Hey guys long time no write I know I have been very lax lately but I am on my holidays remember...

So I left Straya which was very sad! My last day was spent well though, lunching with Canada and Aimee and Sarah who I worked with in Salmat who I had not seen since I left Melbourne in May! It was so lovely to see them. We lunched of course in Asian Beer Cafe for $4 pizzas as it is my 2nd home in melbs. Me and Canada then along with another canadian she has picked up from her hostel (she was way annoying) we went on a bit of pub crawl yey. So we went to Cookie Rooftop bar which i had actually never managed to get in before as always to busy we had sangria and admired the view. we also went to The butterfly cabinet, we met Beckie from Airlie beach in Young n Jacksons Cider bar and then my irish lovlies also turned up Sharon and Emma and Sinead was at work bless her. We then headed to Carlton Club rooftop bar then went for some goon on the way back to hardware. We did plan to go out but it turned into a messy affair of us staying in with Kate and James and getting so drunken and dancing to adam rickett and five all night it was awesome! best last day and night ever!!

The next day James made us all breakfast in hardware lane bless him and we had some emotional goodbye and even Tommo popped over to say bye the sweetheart that he is! It was so sad to leave everyone behind but exciting as hell man I was going back to SE Asia where the streets are made with noodle soup and beeeeer!!

So I landed in bangkok the shutdown was about to commence so taxis would not take me to khao san road annoying so i trained it so far then tuk tuked the rest of the way with a couple from some strange country it was nice. I got into my room to be greeted by Ashley! Whoop! So exciting to see people from home!!

She did however say ''your accent is so weird'' great. so I got changed and off we went to a bar for some live music and beers yeeeha!

The next day was the shut down officially day. its name was Shutdown Bangkok January 13th 2014 or so said all of the tshirts we saw everyone wearing. we had decided to go to see some sex tourists which is of course my ultimate favourite thing to do in thailand obviously so we were heading to Pattaya. This was all because we discovered it was cold up northern thailand so we thought f*** that keep to the sunshine. So the taxi couldnt really get us to the bus station due to the shutdown ''protests'' so he dumped us basically in the middle of them all which was hillarious as we had to walk for around a mile with our backpacks in the typical bangkok hot humiditity climbing over families now camping out on the streets. There was free food, water and live music it was truely like glastonbury in bangkok quite frankly it was awesome. Amazing atmosphere!! we finally got on some steps to get on the train out of there but of course I have star quality which had been noticed by a few more people that day so bring on the TV interview for German News!! Fame at last guys!! I think they were basically wanting us to say we were scared for our lives it was awful how traumatised we were etc etc however thats not quite what they got but Im sure Im now a star in germany anyways haha. So yeah I survived the shutdown bangkok!! we were told however this would last for over 1 week which meant it would be a nightmare meeting Minto in bangkok so we messaged her and basically said she should fly to Koh Samui instead of us meeting her in bangkok as it would be safer and also we had no idea if we could have got the airport to meet her when she arrived anyways due this who fiasco. So that was one problem solved.

We arrived in Pattaya which was amazing opbviously i love it there. we had a few beers and ended up staying at a man called Henrys guest house he sold alot of sex drugs and also did boob jobs by injection he was from sweedon had a thai bride and we bloody loved him!! we had to walk past a good few brothels on the way to our room too which was interesting haha.

We partied and enjoyed the beach and the sun and the sex tourists. We even went behind the curtain in the bars which was interesting to see potential lady boys dancing for us haha. but yeah basically it is what is but I love it there!!

After Pattaya we went to koh samet which is a twee lil island pretty quiet as its not down south we stayed in Jeps bungalows which are awesome as they were like $1.50 a night each or something mad like that and were across the road from the beach and right next to a awesome bar where we got detroyed a few times on sangsom and coke buckets we made friends with the guy who worked there he loved us. we drank alot of sangsom there. We also went clubbing one night and got completely covered in uv paint and made friends with some norweigians maybe a brother a sister duo. the girl tried it on with me and she was a right beast what a freak! so we partied hard bearing in mind we has never went back from the beach that day so we had all our beach supplies with us and were clearly stinking and covered in sand. the only way to party for sure!! i do love a good old random party night. on the way home I remembered that when I was here last time they did amazing cheeseburgers made by lady boy. no lady boy but the same old amazing cheeseburgers wow!! so happy I also stole a sausage from the counter for the dogs...? There was also a night when i decided we needed a bottle of sangsom so i promptly got a motorbike life to the shop from a nice thai man as the 7/11 was MILES away! and I got a quadbike back... then the next day at a fireshow a thai man told me he knew me, and I was like really? and he says ýes lady last night I take you to 7/11. haha oh dear. BFFs.

