Koh Cabana Website!

The Koh Cabana website is officially live! You can now see what I've been working on for the past week...

www.kohcabana.com

(Disclaimer: we are waiting on a few higher quality images for a few of the 2(X)IST swimsuits)

 For someone who's not the best with technology, though, I have to admit I'm pretty proud :)

You can also like us on facebook!

https://www.facebook.com/kohcabana

Kata Noi and the Night Market

We went to another beach on Saturday called Kata Noi. It was beautiful! It was also slightly less hot, so I was able to spend a lot more time actually ON the beach, and less time sitting in the water repeating, "My people were not made for this!" Haha. I like to think I'm slowly adapting, but I think really I've just been lucky with slightly cooler days lately.

On our way back from Kata Noi we stopped at the night market. This is an amazing market that is only open on Saturday and Sunday nights. You can buy pretty much anything here...DVDs, CDs, purses, shoes, jewelry, fruit, cocktails, sushi, etc etc.. Even these amazing pants...

I confess I not only bought these, but another pair in a different color too! I'm obsessed. I now live in them. If you're talking to me on skype, facebook chat, etc (anything where I'm home), I'm wearing these. They also inspired my last minute Halloween costume-- I'm going to be a genie. Best part--I get to wear these all night!

We also got dinner at the night market. There are several pop-up restaurant like places that make amazing Thai food! I had delicious fried rice noodles (good thing I can't model our swimwear anyway ;) and it was only 40 Baht (~$1.10)!!

Later that night we went to a bar called "Massie's" for Matt's friend's birthday celebration. They let her bring bottles of liquor to the bar that we drank for free. I don't know how this works but it was a great set-up for us! Matt was going out in Patong but I wasn't feeling up to it so I decided to call it a night. It was POURING rain (not quite high season yet!) and therefore motorbikes were out of the question. Luckily Matt's wonderful friend Nicole and her husband Brendan have a car--my heroes! They were kind enough to drive me home. You would think for somewhere that has an entire season known as "the rainy season", there would be an effective drainage system..... Nope! I snapped this from the backseat of the car. We were afraid it might start coming in the doors!

It didn't and I made it home safe and sound! Once again, all part of the adventure ;)

Trophy Girl

Since I know there is a lot of curiosity about my recent foray into the gay men's swimwear business, I figured I would take some time to explain a little about it. There are currently two main brands that Matt and I are selling here in Thailand: 2(X)IST and Andrew Christian. These are both brands known in the US for their high-end men's underwear as well as swimwear. We are only selling their swimwear. Be warned, however, before you Google these brands! Let's just say, it's not something you should look up at work ;) haha.

Our company is called Koh Cabana. "Koh" means "island" in Thai, and adjectives are placed after nouns, so in English it would be called "Cabana Island". We are starting by selling the swimwear at events (like the previously mentioned gay pool parties). Since we are just now entering the high season here and the island is swarming with tourists, it's the perfect time to sell swimwear!

I'm currently working on setting up our website so that people can view our merchandise inventory online. Consequently, my computer screen regularly looks like this...

(I warned you about the Google search!)

2(X)IST is a slightly more subtle brand, while Andrew Christian really leaves little to the imagination. AC boasts a variety of styles, many designed for very specific purposes. I am learning more and more everyday. For instance, one type of swimsuit style has what they call "Show-It" technology. This involves a small pocket in the front of the suit which is designed to "add up to an inch and a half". No, I'm not kidding. Haha. Another suit has what is called "Flash-Lift" technology. This style involves a thick band hidden in the backside of the suit, designed to tighten and "lift" the wearer's butt. There is even a style called "Trophy Boy", which is designed for men who...let's just say men who don't need the "Show-It" technology. Haha.

 

As if all of this didn't involve me enough in the gay community, I now even have my photo on a gay dating app!! Haha. One of the customers that purchased our swimwear took a photo with me (which I previously posted) and used it for his profile on the app:

This puts me in an elite group of women to make an appearance on the app. I'm quite honored. Haha

Tailor in Kamala

On our way back from the beach, Matt and I stopped in Kamala. This is one of the beach towns here and it is also where Matt used to live. It's a great little town!

We stopped off at Matt's tailor so that he could begin work on his Halloween costume. He wants to be a sexy caveman for Halloween and wear a pair of our swimwear, a fur vest and strappy sandals. If only I had a photo of the tailor's face as Matt was explaining the fur vest. It should be noted that the tailor spoke nearly perfect English. There was no language barrier. He understood; he just thought Matt was crazy. (Don't worry, I will be sure to get photos of this costume)

Later Matt goes, "Yeah, I'm thinking he knows I'm gay." I said, "If he didn't before I'm pretty sure the fake fur vest solidified it.." Haha

Laem Sing Beach!

Yesterday I had my first trip to the beach! I've seen a lot of beaches from the motorbike, but this was my first chance to actually walk on the sand and swim in the water. The beaches here are just as stunning as advertised! They're so beautiful I don't think my photos will do them justice...but that's not going to stop me from posting way too many photos of them anyway haha. Maybe it will convince some of you to come visit! ;)

So yesterday was a public holiday. Thailand is a monarchy and their king is known as Rama (side note: the King in Thailand does actually have power, rather than being more of a symbol like the Queen of England). The current King is Rama IX. Yesterday was Rama V's birthday, and this was a public holiday. I'm now wondering if there are 8 more public holidays solely from past King's birthdays...? I hope so because a public holiday means Matt and his teacher friends are off---which means beach time!!

