Fall is here again, and I am still here. I have not forgot about you dear blog, nor my trusty readers. My apologies for not keeping more up to date with this, I will try my best to keep writing and keep you all entertained.
I hope everyone had a nice summer.
I had a good time spending time with a friend I hadn’t seen in a few years. We met in 2009 when I was traveling and he was tending to some business matters…it was good to see each other and catch up. I wish him well.
Koh Tao is a beautiful island, out of the 3 of the major ones in the Gulf of Thailand, Lonely Planet refers to it as the ‘Spunky little Brother, bustling with energy’. Which is so true, home to locals and expats there is always something fun and exciting to do here, whether it’s scuba diving in Shark bay or ripping up to Mango bay lookout point on a motorbike, it’s a fun island. I spent about a week in total and aside from my German friends, I met some nice Americans that I spent some time with ripping around on the bikes, and eventually met up with Shane once he arrived from Bangkok.
Here’s a picture of me at a lookout point of Ao Leok: 
Here’s another from the Mango Bay lookout point:
Lol as you can see my hair was a total fuzz ball if I didn’t put it back. It’s the humidity!
And last but not least is a few pics chillin at Shark Bay, which I visited twice, first with the Americans for some snorkling then with Shane for some chillin and drinks. 
Love that smile! Hahaha. All in All Koh Tao is a beautiful island and was a great start for my trip through Thailand and on my Travels through Southeast Asia. I highly recommend vising it, and if you do, please try not to be too wasteful and respect the locals. Enjoy! Next up is Koh Phagnan home of the infamous Full Moon Party….Oh do I have a story for you….
Ok Friends, it’s almost that time of year again, Spring has sprung and Summer is on the way! Looking to get outside and enjoy the beautiful weather and get in shape? Come join one of my public outdoor Yoga classes starting sunday May 13th at 4 pm on the Grass in Deep Cove next to the Kayak Shack. This will be running every sunday at the same time for the Spring and Summer. Drop in’s welcome, it’s $10/ per class, with $2 dollars from each $10 being donated to the Greater Vancouver Habitat for Humanity.
For more information on this charity you can see the website: http://www.vancouverhabitat.bc.ca/.
Really don’t need to bring much, comfy work out clothes, a Yoga mat and water bottle.
Hope to see you there!
Namaste,
Tanya
Pose of the week: Ardha Chandrasana (Half Moon pose)
Good for focus and balance, strengthening the inner arches of the feet, and stabilizing muscles. Stretches the hamstrings, calves, spine, chest and shoulders. Helps to reduce stress.
An interesting tidbit of information from the Yoga Journal;
“The moon has a rich symbolic significance in yoga mythology. In hatha yoga, for example, the sun and the moon represent the two polar energies of the human body. In fact, the word hatha itself is often divided into its two constituent syllables, “ha” and “tha”, which are then esoterically interpreted as signifying the solar and lunar energies respectively.”
We can relate this to the Yin and Yang, Lunar being Yin, a more calming grounding, feminine energy, while Solar is Yang a more energizing, masculine energy in subtle energy. The left side of the body is the solar side, and follows the Pingala nadi (energy line), and the left side is the lunar side, the Ida nadi (another energy line that runs in the body).
Yes, I said yes, it would be nice to join him and his friends for a bite to eat. He was friendly and outgoing and I always enjoy meeting new people and seeing what they’re about. As we pulled up to the dock, we gathered our bags again as we made our arrival. His friends were already seated on a restaurant patio near the dock of Sairee beach, and sent out a friendly wave as they spotted Dominik. After sitting down and being introduced to Florian, Daniel, and Ole, we indulged in some fabulous Pad Thai and Singha’s. They were funny guys and reminded me of friends back home, outgoing, friendly and love to laugh. After the lunch, I said my farewell and nice to meet you all, maybe I’ll see you guys around on the island (it’s pretty small). Dominik asked me if I wanted to join them again that evening for some drinks on the beach at the Big Blue diving resort. I said I would think about it, and maybe, if he was lucky.