So from koh samet we went back to bangkok and headed to koh samui to meet sarah! we got there early morning and got some digs on the beach sorted with a pool and a nice bar and also more importantly right next to mcdonalds!! we chilled by the pool/beach I borrowed a buddhism book and off we went to the airport!! we got a nice ladys husband to take us there and bring us back for basically next to nothing and it was in a nice big 4x4 not some crappy taxi so we well lucked out. So we get there and we wait.

Finally Sarah comes walking up beaming away looking more tanned than me btw! it was bloody amazing to see her!! I literally couldnt believe my eyes it was just lush!! so we hugged for ages and then got in the taxi back to the hotel I just cant stop staring at her its like a dream or something its so bizzare but so amazing!!

so what do we do? we get on it!! we get ready and then take sarah for her first thai meal and then we go party hard we have buckets and end up in green mango which is the best club on the island and we party like its 1999!! dancing our socks off all night long its so much fun!! on the way home I have a 7/11 cheese n ham toastie which are basically the best toasties ever!!

The next day we head to Koh Tao which is my ultimate favourite place in thailand or maybe the world its just amazing there. we cannot for the life of us find accomadtion and finally end up in a cute bungalow right on the beach perfection! we spend some time chilling out and before you know its party o clock as its the koh tao pub crawl that night so we get some food and join the pub crawl, get our buckets on and off we pop we visit a pool party and then head to the lady boy show sarah looks quite traumatised by it haha quite a shock when you first arrive in SE asia i think!! they have boobs for gods sakes! we eventually all end up in a bar singing along to oasis songs and then we all go to the beach for the beach party with free fireshow. its all a bit crazy we go under the flaming ropes and at one point it breaks and hits ashley (on fire) on the chest. only in thailand. but its ok shes ok she has another boob... jokes!! we end up making friends with a really annoying guy who really annoys me but i cant remember why now but what a tool/loser haha.

we then end up going to the shop to buy beer to drink on the beach altough I dont know why as its like 20 cheaper than the bar not really worth it haha but nevermind we do anyways then we head home finally drunk and tired. I get a lovely cheese pancakey on the way and sarah n ashley go and get something I dont know what I stay in the room and they are so long I fall asleep then eventually they wake me up by banging on the door at full blast!!

The next day we chill on the beach in recovery its so lovely just chilling out with Sarah we go in the sea which is amazing as its warm aahhh! total bliss here all the fishing boats are always everywhere in koh tao so its pretty cool. we make an attempt to visit kelly my friend who lives here on chalok beach but she is working at some mountain festival so i see jack (her fella) instead and we have a good few beers in their bar so thats nice to chill there again after I spent so much time there last year.

At some point on Koh Tao I book my tattoo to be done by Keo via Charlie as he is the guy who tattooed my last night so I know hes cool. Charlie has had all of his hair cut off and he is such a cutie he is starting to go grey and I just love him alot he is a lovely thai man! I had Oṃ maṇi padme hūṃ tattoed on me which is a tibetian buddhist mantra. I will try to explain what it means in the words of the Dalai Lama:

