Full Moon (And a Half.....)

Howdy Folks

Right then I have finally managed to drag myself away from Ko Pha Ngan but am definitely going back there .....

Well the Full Moon Party was all it was cracked up to be and more and I have to say I had an amazing night of partying and watching people totally lose it on the beach...Basically the evening kicks off around sunset when the bars and clubs on the beach kick off and people start to congregate for an evening of euphoria.....from then on in it's loud music, flashing lights, dancing, drinking and participation in "other" substances until around 10a.m. the next morning...if you survive that long..!

I met an Irish guy called Danny and his girlfriend Pat plus a couple of Swedish guys the night before Full Moon and so we decided to do the Full Moon thing together the next evening.. We started off at our guest house around 8 p.m. That was really cool loads of people up there, loads of Neon lights and a dancing stage and loads of neon body paints at hand to get some shiny tattoos for the evening...so painted up and with my glow in the neon light belly button stud (courtesy of Millie the Minx!)Oh yeah and a Bert from Sesame Street Hat (don't ask!) we started there and partied our way down the beach to the other bars along the beach....

There were around 5000 or so people on the beach at full swing and it was really crowded from around midnight onwards but an amazing atmosphere as everyone was just out for having a really good time and get off their heads of course... Needless to say there were the freaks around and about always the source of much amusement....We ended up staying most of the remainder of the evening in one particular bar as I knew one of the guys who worked in there and landed up getting loads of free beers!!! There were some tables and mats and stuff set on the beach for people who wanted to chill a while so we sat there for an hour or so and then decided that we really needed to be in full swing for sunrise so hit the bar again and started dancing and remained up on our feet until around 9 or 10 the next morning.....After that it really was time to think about sleep and food so we went off for brekkie and had a beer with our toast and Marmite! How sophisticated???? On the way back to our bungalow the tide had come in so the dance stages were now surrounded by a couple of feet of water and there were people still on them dancing and other crazy loons who were diving off and going splat on the bottom and getting up and doing it all over again...made you cringe just to look at it and I suspect that there were a few of them going to the hospital for x-rays, sprains and shock injuries later that day when they straightened out and couldn't work out why they were hurting so badly....Then it was back to my bungalow and into the hammock and there I remained for the next two days....

After that I dragged one of my neighbours out on a boat trip. He's an American guy called Skip, who is a whole heap of fun and much younger than his 48 years... the boat trip basically consisted of sailing around the island and for those of you who wanted it there was enough ganga onboard to put a herd of elephants to sleep!

In between times I've not done much else other than sunbathe and chill out in my hammock which is about 5 yards from the beach....It has been absolute bliss and a whole heap of fun. Then to finish it off there just had to be a Half Moon Party the penultimate night before I leave so we trot off to that one. It wasn't anywhere near as huge and we met some other people and had a whole lot of vodka redbull (free!) and danced on the beach...I survived until around 5 o'clock and then armed with a bottle of champers trotted off back to my bungalow....

The amazing plans we had of going horse riding the next day never came to fruition as none of us were in any fit state to go so more hanging around in hammocks. Skip and Mat (another neighbour) both play guitar really well and have been playing most days so it's been really joyous to relax and listen to them sing and play and on the last day they came over to my bungalow and played a song called Spider John (anyone know it?)to me which has a woman called Lillie in it.....

Next morning I was up at 5 a.m. (had to knock on the guys' doors as it was Superbowl Sunday and they wanted to get up and watch the game!!!) Then on the marathon journey to Singapore...To cut a long story short it was 28 hours of traveling...first off I got a lift to the taxi stand with my bag precariously balanced on a bike...then sangthaew to the harbour then bumpy old ferry to Surat, then a rickety old bus to the bus station, then a truck to the bus company office, then a van to another office, then a minibus somewhere else (I was beginning to think I would be stuck in Surat for ever!) then a slightly better mini bus to Had Yai, walked across the border, then another van to Butterworth, then a LUXURIOUS bus to Singapore. It had reclining seats like first class on a plane huge comfy things and I had two to myself so it was lush....With that and the help of remaining smarties I slept all the way through Malaysia so I couldn't tell you at all what it was like!!! We were literally kicked off the bus just over the causeway at immigration just inside Singapore and then it was another bus and the MRT underground to Beach Road where for the extortionate price of S$15 (about GBP6.50) I get a stinky, uncomfortable bed in a smelly dorm....

I took a stroll around Singapore yesterday afternoon and evening and walked past Raffles Hotel. Mega bucks posh global institution of a hotel where you can get a suite for $6000- $8000 !!! I wandered around the harbour and Boat Quay and stopped for a beer in Harry's Bar. This is where a certain Mr Leeson used to spend an awful lot of time and Barings' money before his little mishap and miscalculation was uncovered!!!! From there I wandered around a couple of the other areas, Little India and Chinatown. Chinatown is looking really cool at the moment as it is Chinese New Year and it is totally decked out in bright red lanterns and other decorations...This New Year is the Year of the Goat for anyone who's interested....

Frankly though I'm not impressed. There's too many rules about what you can't do.. Holy Planet quotes a taxi driver as saying "Singapore is a fine country...we have a fine for everything" and it's so true. I am not impressed with all these rules and regulations and much prefer the mayhem of Thailand .....Everywhere is an air con fancy shopping mall and it's expensive. It's pristinely clean and organised and conformist and frankly frightfully dull....I was totally spun out about it all yesterday and so decided that I had to get out of here pronto....

So I am leaving for Perth Western Australia in a few hours ...yep on my way to Oz and I'm hoping that it is a whole lot better than here coz this whole western society thing has kind of freaked me out already! Suddenly I'm the only person in flip flops!!! I've got so used to Asian ways and feel totally at home and settled among them it's weird to be back amongst all this "westernism" if that's a word. If it isn't it should be! I am telling myself as it's my ultimate destination on the tour I have to go and check it out and give it a run for it's money.. Everyone tells me how amazing Australia is so I'm on my way to find out.....First stop Perth then on to Melbourne ....."

Time for me to go folks, so take care and I'll be in touch from Oz (or maybe somewhere back in Asia...!)

Loadsa love

Lillie, Lisa

xxx