Hua Hin 2006

Last August, during Arwen's visit to Thailand, we woke up at the crack ass of dawn to drive down to Hua Hin for the weekend.


So please excuse the bleary eyes and drowsy smiles.


But then we started talking about the demented things we used to do in high school (all of which require a separate entry of its own), and pretty soon the sleepy faces were gone. :)


When we finally arrived in Hua Hin, we found this quaint flower pot
in the condo lobby and decided to pose with it.


While waiting for the elevator, my eye wandered.


And although it was a cloudy day...


...the view from the condo was pretty fab nonetheless.


After settling in, we finally made our way to Marukhathaiyawan Palace, the former royal residence of King Rama VI, and rented some bikes to do some exploring.
(Please ignore my hand -- the wind was blowing and I was trying to brush my hair away, not do the moonwalk or whatever.)


We eventually came across this lovely section of the palace...


...which had an even lovelier view of the sea.


We decided to check it out...the view, that is.


I really, really love this photo, but unfortunately, thanks to my bag,
my already large ass is amplified to ten times its normal size.
*sigh*


Later, we decided to turn the camera on ourselves...


...although obviously we have to work on honing our self-photography skills.
(Off center, much?)


Caro, being her usual charming self. ;D


Later, we came across this stream...


...and naturally, being the camera whores that we are, we posed beside it.


And above it.
(But sorry, not below it.)


Later, it started raining...


...so we went ducking for cover under a gazebo where Arwen proceeded to
tell us about the awesomeness of yoga balls.
(Arwen, please don't kill me!!! :P)


The rain started to come down pretty hard, so we piled into the car
in search of food at this charming seaside restaurant.


Everyone, meet P'Geng, who SO deserves a medal
for putting up with so much estrogen, giggling, and squealing the entire weekend!


The next day, we kicked off the morning with some java, Thai iced tea, and sugar-teeming roti.
(Aren't we such healthy people?)


The roti caused quite a scuffle as everyone lunged to get first dibs of it.


Aferwards, we drove up to Pa-La U Waterfall,
which was about 60 kilometers away from Hua Hin.
Fortunately, the iced tea kept me entertained for a good chunk of the trip, if not for its delectable taste then for its container which thanked me for being so very "thoughRful."

We should all aspire to be thoughRful people, everyone.


Unfortunately, the Engrish on the other side of the cup wasn't any better.
Poaned milk, anyone?
=X


The trail leading up to the waterfall was HORRIBLE, thanks to the rain.
We decided to park our car and trek the rest of the way up.


EWWW!
More iced tea, anyone?


Fortunately, the view on the way up was nice.


The rain couldn't stop us from whipping out our cameras.
My girls, they are lovely, yes? :)

On the way into the watefall area, poor Arwen was rendered mute lest she be forced to pay the ridiculous 200 baht tourist fee, which Caro, Siri, and I thought was total daylight robbery considering we were allowed free entrance.
Fortunately, we resorted to our teenage ways -- like when we used to smuggle in snacks and drinks into the school library -- and she hid behind us and slipped in scot-free!


Still, that didn't stop some of us natives (me) from acting like total tourists.


But at least I wasn't as bad as some OTHER natives. ;)


Everyone, meet Pa-La U waterfall.


It has a total of 15 levels.
We were determined to climb all 15 of them.
And so we started our journey...


...But got about 5 steps away before whipping out the camera again.
We decided to go artsy-fartsy this time with the black and white.


FINALLY we got around to crossing the first part of the waterfall
that would take us deeper into the woods.
When we were about halfway across, Caro called out from the opposite shore and insisted that we all turn around and pose, which was kind of hard to do considering we were teetering on a FLIMSY SLAB OF POORLY PUT-TOGETHER WOOD THAT SAT OVER SOME VERY SCARY RUSHING RAPIDS.


The very scary rushing rapids.


You should have heard the sigh of relief when we all made it safely to the other side.


But it was totally worth it in the end, because the view?
It was verra awesome. :)


We started climbing the very rocky terrain in search of level 2.


And came across some funky-looking trees.


Not to mention some wild creatures.


Okay, make that VERY wild creatures!


Please tell me I'm not crazy and that you see the sleeping face, too.
You see it, right?
RIGHT?


Reaching level 2 proved to be quite the arduous task.
When we finally reached it, we were sweaty, tired, and plain glad to have not fallen to our death while scaling the slippery rocks on our way up.
We decided 2 levels was enough and that we'd try level 15 next time around.
So we headed back down...


...But not before taking one last picture, of course!
(Note the llama in her natural element, people.)
Hua Hin with Arwen, Caro, Siri, and P'Geng was fantabulously fun. I so can't wait to go back again!

P.S. And thanks Arwen and Caro for letting me post some of your pics. :)

EDIT: I just realized I look like ET. And Jesus Christ, what is up with my forehead? You can shine a freaking projector on that thing!!!

***

Currently Reading: Twilight by Stephenie Meyer, which is one of those rare novels that you literally cannot put down. This surprised me, because normally I'm not all that crazy about vampire stories. But this one proved me wrong; I found myself totally glued to it till the end as I drank (hah, pardon the pun) down every last word. Now, I'm desperately searching the city for the sequel, which apparently has yet to arrive to BKK. Boo!

Currently Playing: Wish I by the uber talented Jem. This is another one of my favorite songs of all time. It's just so chill and summery; every time I listen to it, I get this sudden urge to buy a tiny hut out by the ocean and live out the rest of my days sipping on baby coconuts or whatever.