Although I spent the last two nights in, they've been a bit wilder than I had intended them to be. The first night in town, the electricity went out in the entire town (or at least as far as I could see from my window) for a good hour or so. Luckily, I had a "modern-day flashlight" with me, my ipod. The light from the screen guided me around and Modern Family kept me company until the lights returned.

I was beat and went to bed early, only to be awoken by the ALL night party music at the bars. Note to self: don't book a hotel that is surrounded by bars. Lucky for my it was just music and not snoring so I was able to continue sleeping through it. This allowed me to still wake up early yesterday for a morning beach run and room workout (I did have to wait out a tropical morning rain first).

I didn't have plans to go out last night but needed to use internet so I headed out for dinner/wifi. I had a knot in my back that was killing me, as well as a hurt hip flexor which has been bugging me awhile now. I was gritting through the pain when I remembered something. I'm in Thailand. Home of the cheap, Thai massage. Duh! I promptly paid the bill and made my way to the first massage parlor I saw (there were about 10 in a 1 block radius).

The massuesse, Pom, was a lovely lady about to head north for the Thai New Year holiday (Aprl 13-16) to visit her mom and daughter. I was glad I caught her before she left because she worked miracles! I left without a knot in my back and she even managed to "pop" something free in my hip, providing at least temporary relief--all for $6! She also massaged my stomach, a part often overlooked and I could feel things shifting in there as she did it. Kinda neat. I need to keep remembering where I am and take advantage of this more often!

So far today I've... laid on the beach. Not only is the sun less harmful in the morning, but the beach is less crowded and not full of jet skis, which I can't stand--too noisy, pollute the water, and the smell of gasoline is overwhelming. Kinda ruin the peaceful island vibe thing a bit. Other than that, the beaches are lovely. Sand is white, water clear and nice termperature, and small waves to play in.

I'm now back at the Bondi, Aussie bar. Had to wait until 10:30 for breakfast as it's a sleepy beach town and things open late. This was the earliest I could find open. Okay, truth be told, this was my second breakfast of the day. But the first was just fruit and munchies I bought at the market. Doesn't count. Breakfast here is eggs, rice, and a coconut shake served in the coconut....SO GOOD!

I'm off to Phuket island tomorrow (on the otherside of Thailand). Thought I'd get some shopping done here for a few items of clothes I "need". Thought wrong. I had been warned that the islands were a bit more expensive but thought it wouldn't be too much more. Wrong again--it's A LOT more! You can buy 3 tank tops in Bangkok for 100 baht (~$3) and ONE tank top here costs 300 baht (~$10)--MORE than double! Yikes! Other than that, my time on Samui has been great. I'm off to Phuket tomorrow to meet back up with Peter and his friends to help celebrate my birthday in style on the Thai islands!!!!!!