now experiencing the fragrant aroma of saigon
Zoe had a great time at Koh Samui. Our hotel had no beach front itself, but offered transportation to the main beaches. On our first day, we headed to Chaweng Beach, the main tourist area on the island. Way too developed for my tastes, but Zoe occupied herself for hours with her new beach toys.
We met up with Hilda, Colin and Tara last night to celebrate the mid-autumn festival, the second-biggest Chinese Holiday. Originally a harvest festival, now it is a time for friends and families to exchange mooncakes (which, like fruitcake, nobody seems to actually eat) and a chance for children to stay up late at night carrying lanterns. We bought Zoe a beautiful lantern, but she slept through all the festivities.
On Lamma, the action takes place on Hung Shing Yeh beach. The beach is full of families and their lights. Safer light sticks have replaced the traditional lanterns for the most part.
We finally had a chance to visit all of our old neighbors yesterday afternoon. Trang may have her baby any day now and Zoe was especially happy to play with Yullia again.
This was the final weekend before Eric returned to reclaim his rooftop, so we took advantage of the situation with cocktails, chả giò and hammock on Saturday afternoon.
Zoe’s been missing hanging out with her friends since we moved to Pak Kok. There is nobody under the age of three living in the village. Luckily, we all made it to the play group at Loren and her daughter Ellen’s house in Tai Peng. In this picture, Tara and Nathaniel are behind Zoe; Haru is in front on the right.
We’ve been busy the last week moving into our new flat in Pak Kok, on the Northern tip of Lamma Island. We’re in the middle floor of the brown building with awning on the far right in the photo above. Pak Kok is a real backwater village. Downtown consists of Mrs. Chan’s shop, a few steps away from the ferry pier. The ferry service to the village recently took a turn for the worse, but we’re surrounded by green trees and blue water and have plenty of space for gardens.
Yesterday I finally got a new camera. Had my eyes on the Lumix LX3 for a while, waiting for it to finally be released. It’s very similar to my previous defunct camera, but with a fast, wider-angle lens and bigger, more sensitive CCD. Zoe also got a couple of new toys yesterday. She’s had her eyes on a bead maze toy for a while.
