled herself together and jumped to the role as maid of honour, already planning the new dress she had to have and all the other things that make a wedding a real wedding... I am doing my part as well, since I will be entertaining Johan tomorrow while the girls get their nails and hair and whatever done. My job in the meantime is to ensure he does not run away and that he shows up sober for the ceremony ;)
They have planned a simple exchange of wows at a scenic viewpoint up on Millionaires Mile with a good bunch of us usual supects in attendance. After the ceremony we all head to Charlie Bar for the wedding reception, food, drinks and merriment ad libitum. I think it will be one hell of a photo opportunity to have a beautiful wedding dress in the less than classic high society scene of Charlie Bar. Instant Kodak Moment.
We are obviously very happy for the couple and I think it will be both a great day and a great marriage. They do suit each other just perfectly.
Anyone around these parts that know the couple are obviously welcome at Charlie Bar tomorrow night... bring presents !
Here goes nothing...