"It is very good to recite the mantra Om mani padme hum, but while you are doing it, you should be thinking on its meaning, for the meaning of the six syllables is great and vast... The first, Om [...] symbolizes the practitioner's impure body, speech, and mind; it also symbolizes the pure exalted body, speech, and mind of a Buddha[...]" "The path is indicated by the next four syllables. Mani, meaning jewel, symbolizes the factors of method: (the) altruistic intention to become enlightened, compassion, and love.[...]" "The two syllables, padme, meaning lotus, symbolize wisdom[...]" "Purity must be achieved by an indivisible unity of method and wisdom, symbolized by the final syllable hum, which indicates indivisibility[...]" "Thus the six syllables, om mani padme hum, mean that in dependence on the practice of a path which is an indivisible union of method and wisdom, you can transform your impure body, speech, and mind into the pure exalted body, speech, and mind of a Buddha''
Also
The path of these six perfections is the path walked by all the Buddhas of the three times. What could then be more meaningful than to say the mantra and accomplish the six perfections Syllable SixPāramitās Purifies Samsaric realm Colours Symbol of the Deity (Wish them) To be born in Om Generosity Pride / Ego Devas White Wisdom Perfect Realm of Potala Ma Ethics Jealousy / Lust for entertainment Asuras Green Compassion Perfect Realm of Potala Ni Patience Passion / desire Humans Yellow Body, speech, mind
quality and activity Dewachen Pad Diligence Ignorance / prejudice Animals Blue Equanimity the presence of Protector (Chenrezig) Me Renunciation Greed / possessiveness Pretas (hungry ghosts) Red Bliss Perfect Realm of Potala Hum Wisdom Aggression / hatred Naraka Black Quality of Compassion the presence of the Lotus Throne (of Chenrezig)
This kinda explains the seperate parts but basically its a mantra which monks repeat to become a better person so to have it tattooed on means its is constantly in your mind and all in all who doesnt want to become a better person? I have a coconut necklace with it on that henry got me for xmas last year and I love what it represents so yeah buddhism rocks guys!
on our last night in koh tao we chill out on the beach having a few buckets under the stars its such a lovely place to be as you can party all you want but also chilling out is so lovely and relaxing there!! The next day we are up early for our boat to chumporn as we are going to bangkok baby!! its a loooong day and the boat is sooooo rough like horrendous everyone spends at least half the ferry thinking about how they are going to die. uh oh! we start upstairs for air but are getting soaked so bad so we go downstairs I sit next to a lovely guy from israeal and promptly fall asleep on his shoulder oooops! we survive the boat anyways and i heard just last week that one of them very same boats actually sank the other day as they are too small for the rough weather the sea has been unusallly rough for this time of year and with koh tao being a tiny island the main ferry is really not big at all it was almost tipping up when we were on it so I can imagine it could happen quite easily which is a shame as they just dont have the rules we do. as in no health and safety laws at all which is good in some ways but not when it comes to that! but I hear no one died so all is good and that is also something I have no survived.

We finally get to bangkok 10.30pm (estimated time of arrival was 8 so not so bad for thai time haha) check in to good old D&Ds get a lovely room for 2 nights there i go get us some mcdonalds - triple cheese burgers baby. only in bangkok!! amazing!! and we are out by 11.30pm. we go straight to my favourite bar in thailand which is called 'very strong cocktails and no ID required bar' love it!! party central that place is. we have some very strong cocktails and then head to khao san center bar which is cool we have some shisha meet some annoying aussie girls and drink way more buckets and finally ending up in the club which is the best club in bangkok (in my eyes) its always so much fun there. I partied there originally with Pete, J9, Anna and Sijeila (cant spell sorry love) and I met Brucie and Brom there and then me and Henry partied hard there last time and this time with my bestie!!! Amazeballs!! so many good memories!! this night we had also made friends with some lovely albanian guys who live in london town so they are partying hard with us also which is cool. then the lights come on and its 4am but no way are we going home! A lovely thai lady takes us to another club round the corner and we continue the partying. eventually we end up in bed eating triple cheese burgers at around 6.30am oopla!! one of the best nights out ever I would say!! so we spend a long time in bed obviously then get up and ready and go shopping round khao san road, we get thai -pants vests alsorts. Sarah gets some amazingly cute muay thai boxing shorts for wee matthew!!

eventually we go for some food I have a hair braid done and then its sad as we have to say bye to Mrs Minto. Its so sad waving her off and all i really wanted to do was cry :( but it was awesome to have her come all this way to visit me and holiday with her and she definitely needed a break from her little cherubs (and probably steven haha) love that girl sooo much!! see you soon loverly!!

that night me n ashley have a few drinkies and then the next day we go to koh chang for a few days we also struggle to find accomadtion but get some sorted and spend some days chilling on the beach and enjoying thailand. there is some lovely little bars there where you just chill out and listen to live music we aquire some thai boyfriends who are old and steal our food but are hillarious, the bar we go in is ran by 3 older thai men all with long hair and kung fu beards we assume theyre brothers but they are just friends soo lovely they are!! we also meet a crazy french man who gives us a ton of advice for cambodia which came to be very useful indeed!!! god bless the angels!!

the next day we head to siam reap over the border. advice in the lonely planet advises just try your best to not be scammed and get through the thai border and then you will be fine haha. great. fun day ahead of us I think! that is definitely for a different day now though as I am shattered and i need to sit in the sun before my tan falls off...

love and miss you all!!! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx