Koh Samui, Thailand: Marshall's 30th Birthday!

Marshall’s 30th birthday celebration and first date night (sans Tyson) in 3 months was definitely a night to remember! That morning we moved over to a new hotel that was happy to have us (peace out mean French dude). We spent the morning floating around in the ocean and then after lunch it was time to get ready for our big night out. The baby sitter and her son met us at our hotel so we could show her around and tell her about his bedtime routine. We then walked over to her daycare a block down the road to ensure a smooth transition (with toys) so he and AJ could play until it was ready for bed. Tyson was so busy playing that he didn’t even care that we were leaving. It felt weird as we walked away knowing we’d be gone for a while, but we felt very comfortable with the babysitter’s experience and knew we didn’t have to worry (even though we knew we would).

We wanted to celebrate Marshall’s birthday on Saturday instead of his actually birthday which is Sunday because we knew it would be a more lively night life. We started our night off by walking the beach to find a nice place for dinner. There was a beach restaurant that caught our eye so we decided to stop there. Marshall ordered a barracuda steak and I had BBQ chicken. You’ll never believe this but I actually tried a bite of the barracuda and it didn’t really have the fishy taste I was expecting. Not to say I’d ever order it but gotta give me props for trying it. After dinner is where the real fun began. We took a cab over to the hotel we stayed at last week. Renee (Resort Manager and our newest friend on the road) had invited us to their beach party to celebrate the hotel’s rebranding. It was off the hook! They had dancers wearing LED lighted outfits, fire spinners that were spinning around lighted coconuts on the beach, and there were even fireworks going off in the background. So awesome and a perfect way to start the night! After about an hour there we headed to Chewang beach which is where all the (touristy) nightlife is known to go down.

We planned to go to a ladyboy cabaret show that started at 8:30. (In case you didn’t know, ladyboys in Thailand are men that not only dress like women but get all kinds of surgery to look more feminine, including breast implants. I’m pretty sure they all had their manhood removed too because they were wearing some pretty tight leotards and I didn’t see any bulges). We got there a few minutes early so we walked around and saw a guy carving a red chunk of ice with a chainsaw into the shape of a woman. We were intrigued so we stopped for a few minutes to watch. We then headed back to the cabaret building and all the ladyboys were standing outside promoting the show. I just had to get a picture of Marshall with two of the “ladies” for his birthday.

When we got inside there were about 15 rows of bench seating and we sat a couple rows from the stage. The ladyboys came out lip syncing and dancing around to various hits (Mostly American) from Whitney Houston to Gangnam Style. The ladies were so skinny, I couldn’t believe it. I was actually shocked at how some of them truly looked like women. The show was quite the production and we had an awesome time. In fact, we were so into it singing and clapping along that the guy next to us was filming us instead of the show. Haha! Three months with no adult time will get you that way, trust me.

After the show we were having so much fun that we weren’t ready to head back. We texted the babysitter to see how Tyson was doing and she actually recommended that we stay out longer! Sweet! Another hour of seeing what Thailand night life was all about. We started walking around town and came to this alley way that looked extremely interesting. There was a creepy 5D ride that had a guy covered in a black sheet hanging by a noose squirming around (fake of course) and a scary little girl on a swing above the sign (also fake, but pretty scary with all the sounds coming from their speakers). Across the street was a hoppin’ bar so we sat down for a drink. A Thai girl came over and asked if we wanted to play the game Connect 4. We figured she’d expect a tip but we thought it would be fun to play so we said ok. We played like 5 games with her and she whooped us every time within just over 4 chips…it was sad, but we had fun. I thought I was a master at that game but apparently not. She was getting tired of beating us so she brought out Jenga. We tried to hand her a tip for beating us on Connect 4 but she said she couldn’t accept tips but we could by her a shot, so we did. We then started playing Jenga for a while and Marshall tried to give her money under the table because we were having a lot of fun with her and we wanted to show appreciation without her having to deal with the bar or another shot. She wouldn’t take it so we ended up buying her another drink as she asked. We continued playing Jenga and then just out of nowhere I started balling my eyes out and Marshall had to pick me up out of the chair and walk me out of there. Anyone that knows me knows that I am not an emotional person but I felt horrible that this lady makes her living off getting wasted. At the time I didn’t know exactly how she got paid though and it all hit me at once that she probably wasn’t doing this to have ‘fun’. Marshall hailed a cab and we went back home. I later read online that Thai bar girls make money by receiving a commission on drinks ordered for them. In other words the more they drink the more money they make. Also, most of the girls that work in the bar are prostitutes. It’s so sad. Not the best way to end the night and definitely unexpected, but all in all we had a blast and learned a lot about the culture.

When we got home Tyson was still awake crying for Mama and Dada so I put him in bed next to me and he fell asleep in about two seconds. He did great most of the time we were out though, just wasn’t able to fall asleep without us. Not surprised since he’s been with us 24/7 for literally 90 days straight (at least) with the same routine.

The next day was Marshall’s dirty thirty but we were all so tired from staying up late celebrating the night before that we didn’t feel like doing anything crazy. A nice quiet relaxing day with the family sounded just fine to us. We packed up our stuff and moved hotels again for our last two nights in Thailand. We decided to rent a car for these last few days so we went for a little drive in the afternoon. Our goal was to just get lost and see what we’d run into. Unfortunately, it wasn’t what we wanted to run into… Marshall was driving (just had to say that first) and stopped at a red light on a very narrow street. There was a car trying to turn into our street, so he had to put it in reverse and find a wide enough spot to let the guy through. The ‘wide enough’ spot ended up having a motorcycle parked in it and we totally ran into it pushing it into a bench and knocking it over! YIKES! Marshall hopped out of the car and checked on the bike/car to make sure there wasn’t any damage. Thankfully there wasn’t on either, but he couldn’t get the kickstand to work, so he carefully leaned the bike against a potted plant and looked at all the construction workers nearby. He did the international signals for ‘This bike yours?’ and ‘What should I do?’, but he was met with blank faces and stares, so….we left. What else could we have done, seriously? No harm no foul, right?

We started driving down the road and decided to just take random roads that looked most interesting. About an hour later we ended up GPSing our location and realized we didn’t get too far and were only doing circles on different streets in the middle of the island. I guess we took too many rights. Oops! Since we were practically back at the hotel we headed back and stopped at the grocery store on the way to pick up snacks and fruit for Tyson. That evening we found a nice restaurant along the beach to have Marshall’s birthday dinner. He had a beef/mash potato French/Thai dish that he couldn’t stop raving about and I had…you guessed it, chicken (but tried a bit of his too).

Today was our last day in Koh Samui and Marshall surprised me with a 4 hour spa day to thank me for all the planning I’ve done for this trip. What an awesome guy! I’ve never been to a spa before because I’m really weird about people touching me. But Marshall did lots of research and found a place he thought I’d really enjoy. This place was in the jungle of the island and everything they use is all natural. After Marshall dropped me off, I was told to follow a walking trail and strolled through a lush garden with pine trees and butterflies flying around everywhere. When I got to the hut they handed me a delicious glass of juice and a bag with a towel, sarong, and a pair of (see-though) mesh underwear to wear during the massage. They showed me all around the facility and I was blown away. There were three plunge pools which are natural hot springs that had waterfalls running into them off of 3 story rocks and two herbal steam rooms inside of CAVES! I first wanted to check out the steam room so I opened a small door within a huge rock face and walked inside to one of the caves filled with herbal smelling steam. So cool! I sat there for about 15 minutes and then headed over to one of the plunge pools that had a body scrubbing station. I could choose from five different natural body scrubs so I chose the one that smelled the best. Once I was done scrubbing it all over me I washed it off and headed to a different plunge pool that had a drink station that served coffee, tea, juice and exotic fruit.  I ate four of the fruits and poured myself a cup of tea to bring over to the pool. I sat on the edge sipping my tea and dipping my feet into the water while watching butterflies and listening to the birds chirping.

I was there long enough to get lost in the experience then they came and got me for my full body massage and facial. The lady asked me to change into my underwear and walk to a hut on a hill for my massage. She walked me up several stairs to the message area that overlooked one of the hot springs. She gave me a 90 minute full body oil massage that even included my butt cheeks. She then gave me an hour long facial that was amazing and extremely relaxing. While she was waiting for my face mask to dry she braided my hair and put it into a bun and placed several exotic flowers in my hair. Once the facial was done she wrapped me in a sarong and I walked back down the stairs to meet Marshall and Tyson who spent the day at a ‘mall’ and driving around to different beaches as Tyson took naps in the air conditioned car. When I was walking down the stairs to meet them, Marshall thought I had a smile on my face as big as the one I had when walking down the aisle at our wedding, but I think he was exaggerating (a little). Tyson didn’t even recognize me at first with my hair like that and got a little confused when I started kissing him, lol. We all walked to the café area and they brought me a nice healthy snack to end the day that included fresh spring rolls, fried veggie patties, and dragon fruit. This was exactly what I needed and was such an amazing experience! Thanks babe!

It’s easy to say we’ve thoroughly enjoyed our time in Thailand! I can’t believe this is officially the MIDPOINT of our trip!!! We’ve been traveling for exactly 3 months and have exactly 3 more to go! I can’t believe it’s going so fast and at the same time I can’t believe the amazing experiences we’ve had so far. I can’t wait to see what is in store for us next.

Tomorrow we’ll be taking an hour flight back to Bangkok and then another hour flight to our next destination.

Next stop: Siem Reap, Cambodia