summer!

It's been much too long... and I know I promised a post on my new flat, but thought I'd catch up on the last few months first... since I don't have any good pictures of the house yet... Maybe later this week if it's sunny...

So, in late May I went to Austria. It was only a few days - and I was there for work, but did actually have a little time to wander around Graz a bit.

The city centre is a UNESCO world cultural heritage site. The architecture varies greatly and some of the buildings date back to the 1300's.

This is the 'Mur island' in the middle of the Mur River which runs through the city. Kind of weird how some of the city is so modern and other parts are so ancient.

Since I was there to cover the England v Japan friendly ahead of the World Cup, we had to travel into the mountains to their training camp... It was really beautiful and reminiscent of Switzerland.

From the resort hotel where the team were staying.

The game was pretty rubbish - I don't even remember the score!

In June I got to go to Wembley Stadium for the first time - and to see Chelsea play Portsmmouth in the FA Cup Final... of course, Chelsea won!

Wembley Stadium, before the match.

After we won!

I know people are always saying I have a really cool job, and well, I do. I try to play it down a lot, but seriously, professional football, to awesome music festivals to the Prime Minister's house... We (I) cover it all. And this year, I got to go to the Hard Rock Calling Festival in Hyde Park again... where Pearl Jam were playing! And while I didn't get an interview with them, but at least I got to see them! (sort of)

Yes, that is Eddie Vedder!

There he is!

And then I got to spend some time with my very good friend from university - Maria! We hadn't seen each other in about three or four years and she happened to be in London for a couple of weeks on an NYU exchange program.

Maria and me in Brixton

In July, Tom and I celebrated his birthday by going to Maze Grill, one of Gordon Ramsey's restaurants in London. It was probably the best meal I've ever had in a restaurant!

Happy birthday, my love!

mmm... soft shell crab for a starter.

The best calamari ever!

We both ordered steak... what else would we have gotten?!?

The waiter came around before we ordered and showed us the various cuts of meat and explained the difference and where they all come from. I got the Hereford 21 day grass fed fillet - for a mere £28! and Tom got the same but in rib eye. Then we ordered chips, salad and onion rings for the sides. The meat came with roasted garlic and a sprig of fresh herbs.

So, I've been busy... which is one reason for the lack of posting... Coming up - all about our new home - which is awesome! I promise not to make you wait too long!

2009 photo-retro

2009 has been a year of ups and downs - as are most years - here's a photo retrospective of my year... something on the decade to come some time in January...

Snow... there was lots of snow this year - starting in January, loads of it in February and then again in December...

February saw flowers arrive at the office for me! First time I've ever had that happen!

February also saw my first professional football match - Liverpool vs Real Madrid - in Madrid, Spain.

While there I managed to take in some of the sights... including this art exhibit in the 'crystal palace'.

...and the cow parade that was all over the city...

In March I went on holiday with my love, Tom, to Edinburgh... this is on the way up to Arthur's Seat.

A view of the city with the castle in the distance...

Tom and I at Edinburgh Castle

Tom and I on the Royal Yacht Britannia

In May I happened upon a fun fair in Hampstead Heath with a few friends after we went there for a picnic

In June I went on a weekend away with my love to Brighton - went to the pier and rode the rides...

We also went on an afternoon fishing trip where a nice man took this fab photo of us!

In August we went to Thorpe Park where we rode the (better than Brighton) rides

We had an amazing day!

In August I celebrated yet another birthday with great friends!

In October I went to Ukraine for my second professional football match - England vs Ukraine World Cup Qualifier - this is St Michael's Cathedral in Kiev - see previous post for more on that...

And finally I celebrated Christmas afternoon with my love and his family in North London.

By evening I had a fever of 102.5F, was told I had swine flu and spent the last week of the year in bed. Now here is New Year's Eve and I'm still not well enough to go to work - or go out :( So it'll be a night in with the telly... Here's to a great year gone and a better one to come!

Happy New Year to you and yours!

Thailand - The Land of Smiles

Ko Tao

After five glorious days in Ko Samui, we left our little home and headed for the ferry to Ko Tao. It is the smallest of the three islands in the Gulf of Thailand.

uh, ko tao... on the map...

