the wedding!

12.30.09 - The wedding was incredible, as I would have expected nothing less from Thailand/this resort/Ang and Todd. It started with a full procession, including about 12 people in full traditional Thai attire, chanting, singing, music, dancing - and we got to be a part of it too! Then the women did a welcome dance and we proceeded to walk to the area on the beach where the ceremony would be.

It was beautiful and the setting couldn't have been more perfect. After a beautiful ceremony with a perfect sunset in the background, we had cocktails and mingled then Todd and Ang planted a tree on the resort where it will forever be for them to come back to and visit. Then they cut cake, had the MOH and best man speeches (not a dry eye in the house), and then they brought us to the beach for a HUGE incredible fireworks display just for the wedding. Then we light these fire lanterns and let them fly off into the sky, which was awesome, then we had sparklers and celebrated - and this was all before dinner. Dinner was by the pool and overlooking the ocean. It was delicious and amazing like the rest of the ceremony/reception. The night was capped with a dance party on the beach with a great band and music and crowd. An amazing night celebrating a wonderful occasion!

Wedding Day!

12.30.09 - Angela and Todd's wedding day! We started the day with awesome massages at their spa. Although I have only had about 5 massages in my life - I can definitely say this one was an experience like no other. Not only was absolutely every inch of my body massaged thoroughly (I'm talking ears, nose, elbows, toes, and everything in between) but they did some weird stretches and other crazy stuff too. At one point I was sitting up on the bed indian-style and the woman came from behind me, my hands up and behind my head, and she wrapped her body around me, wrapped one of her legs around me, moved my body side to side and then all of a sudden yanked me backwards, intensely cracking anything that could be cracked in my back. Then she proceeded to do the same to the other side. Quite an experience! After the massages we proceeded to one of the best parts of the resort - the delicious buffet style glorious brunch experience. Such great food, all fresh and delicious... I honestly could not fit it all in, although every day I do try. Ha da great brunch overlooking the beautiful view and had another great beach day with the group. Then we went back to our villa to get ourselves and the bride ready for the big day.

I'm no "blogger"

I am in no way a "blogger" by any stretch of the imagination, so I don't really get how to do this.... but I want to put more pics up and can't figure it out, so here we go.

Koh Samui

12.29.09 - The island and the resort are beautiful! I can see why Angela and Todd decided to get married here because it is absolute paradise. We arrived to our villa at about 10am and after a much needed shower made our way to the infinity pool and the beautiful beach and had a glorious day in the sun with our friends

We went out on kayaks and hobies and swam/laid around all day and had a great time. That evening Todd and Ang had the whole group over for apps and drinks to celebrate their wedding. They exchnaged gifts, we watched the video Jill made for them, and had a great time celebrating the occasion. Then we took a car to a fun restaurant at a different part of the island and had a huge Thai feast! Wonderful people and a great time.

Bangkok by day

12.28.09 - We woke up nice and early to hit the main touristy things before leaving Bangkok for the islands. We took a tuk-tuk to get to the Royal Palace, which was ridiculous. You see these pictures in the travel books but seeing it in person was awesome. We visited a few Wats (temples) and saw lots of extravagant temples and buildings and buddhas and had a blast. Hopefully I'll get the pictures to upload because I really can't describe how incredible these things were.

Everyone we met was really nice though, and overall we had a great experience in Bangkok. After a full day of sight-seeing and another amazing meal of pad thai and Thai beers we did a bit of shopping in the streets then headed to the airport. We flew down south then hopped on an overnight boat to get to Koh Samui.

The bottom floor was filled with cargo (motorcycles, fruit, VCR's, you name it) and the upstairs was one big long room, hard-wood floors, packed to the brim with small flimsy little mattresses with one pillow each for backpackers to cram in there and sleep the 7 hours to Koh Samui, all for about $6. It was a pretty interesting scene - backpackers partying and trying to rage as their next-mat-neighbor is trying to get their first night's sleep of the trip - and everyone all lined up like sardines and sleeping an inch away from each other - best friend or complete stranger, but it was an adventure and we made our way to Koh Samui the next day.

Arrived in Bangkok

12.27.09 - After 27 hours of traveling I finally arrived in Bangkok, pulled up to the hostel in a tuk-tuk with Jill, Ashley and Marisa waiting for me. It was great to finally get there, but was way out of it after all of the traveling - but Reese and Jill were nice enough to grab my first pad thai and Chang (thai beer) at 2am although they were wiped. Perfect welcoming committee!

And I'm off!!

I decided to create a blog so I wouldn't have to mass e-mail people, especially those who don't care to get weekly updates on what I'm up to. For those of you who DO care, namely Mom and Dad, you can check as often as you want, and hopefully I'll be able to keep up with it at least once a week. And my solo 65 day adventure begins! :)

xoxo, cb