After dumping my bags at the hostel, I wandered down to the beach for a Yoga sesh. It was beautiful, watching the long tail boats lap against the waves and children played in the surf. Vendors walked by selling roasted pineapple and selling sarongs. I like that even though it was the main beach, Sairee beach, it really wasn’t that crowded.
After hanging out for a while there I headed back to the hostel to shower and start to think about dinner. I met some Scandinavian girls that were also in my room that invited me out to a Drag show that night. I said that sounds like fun and I would think about it, and let them know after dinner. I wandered down shortly after to Big Blue diving, to sign up for a diving course. While there, Ole, and Florian were hanging out having some beers on the patio. They waved over and asked what I was up to, and I told them that I wanted to go diving and was signing up for a course. We hung out for a little bit and I had a drink with them, but went back to the hostel to meet the girls. Turns out they had already gone out for dinner and were going to the show. I decided to go over to the bar where the show was going to be, but they weren’t there and I didn’t want to wander around the whole island trying to find them, so I went back to Big Blue. Dominik had showed up at this point, and seemed to be pleased to see me. He said he heard I had signed up for diving and that he said that’s awesome, and is looking forward to getting into the water too.
I went to see a movie a few weeks ago with my brother. We went to see Sherlock Holmes 2. The movie was good, even though the theatre was packed and we were in the front row. Something interesting said by a character in the movie is that, “Hidden in the unconscious is an insatiable desire for conflict”. This got me thinking, while for some people it may not be hidden too deep or they are already aware of it, are the people that thrive off drama and creating problems. I thought about it more, and came to the conclusion, that yes, this is true. In our ever evolving humanity and consciousness, we seek out and create conflicts, to work through them and learn how to solve our problems and issues we are faced with. When this happens we often look back and say we have learned things through experience, trial and error. We seem to manifest conflict, and problems to encounter to use what we know for the expansion of our knowledge and awareness.
So with the holiday season upon us, many of us are going to holiday parties or small gatherings with friends and family, and it is sometimes a dilemma trying to determine what sort of appetizer or treat to bring. One that I find is always a hit is an easy one I learned from my mom:
Baked Brie with sun dried tomato’s and garlic.
What you need:
1 Wheel of Brie Cheese
4 slices of sundried tomato
1 teaspoon of chopped garlic
2 teaspoon of olive oil
1 teaspoon of salt
1 thin french baguette sliced
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Chop up the sun-dried tomato and mix in a small bowl with the garlic and 1 teaspoon of olive oil. Making a few little slices in the top of the wheel of brie, spread the mixture on top. Next slice the baguette so each piece is only about a centimeter thick. Arrange the pieces on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil, and a small pinch of salt on each, toast for 5 minutes, or until they start to get crunchy. Placing the cheese in a bake-able dish, place it in the oven for 20 minutes or until it starts to swell and melt a bit (you will be able to tell when the sides puff out a bit).
Enjoy!
p.s. For those of you not a fan of sun-dried tomato’s you can substitute it with pesto.
Wine pairing:
The good thing about Brie cheese is that it is pair-able with a diverse number of wines, anything from a light and delicate Pinot noir to a fruit driven, jammy Merlot to even a low tannin Beaujolais. White is also an option as Pinot blanc, Sauvignon blanc, and reisling are all a friendly match to this heavier cheese. It’s so diverse that even on those extra special occasions Champagne is always an option.
Enjoy and Happy Holidays
The escape from Bangkok took place early on the morning of May 6th… Up at about 5 am, away from the cool air conditioned room and into the humidity. With my efficiently packed backpack, I lugged it the 10 minute walk to the Khao San road where my bus would soon depart. I arrived early, as usual. Not trying to blast my own horn here but I’m early for EVERYTHING, I have this deep seeded fear that I thinks dates back to an old boss reaming me out for being 2 minutes late for work, to be late for anything so I have made it a point to be early for everything.
