Farewell Thailand

We left Koh Samui last night, and spent our last day in Bangkok today. A little shopping and some meetings with the lawyer and accountant kept us busy. We're now perched in a little cafe in the airport, chosen because it has Thai food and free internet.


Fortunately we're leaving with less luggage than we came with! Just 2 suitcases between us (around 45kg), which reminds me of our arrival in Bangkok last year - with more than 80kg!

The Hill Tribe "leaving drinks"

Our last night in Samui - hanging out with our neighbours (The Hill Tribe).

Big thanks to Anna & Paul from Samui Pureshores for hosting the party and organising the food & drinks! Next time you're in Plai Laem, drop in for a drink...

6:30pm in Samui

We can have such contrasting weather in the tropics! The first photo shows a beautiful sunset view from our terrace last week, and the second one was taken at the same time last night - just as a storm was approaching!

Indulging

We treated ourselves on the weekend, and got a masseuse to come up to the Villa.

Our last weekend in Thailand

Yes, that's right. We're leaving Samui, and will be 'down under' next weekend. We've got a very long to do list (to get the house in order & our stuff packed), and quite a few "last things" to try before we leave. Ian's just gone to get takeaway dinner from the "One Dollar Cafe"... one of our local cheap eats.

We're looking forward to new adventures in Australia... and always knowing we can come back to our little piece of paradise in Samui.

Hope to find time in the next week to make the last few posts on our year in Thailand.

Our very first post box!

We received the official house registration document yesterday (signifies house ownership, and that our house has been legally built). It's quite exciting, because it also includes the address... and we are house number 8/53. The house numbering in Thailand depends on when your house was built... not sequential street numbers like we are used to in Western countries. So we are the 53rd house to be built (and registered) in our area.

It also meant we could finally sign up for cable TV and house insurance.

Note, I'm getting pretty good with the power drill - the post box is one of the latest additions to the house that required my DIY skills :-)

Gardener

We have a really cool gardener at the moment, he comes twice a day to do the watering (part of the landscaping deal for the first month).

I love his sunglasses!!

Security Hut

We have 24 hour security on 'The Hill' where our house is located, and in fact the security hut (or 'shack') sits on the corner of our land. We always get a salute whenever we pass by.

Water, water - everywhere!

Finally the water feature takes shape... and other than a few leaks (?), it works!

How's the serenity? (chuckles from those who have seen The Castle).

Bamboo Fence

As mentioned in the previous post, our neighbour has just started to build his house. So we've put up a little bamboo fence so we don't have to watch the whole process.

Here's some photos...

BEFORE...
















AND AFTER...

A little warm

Our Samui friends and neighbours came around last night for the Housewarming Party! A great time was had by all.

We were busy with all the last minute decorations in the morning (putting up wall hangings and paintings), and preparing for the party. However, I was really happy to see our water feature working (albeit for a couple of hours, because it still leaks), and also for our bathroom mirrors to turn up at 5pm.

Our garden is finished, and we now have a lovely bamboo fence to give us more privacy on the pool terrace (our neighbour has just started to build his house, so we have a crew of workers hammering away from 7:30am every day... for the next 7 months).

Only 10 days left in Samui, and we have a huge to-do list...