Koh Phangan [FMP]

After Koh Samui, it was time to hop islands & head for the one & only FMP. For all you mere mortals out there, FMP=Full Moon Party (get it together) which if you don't know what that is... well it's a ridiculously bright, crowded and "eventful" party on the beach of Haad Rin in Koh Phangan, Thailand. It was a rowdy all nighter filled with fire, infamous buckets (can of redbull+can of pop+mickey of alc) & loud music that went on until sunrise (which was beautiful). We stayed at a great little spot called Beck's Resort. This place had an ideal location (in my opinion) since it was only 5 minutes away from the ferry piers & 15-20 minutes away from Haad Rin (close enough to get there quickly but still a ways away to relax the days before & after). While in Koh Phangan we enjoyed the beach/beach bar at our resort, an incredibly delicious night market, a morning shopping trip to Haad Rin for essentials for FMP & of course FMP.
I feel like pictures will give you a better idea of my experience in Koh Phangan slash I'm sure you are already tired of my babbling already, BUUUUT one last piece of advice/tidbit: while getting to Koh Phangan is fairly easy (especially the days leading up to the FMP), getting a ferry out proves to be more difficult with ferries being fully booked the days following FMP. My advice is to book a ferry out (if you know when you will want to leave...FYI don't leave the day after FMP, you'll be too hungover/still raging) when you are booking your ferry there (aka from Surat Thani or Koh Samui or wherever you're coming from) or as soon as you arrive!

cruising around the morning b4 FMP

so much BRIGHT

absolutely DELICIOUS fruit shakes for less than $1

our purchases of the day

nomming

MY FAVORITEEEE

mangos galore

outdoor Muay Thai 

our resortttttt

the beach/bay

many many beach shots were taken

right b4 I ran into some casual nudists...it was awkward

Beck's Resort!

@ FMP

Fire Jump Rope...

typical

the girls

FMP in all its glory

Boracay Escape

After just 3 very short (and extremely foggy) days in HK, I had enough of the frigidness & was off to another beach destination. Between my travels, assignments & presentation preparations, SOMEHOW I managed to organize a trip for 13 friends to Boracay, Philippines. We rented this incredible villa that I absolutely recommend checking out. Todd is a total sweetheart & helped our large group with getting around, gave us suggestions on where to go out/eat and provided us with his housekeeper to cook us the most DELICIOUS St Patty's Day breakfast&dinner I have ever had. The days were spent simply lounging at the beach, tanning, playing volleyball, meeting new friends (a group of children that insisted on calling us various names like Mr. Pinocchio or Mr. Bean haha) & enjoying the beautiful weather we experienced. At night, we went to a few beach bars including one where the group tried a "15 shot challenge". Getting around this busy little island was easy with the immense supply of "tricycles" (aka a motorcycle or motorbike with a little passenger carriage attached to it) or motorbikes that you could hop on the back to. All in all, this was a very relaxing vacay from the "harshness" of HK (ahaha ya right). BUT ONE WARNING - be EXTREMELY careful when you fly in or out or around Philippines. The domestic airlines (specifically Cebu Pacific) are totally unreliable & you are bound to meet some serious delay - my flight from the Boracay/Caticlan airport to the Manila airport was cancelled unexpectantly. What was meant to be a few hours of travel became a 15 hour journey that included waiting times at 3 different airports, a turbulent van ride to Kalibo with a pair of Aussies & many more delays in between. Needless to say, it was an adventure & I (somehow) came back to HK in one piece!

yummy sticky rice in the airport

view from the room - UNREAL

love

interesting signs

alleys towards white beach

permanent eye lips?

NOMMY BREAKFAST

so DELISHHHH

preparation for our dinner 

Nanay showing off the massive fish (caught that morning!)

fish+coconut rice+chicken+limes+hot peppers 

nommiest of noodles

real+fresh calamari

group just nomming

stuffed

grilled calamari

and for dessert - WATERMELON

white beach

our new friends

volleyball game that lasted all of 5 minutes

pearls anyone?

commuting in Boracay

Our Day in Lantau Island

FINALLY! As promised, the first posting of many on the 10 glorious days that my roomie from Western Jennifer came to visit me in Hong Kong. Before I proceed with our various (and sometimes completely oblivious) adventures out&about, I would just like to say how amazing it was to have her here with me. Having her familiar face in this (still) foreign place was more than comforting & I am so fortunate to have been able to take her around this craycray city. Anyways, enough of that & more on our trips. For our first big trip we headed to Lantau Island to discover the Big Buddha, Po Lin Monastery, Wisdom Path, Tai O Fishing Village & some cows. Clearly I thought the cows were the best part but I suppose that's up to debate. We were lucky to have a not-so foggy day with some rays of sunshine here&there. This was definitely one of my favorite day trips & I'll probably return to HIKE up the Big Buddha mountain (we took the bus since the cable car was under repairs/maintenance). 

our first glimpse of the Big Buddha

pretty busy day

I was playing around with some of my camera settings & took this. I know it's not perfect but the colors & the way the light looks just seemed cool to me. plus Jenn looks great (as always)

the absolutely beautiful Po Lin Monastery (merci Jennifer)

simply stunning

  

casual cow run in

again w the camera settings, just came out really cool

Wisdom Path taken from atop of this mini hill we found

Tai O Fishing Village

I have an odd love for anything nautical/boat related

what makes this place famous - house on stilts

the market in Tai O consisted of a multitude of dried fish/seafood... let's just say the smells were "interesting"

more boats

 

my favorite shot of the day