April Happenings and Two-Week Vacation

I don't have much time to do this, so this'll be a picture-heavy post, with long captions. I am currently on day 8 of my two-week long break/vacation and will be going to China tomorrow to visit my bro for 5 days!

First up on the recap menu: the April 11 wedding that I coordinated and shot went really well, much to my relief! The weather was beautiful and the bride and groom (who met on Koh Tao years ago!) and their respective families were happy with everything, so yay! We had 3 videographers helping out who took a few stills, which took the pressure off me in terms of NOT being the only photographer.

taking too many photos... it was maybe a little too hot, too. (too, too, too!)

the sweet bride and groom asked me to join in this group pic

Frenchman Max with Anup's ridiculous lens

Anup, a famous Indian wedding photog, took this cool shot

I took this (and am proud) but got suggestions from Anup

Next event of note: Songkran, better known as Thai New Year, on April 13th, was a blast. The idea is to use water to wash away the bad from the last year, a sort of cleansing thing... but it's basically a huge national water fight that lasts for many days in certain parts of Thailand. I'm glad it only lasts for one day on Koh Tao, because getting water thrown at you gets old after a full day. Also, while I didn't really partake, the mass amounts of drinking started at noon, which is just nuts!

we started early, on the boat. I stole Neil's awesome water gun w/ built-in shield

we weren't even on land yet when the first assault came!

with DMTs Martin, Imran, Sacha and Ben

mayhem

My videographer friend made a cool, dramatic video (in which I make a cameo, at the end) here

Around mid-April I had to help out with a few Thai snorkeling trips back-to-back, which, as I've mentioned before, can be tiring because all I do is tow the customers (who usually cannot swim...) but I enjoyed the excuse to be in the water and occasionally got to show off my bubble ring skillZ.

a customer snapped this

I found some time to go fun-diving and work on my underwater photography, woot!

blue-spotted ray

My Spanish friend Gemma, who I met on the Queen Scuba, recommended a tasty chicken quesadilla from Buddha Cafe and despite my skepticism, I had to try it... Verdict? tasty!

first taste of proper Mexican food in a year, made with proper cheese, yay!

"Freak Out Party" at Moov Bar

My college friend, Hyung Joo, came to visit for a couple of days and ended up staying for a week or so because he fell in love with Koh Tao and diving (as well he should!). He ended up doing his Open Water Certification and we have the awesome video to prove it!

beautiful day to be diving!

Luckily for him, HJ wasn't around when I got triggered (attacked by a Titan Triggerfish) while snorkeling and I summarized my experience (on facebook) thusly:

Getting Triggered while diving = a little bit annoying, a little bit funny.
Getting Triggered while snorkeling with flimsy split fins, no boots, no wetsuit = scary as hell!

About a minute into the attack I managed to press "record" but didn't have the presence of mind to white balance -- was too busy avoiding a nasty bite. Have never seen such a persistent and aggressive Triggerfish. Just my luck, I guess! :P

Forget sharks, I think I'm more scared of nesting triggerfish! The video I posted is here and here's a pic of the evil bastard:

chill out, dude/ma'am!

This pic is from google, but check out those teeth!

Near the end of April, we had a group of 250 Thai people staying at both resorts and we were busy and stressed for a few days but everything went OK. I was going to leave Koh Tao to got BKK right after that, but the dive shop manager organized the annual staff party and I decided to stay for that, haha. We went to a mini-golf, bowling, pool/snooker place with a bar and restaurant and it was a lot of fun. Island-style bowling is ghetto and awesome!

no shoes needed... or allowed! a little dangerous, maybe?

the pins were reset and bowling balls sent back by guys sitting in the back, hahaha

paradise. why am I leaving?!

So now I've been in BKK for awhile now, visiting relatives and generally relaxing. I went to Rayong (3-4 hrs away from BKK) to visit my dad's relatives in the countryside for a day and to eat/take tons of delicious Thai fruits.

eating at a roadside restaurant on my aunt's land!

With my aunt and my grandma's sister (left), who is 85!

with my uncle in his fruit and rubber tree grove, looking at Durian fruit

the amazing view from my cousin's BKK condo

I went to the Bangkok Sea View Restaurant with some family from my mom's side, and that was a bust. We drove waaay too far and then were late so it was dark (meaning that there wasn't much of a view to enjoy) and the 15-minute boat ride from the pier to the restaurant wasn't pleasant, and the food was mediocre... and then! The boat died on the return trip and we were stuck getting eaten alive by mozzies for what seemed like an eternity until another boat came and towed us back to the pier, where we transferred boats. Long story short, we are not planning on going back to this place, haha. :P

before the boat departed from the pier

the view may have been nice during the day, but at night, I couldn't tell!

the boat operator tying his boat to ours so he could tow us

I've stayed at my doctor aunt's house, mostly, shopping and lazing around. On Saturday we went to the Benjakiti park, which is maybe Bangkok's version of Central Park? It was nice, though the juxtaposition was weird for me.

my aunt relaxing with a book

this is not a pic of me, but I did enjoy biking with my nephew

mm mmm Korean BBQ!

tasty Thai treats (yay, alliteration!)

Uhh OK, that's it. I will try to update again after my China visit, before I return to Koh Tao May 13-21 for another wedding and another huge group of Thai people.