Sailing

Last week we spent 6 days and 5 nights sailing around Thailand. We had a 43 foot sailboat that we shared with our good friends Anna and Bambos and our Skipper Chris. We learned SO much about sailing. The nautical language alone was hard to grasp, and tying all those knots was a whole different story. It is actually pretty hard work to hoist and lower sails, switch directions due to wind, hook on to a floating buoy, steer the boat in the correct direction so the wind gives you the most momentum etc. We still need a lot of practice before we can skipper a boat alone, but we are more than enthusiastic to continue learning.

Every night we docked at a different island. There are no "docks" at the islands we visited so we would anchor out at sea and then we had a motorized dinghy that we would jump on to have dinner or go out at night. We started and ended in Phuket and visited several islands, the most well known being Krabi and Phi Phi Island. Our days consisted of waking up early and going for a swim, then setting off to a remote island where we would stop for lunch and snorkeling, and then sail again to the destination we would anchor at for the night. Some nights we cooked dinner and stayed on the boat, and other nights we would go ashore for Thai curries and drinks. Here is a map below of the area we covered over the week, the marina we left from in Phuket is on the east side of the island so you can get an idea of the route we were on. Below are a few of my favorite shots of the week!!On our first night we docked in lower Phuket. We sailed up to the cove we were staying at at sunset and this giant Buddha statue was an incredible sight.
This was the sunset on our third night when we docked in Phi Phi Island.
We went on land that night. After we had dinner we walked around the beach bars that were full of locals doing fire dances and tricks with just about anything that they could light on fire.
Some of our favorite times were during the day when we would anchor to have a dip and snorkel. The water was so clear, and the coral and fish were beautiful.This was our last shot of the trip!
Justin and I absolutely loved every second of the week. It was one of the best vacations we have been on. Sailing will definitely be apart of our lives in the future. We are already planning our next sailing trip and plan to join the sailing club of Singapore to practice our new skills. To see the rest of our photos click here!

This trip was courtesy of Justin's parents as a Christmas present last year. They are always so generous and this was a gift that provided us with memories that will last a lifetime. Thank you Sheena and Thomas!!

BUSY!!

We have been so busy lately, and by busy I mean traveling!! We just got back from Thailand last night after an amazing sailing vacation. I still have sea legs and have been swaying all night. I am working this weekend but will give a big update with lots of pictures at some point this weekend!! xoxo

Kota Kinabalu

We spent last weekend in Kota Kinabalu, a city in Sabah, Borneo. We stayed with our good friends Chris and Suzanne in this amazing villa right on the ocean.

The sunsets were absolutely incredible the entire weekend. We were so lucky with the weather, we were warned it tends to rain daily but it was clear skies the whole time. Here are a bunch of pictures in our backyard at the villa with several different sunsets.
GORGEOUS!
We also took a trip to go visit the orangutans. They are an endangered species in Sabah, and we were able to see the orangutans at a rehabilitation center where some were being treated before going back into the wild. All the proceeds went to the rehabilitation and protection of these animals. The ones we saw were so cute, very active and seemed happy! Did you know they have 96% of the same genes as us, crazy!

Our first night together we decided to BBQ at the villa. We had a huge spread and the food was delicious!!
We also got to play a game of tennis. It was really too hot to play but we all seemed to manage somehow. The surroundings of the court were beautiful. Here is our team photo! Haha
We had one nice dinner out at the Shangri-La Hotel. Here are some couple shots before we left.

One afternoon after some debating between the boys over what brand of beer was best, we decided to do a blind taste test of 3 types of beers. The game was to try to identify the different brands, and pick our favorite. Funny enough, everyone got it wrong!!! And the few people (aka Chris) who were insistent about a certain brand being superior, in fact ended up choosing that said brand as his least favorite during the blind tasting. So funny.


The rest of the weekend was spent poolside or bar-side during happy hour.

Overall it was another very fun weekend full of many laughs and great memories. We are very lucky to travel to so many great places, and enjoy these times with amazing company.
You can view the rest of the photos of the weekend on my snapfish account by clicking here.

This is a post of random photos of last weekend. We both worked a ton last week and had a pretty mellow afternoon Saturday after I got off work. We went out to dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant, Iguana's, and after a tequila shot and margarita each we went to watch the FA cup final at a local bar named Harry's. One of Justin's best friends, who is also one of my best friend's boyfriend, is named Gary but we call him Harry. So we always laugh when we go to Harry's bar. Clearly it doesn't take much to humor us. We walked everywhere that night and I wore jeans which is a cardinal sin in this heat. I also wore new heels that were killing me, double whammy. Here's pics of us at Harry's and my adorable but dreadfully hot and uncomfortable outfit.Sunday we went on a 3 hour bike ride. Justin is obsessed with pumping up his tires and oiling his bike before we go on long rides. It cracks me up, he acts like he's a professional rider. So I had to take a pic. And one of the patient wife waiting during his tune up!
It was a beautiful day, with a slight breeze which was nice but I forgot sunscreen and got sunburned :(. We stopped for lunch in an area called Dempsey Hill. I love going up there because all the restaurants and cafes remind me of the US. That was about it for our eventful weekend.

OMG - I just remembered this story as I was uploading the pics to the blog. So on the bike ride Justin was ahead of me and came to a really fast stop. He kept pointing at the sidewalk in front of him and when I caught up to him I saw there was a HUGE Komodo dragon in front of us. Ok that's an exaggeration, but this lizard was the size of half my leg and was walking really fast. It ended up jumping in the bushes but we were both in shock at the size! Never seen anything that size outside of a zoo! We rushed to get a photo, but it wasn't the best shot since that thing was on the move.We are going away on Thursday to an island in Malaysia called Borneo with our friends Chris and Susie who live in Hong Kong. They have a friend who is letting us use their villa in a city called Kota Kinabalu. Its only about an hour flight away, and it is a popular city because it has the 3rd largest mountain in South East Asia there called Mount Kinabalu. We are looking forward to a fun weekend of hiking, laying out and cooking! Here are some pics of the location, and I'll post my own photos when we are back next week. :)

Rock Climbing

Our Sunday morning activity consisted of rock climbing and flea market shopping. The flea market ended up not being that great, but rock climbing was very fun! I found out last week the largest indoor via ferrata wall is about 5 minutes from our house. Via Ferrata is similar to a rock climbing wall, but the things you climb up on are metal rods instead of those funny shaped imitation rocks. Here is a blurb from their website with the history of it

Via Ferrata is a traditional European mountaineering activity, reputed to have been started in Italy in WW1 as a means of letting the Italian troops cross the Dolomites. Since then, many other via ferrata routes have sprung up around Europe, allowing hikers and mountaineers to ascend peaks in total safety.

Here are some pics of the wall for you to get the idea
The wall is 8 stories high
Standing below the wall I think we were both expecting it to be an easy climb and it was absolutely not! We were both shaking and dripping sweat at the end and it took us 40 mins to get to the top. The whole way up you are unhooking and hooking yourself up to safety lines so there is quite a lot of concentration involved. We both really enjoyed it and want to do it again. Here is us learning how to use the safety latches.We are making home made pizza with a friend tonight. Pretty fun Sunday. :)

Date Night :)