It is a mere 21 KM squared (sorry can't find the little sign...) and is about 70 KM off the mainland, but could be in the middle of the ocean for how "undeveloped" it is. Koh Tao means Turtle Island, so named for all the turtles that used to breed there. It became famous in 1899 when King Rama V visited and engraved his monogram on a rock at Jor Por Ror Bay near Sairee beach.

King Rama V rock.

From 1944 to 1947 the island was used as a political prison. The prisoners were all pardoned and the island was abandoned. A few years later a couple of brothers settled their families on the island and became the first real residents.

Ko Tao has only become a tourist destination in the last 10-15 years, which makes it much less developed than its neighbours, Ko Phangan and Ko Samui. Most people go to Tao for its dive resorts, but there is plenty for the non-diver as well.

High-speed catamaran

We arrived mid-day. We took the high-speed catamaran ferry directly from Samui. The trip took about and hour and a half, and we were lucky enough to make some friends on the ride over. Soren and Simon were on a dive holiday from Denmark and we spent the next three days hanging out with them.

Our new friends Soren (L) and Simon.

Arriving in Ko Tao.

After arriving we headed to Sairee Beach up the coast from the main harbour Mae Haad. Sairee Beach is about 1.7 KM long and has the best night-life on the island. There are tons of restorts to stay at, restaurants to eat at, and bars to drink at. We stayed at the Lotus Resort whichs was a step up in quality and price from Amity on Samui. We paid 600 baht a night for our fan/cold shower bungalow which was a short walk from the beach. It was twice the price, but also twice the size and better located.

Sairee Beach

Our days on tao were spent mostly lazing on the beach. We did visit the beach at Mae Haad, but were rather disappointed by it. The water is very shallow on both of the beaches, which made for poor swimming. We really only sat in the water to cool off, thought the water was so warm that it was almost like taking a bath.

The beach as night fell.

We did take a day trip to Nangyuan Island, which is a kilometer off the north end of the island. We took a boat taxi there for about 100 baht each (including pick up at the end of the day). That was the best part of the Tao experience.

On the taxi-boat... it was very wavy.

One of the sandbars on Nangyuan.

Another sandbar (and me)

We rented snorkel masks and I bought an underwater camera. It is actually a resort that is privately owned and you have to pay 100 baht to get on the island, which is actually three small island joined together by sandbars. It was beautiful. The snorkeling was amazing, the sun was shining and it was probably our best day at the beach.

Hello!

It's "super underwater Ranya"!

These fish positively glowed!!! They were NEON.

The cool purple anomaly under the sea.

Killer fish!

While I was snorkeling these striped fish kept biting me. I had a cut on my leg that was healing and they kept attacking it! They were the coolest fish because they swarmed around me and kept coming up close to my mask to stare at me. Still can't figure out why they would try to eat my cut though, maybe they are that kind of fish that eats dead flesh...

Evening were spent hanging with our Dutch friends. Our first night there was actually my "birthday" - since we weren't going to be together for the real day, I chose that day to be it. We went out for dinner with Soren (Simon stayed at the bar) and then we hit the beach bars. We ended up at Dry Bar, which was possibly the coolest bar I've ever been to.

Dry Bar - sorry it's night, but I never got there in the day...

The bar itself is built into a tree and surrounding it are platforms with cushions to sit on. Some of the platform are over the water when the tide is in, so you feel like you are almost a part of the sea. I shared a "bucket" of "crapple" with the boys (it was literally a bucket of cranberry, apple, and vodka *see picture). We hung out until the wee hours of the morning - it was a great birthday. Ranya gave me the second part of my birhtday present - a "Greek" bracelet to replace the one I lost. The first part was a very pretty green dress.

Me and the bucket of "Crapple".

We also spent quite a bit of time at the Lotus Bar. They had a very nice area on the sand as well as a platform over the water. They had a nightly "sunset happy hour" and the best part - fire jugglers! I took tons of photos of them, but will only share a couple of the best with you here.

The Lotus Bar at sunset

Juggler 1.

Juggler 2.

Ko Tao was little piece of heaven on earth. We did notice that the service wasn't up to the same "touristy" standards as Samui. I can only figure that the tourism industry is still new there and perhaps many locals feel resentful to the "rich" tourists invading their home. Really, though, it was one of the best legs of the whole trip.

We headed back to Ko Samui the day before our flight back to Bangkok, but that is a story for another time... so stay tuned!