As I was waiting sitting on some steps of the bus check-in counter eating some yogurt, and having some lychee juice from the local 7- eleven, others started to arrive. A family, some old couple, and I noticed a rather dark haired handsome European fellow. We both acknowledged each other but didn’t exchange any sort of pleasantries. After checking in we were all kind of just waiting around for the bus to come. When it did finally arrive we greeted it by a phone booth. It wasn’t a typical bus but more like one of those ones you see that are those camper vans that are really tall, it was two stories. Of course I made sure I got shotty in a sweet window seat on the top close to the front. My excitement of going to my first island destination excluded me from thinking about the temperature on the bus. Seeing as it was hot as hell and humid to boot I thought was dressed for the occasion in a light sundress, only to be surprised that this bus actually had air conditioning! I started to kick myself for not remembering a sweater, but justified it from reading in my Lonely planet guide that to take hints from the locals, it said that when you see the locals sitting on one side of the bus take note, they know the sun will be on the other side of the bus when it’s going a certain direction. Delightful at first, but proved to be chilling about 2 hours in. As it would turn out, handsome European was seated a few seats back on the other side of the bus. I tried to read, but concentration didn’t serve me so I found one of my favorite homes, that familiar place that I would often encounter on my travels that involved my ipod and philosophizing out the window and the life outside and in, on these long journeys to a new destination.
I tried to sleep but to no avail, half way between a doze and awareness, with the possibility of my mouth hanging wide open, I felt a tap on my shoulder. It was handsome European. With a calm, gentle German accent he asked, “Would you like to borrow my sweater?” A little surprised and wiping the drool from my chin I said, “oh, thank you” and graciously took the black North Face hoody. I dozed for a few more hours and then realizing that soon we would be arriving in Chumphon to the boat that would take us to Koh Tao, I wandered to the seat behind handsome German. Peering through the crack in between the seats I noticed He was reading a book about as thick as Sho Gun and it was written in German. I reached up over the seat to thank him and return his sweater. We got chatting and he told me he is going to Koh Tao to meet some friends and go diving for a holiday. His name was Dominik. Soon enough we arrived at the dock.
After getting our luggage stickered, we wandered down a rickety dock that took us to the boat that would transport us to Koh Tao. (Koh Tao is a tiny island north of Koh Phagnan in the Gulf of Thailand). The dock was sketchy and looked like it might break and we’d all be in the water and eaten by sharks if anyone made the wrong move, or if another person was to stand on it. Tossing my backpack to the front of the boat I made my to the top deck to have a seat in the sun. So it would turn out, handsome Dominik had the same idea……. The 1 1/2 journey on the boat was pleasant, we basked in the sun, smoked cigarettes (well Dominik did) and chatted about our lives, what we do back home and life in general. He had such an easy going disposition, not in a lazy hippy kind of way, but a charming Mr. Big or Filipe kind of way…. we chatted the whole way there, learning new things. He told me about how he likes diving, and that he often came here on holidays and he would be doing his dive master certificate on this one. He was going to meet 3 of his buddies from home for a guys holiday. As we approached the shore of what was appearing on the horizon as an island I would most definitely enjoy getting stranded on, we both pulled out our cameras. For me this was the first time I had truely seen a tropical island paradise. I was in awe. Sure I’d been to Hawaii and Florida with the family but really nothing compared to what was in front of my very eyes. The colour of the water was a hypnotic visual delight the whole ride but to see a palm tree lined beach, with little boats and cool huts lined it, really put me in disbelief. A sandbar reaching from one part of the island to another, caught my attention and I had to snap a shot; 
Yes, that is also the back of handsome German’s head. As we gathered our bags and wandered to line up to get off the boat, he asked me what I’m up to that day. I told him I was just going to try to find my hostel and then probably grab a bite to eat. Upon hearing this he extended an offer to join him to meet his friends and all have lunch together…. Did I say yes? To be continued….
yogadancetraveleat 