same same

it's about 9am here, exactly 12 hours earlier than back home.  we have finally stayed in one place more than 12 hours and if you asked me, we picked a good island to park for awhile.

after driving through the night from colorado springs to vacaville, ca (home of travis afb), we discovered there was a C-17 leaving that morning for japan, with a one-hour stop in hawaii.  since what we really wanted to do was get to japan and then 'see what happened', we knew what to do.  :)  so we hopped on the plane and after an hour-long battery problem and a five hour flight, we found ourselves looking at the smoggy honolulu skyline from a small distance.  what was most incredible, though, was hearing murmurs after the plane had landed about bin laden's death.  as soon as we walked inside the terminal, it was just eerie for the almost one hundred people gathered at different televisions to be silent.  after president obama made his announcement, the sense of peace and victory was unmistakable. it was pretty cool to be in the presence of the military for that announcement and i felt very proud.

we were able to sleep for the majority of the 9 hour flight to japan, where we landed at 11pm and saw there was a 5:10am flight to singapore.  by now we knew the drill.  fortunately, our backpacks were easily accessible and ready for the quick turn-around and 7-hour flight to sing. 

when we got to singapore, it didn't take long for us to realize we really didn't have to spend much longer there.  and after a disgusting lunch (noted earlier), we were even more ready to move along. 

so move along we did.  which brings me to where i sit now, on khou phi phi (coo pee pee), or island pee pee.  :)  which for everyone who is reading this who doesn't know where that is (i was in the same boat two days ago), it is off the island of phuket, which is the southern part of thailand, in the indian ocean.  (whew!)  we have been here almost 24 hours now (after the hour and a half boat ride from phuket yesterday morning) and will stay probably another two nights.  tyler is diving as we speak.  and i slept in a bit and am waiting for the salon to open so i can get some beautifying. 

this island really is incredible.  there are no motor vehicles, only a few bikes and carts to carry things around.  otherwise, the foot traffic is heavy.  the island is 100% tourism.  it's amazing to think what this was like when the tsunami ripped it apart in 2004. 

the culture is interesting, to say the least.  the visitors are mostly asian or austrailian.  the 'american' breakfast i just ate was fried eggs, fried noodles, fried rice, bacon, sausage and baked beans.  with some "yoghurt" if i liked.  the thai food is pretty darn good, although we both seem to be hungry faster after a meal than we would normally.  i'm not quite to the point where my mouth waters for a cheeseburger and fries, but i feel that is not far off. 

there are thai children everywhere!  babies crying in the shops we walk through, kids riding on bikes and selling "fruits shake" and toddlers swimming naked in the bay (or in puddles).  tyler and i were talking about how sad it is for the children growing up here.  sure, they're having a great time but their parent(s) are raising them to either run a shop or drive a boat.  but, it's all they know.  maybe it's not so sad.  maybe it's better. 

like i said earlier, we will be staying here another two nights and then it's on to a different island, lanta.  we'll head back to phuket next sunday or monday (i really do forget...everything blurs together... we sleep when it gets dark, eat when we're hungry and as we say, "we're on island time") we'll catch our plane from phuket to singapore, stay the night again in sing and then head back to japan to spend a couple of days in tokyo.  we're hoping for at least a night in hawaii, but it may not happen and we're okay with it.  hawaii is a lot easier to get to than phi phi. 

thanks for stopping by!!  :)