Rainy days

It's only the beginning of November and already the monsoon season has started. Since last week it has rained almost every day of the week, sometimes for a whole day. The first day of the monsoon rains began with a blast - very heavy winds, toppling trees in our neighbourhood, tearing down my letter box, bringing with it a deluge.

The sky is overcast most of the time, we have to start wondering about flooding and on the news we can hear flood updates from some states already - Johor, Malacca (yes my home state and where I am now), and some parts of Selangor. Yesterday the news flashed some scenes of the flooded areas in Johor and mostly the water was not too high - about 2 feet mainly.Yet the drains are full and the waters fast flowing so I dread to hear about accidental deaths of children caused by negligence. And parents don't seem to care that their children play in the flood waters - I shudder at the things that can happen. Maybe I'm just too phobic - whenever I see children as young as 7 or 8 play in flood waters I feel shocked and worried about it. Why can't their parents control them and keep them inside where its safer? I remember the age old saying - "sudah terantok baru tengadah" - you look up only after you have hit your head. Being careful after the fact or after the incident has occurred is not much use.

School boys walking home in the rain

This is also the season for landslides. Last monsoon season there were no serious landslides that occurred along hill slopes but we have had enough of that to last a  while. Every time it rains, those living in landslide prone areas will wonder - will it happen? And yet people never seem to learn - developers will still cut down trees to build high rise condominiums along hill slopes.

Sometimes the sound of the wind rushing through the window panes will give you a shiver - although I live in a tropical country where thunder storms and monsoon rains is the norm, I still cannot like the rain. It dampens my spirit not calms it down. And notwithstanding it is good for our padifields, I still much prefer the picture of a sunny beach drenched in sunshine and coconut palms swaying its slender branches with a soft breeze blowing. No monsoon rains for me... sigh....

Koh Samui weekend

The weekend had been planned for ages, or it seemed like ages anyway. The whole family had been looking forward to this short break because of all kinds of reasons. I haven't been able to see my grand daughter and missed her terribly. Sarah had just finished Ob-gyn and Repin and both the boys were also in need of a break. So when the day came we all looked forward to it. We went by Firefly which meant we flew from Subang Airport and the flight took only about 1hour and 45 minutes. It was mostly smooth going, just a few mild bumps in mid air due to air pockets and the day too promised to be bright and sunny.

We landed shortly after 4.00pm and the pre-arranged transport was already waiting for us. Oh a word about the Koh Samui airport - it may be small but they do have some nice shops!

Koh Samui  town itself is very small - just a few rows of shops - selling mainly touristy stuff and lots of small restaurants, bars and the ever present 7 -11. I noticed too that there are many pharmacies! I counted 11 on just one road! Perhaps they need the pharmacies for the tourists!

Our resort - Chaweng Buri Beach Resort was a group of chalets nestled among huge trees, facing a pretty beach - soft ,white sand and blue blue sea. A real plus is that this is one of the resorts that is very eco-friendly. Instead of chopping the trees to build the chalets, they built the chalets around the trees. And the trees are big and shady with the chalets nestled in between. 

All our chalets were close together, mine facing Rizal and Poh Ling's so the small fry could come over at any time. But her favourite chalet was of course her Aunty Sarah's and Makcik's, which was just next door to hers. 



Sophia and her aunt Sarah in the plane



The walkway connecting the various chalets



Our chalet - No 505!



The 3 girls enjoying themselves

It was a very short break - just 3 nights but it was fun. We had good food (well not so easy to find halal but we made do) and there were lots of seafood places. After all Koh Samui is an island so fish is there a plenty!  Rizal booked a sailing boat or a catamaran and we went for a sail around the islands, dropped anchor at a smaller island not far from Samui and had lunch there. It rained a bit but that was ok too.

There were lots of activities for families - besides swimming, that is. We went for a karaoke session and then bowling, in town. The next day we went on an island tour and stopped at a few interesting places - a waterfall and an elephant sanctuary and visited a few temples and the Golden Buddha, a huge statue of the Buddha, pasted with gold paper.

I went for a massage and even Repin and the boys as well as Poh Ling went for a foot massage which was really relaxing and cheap - only 100 baht which converts to RM10 for us. I think I wouldn't mind coming back for another long weekend.

Koh Samui break in pictures

We were in Koh Samui recently just before the Aidil Adha holiday. It was a family trip, organised solely by my dearest husband Repin, with all my children - the two girls and both the boys plus our only grandchild, Sophia and POh Ling, my daughter in law.

With Sophia at the lookout point on Koh Samui

Grandfather Rock (the one jutting out like a penis)

Rizal helping to hoist the sails on Dream Catcher, our boat for the day

Sophia



Anyone want to ride an elephant?