After cleaning up from our small party on Tuesday night (since they had Wednesday off, Matt's teacher friends came over and drank with us--they are wonderful!) we headed to the beach. Matt's favorite beach is Laem Sing. Not only is it truly beautiful, but thanks to the 150+ stairs you have to walk down to get there... it is also more secluded!

Now that Matt is getting more proficient at Thai, he's able to get us local discounts. For 150 Baht ($5) we rented two chairs right on the beach, with an umbrella and everything! I let Matt do all the talking here haha.

The beach was amazing. It was CRAZY hot though. I had to get in the water at least every 20 minutes to survive the heat. It's hot here by itself, but considering I'm used to Breckenridge, CO temperatures (it should be noted that it's already been snowing there) I'm an especially big wimp with the heat here. The water was the clearest, brightest blue I've ever seen. It was intensely salty though! I mentioned that to Matt and he goes, "You didn't drink it did you?!" I said "Matt, why would I ever drink ocean water?! That's a universal no.." Hahaha

The Thais that work there have pet Gibbon monkeys. It was amazing to see them up close. Their hands are SO human-like! Little fingernails and all. If you give them your finger they will wrap their hand around it, much like a newborn baby. They'll also jump up and climb on you. When I took this photo...

he jumped right up into my arms, took my iPhone and tried to eat it. Haha. When he couldn't have my phone, he went for the hair. His name is Johnny. As cute as he is, and as cool as it was to see them up close (there was another called "Jim" too), it's actually very sad. They're far too intelligent to be chained up like this. I just learned from my friend Hayley that Thailand has a massive illegal pet problem where gibbons like this one are taken as babies after their mothers are shot, and then sold on the black market for up to 500 US :( I wish I could've set Jim and Johnny free.

Thai Food

The food here is so amazing it deserves its own post. I loved Thai food in the states, but over here it's an experience. It's also crazy cheap! It's ironically significantly cheaper to eat out than it is to grocery shop. Very counter intuitive I know. For example.....

Pad Thai

 

 Massaman Curry

 Yellow Curry (this was SOO spicy)

Yum Nua (spicy pork salad)

[I was well acquainted with this one thanks to my sister Jenny's love of it in the states. Jenny wait till you try it here!!]

all range from around 30 Baht ($1) to 90 Baht ($3)! That's it! But then a box of cereal from the grocery store is easily 150 Baht ($5)... Makes no sense, haha. Oh well, I'm certainly not complaining! I love the excuse to eat out. Plus it makes it easier to try a lot of new things that I would otherwise know nothing about.

Another new favorite food here are these amazing sweet BBQ pork buns (Matt is obsessed) They may look a little strange (and yeah, I know what they also resemble haha) but they are SO good! The outside is a light spongy bread and the inside is filled with this sweet, flavorful pork. We buy them frozen and then steam them. They're addicting.

Thai Massage

I had my first Thai massage last night. It was AMAZING. They are very intense, though. Unlike a Swedish massage with the more gentle rubbing, a Thai massage involves a lot of stretching, kneading and cracking. They actually walk on you! They also use their elbows to really dig into your muscles. It uses a lot of pressure and force. There were a few points where it was almost too much, but for the most part it was heavenly. They crack your neck, your back, and even your fingers and toes! Afterwards you feel so loose and relaxed. I highly recommend it! Here are a few images that show some of the moves they use...

They also really, genuinely massage your butt. And not like gently, but with their elbows and forearms! Which sounds kind of weird, but actually feels phenomenal..

They bend and stretch you in a variety of positions. Some of which look like they would be very uncomfortable, but somehow are not. They loosen you up in places you didn't even know were tight!

This last one feels amazing but takes a good deal of strength from the masseuse. My poor woman was literally making little grunting noises trying to lift me (she was about half my size) Haha. Matt and I had a good laugh with the masseuses when they occasionally struggled with us. But yea, do not come here if you want to feel small!

So we got an hour long massage and with the locals discount (we live very close to the place we went) it was only 200 Baht! That's about $7 for an hour long Thai massage! I woke up this morning feeling amazing. I think this will have to be a regular activity. For that price, how could it not be??

Lady Boy Impersonators and New Friends

So there is a common practice here where lady boys impersonate famous American pop stars. And I have to say they are impressive! At our second pool party last night (at CiCi's Hideaway) I got my first show. There was an Adele...

 And Miley... she did the tongue sticking out and everything

 And of course Beyonce! Her dance moves were amazing..

I also made a new friend! His name is Richard and he's a Russian scientist turned businessman. He's fabulous! He treated me to dinner and fed me white wine all night. i.e. he's my new best friend haha. He's wildly intelligent and even with the language barrier, we talked all night. He's incredibly interesting and very funny! He wants to buy me a Greek goddess dress to match his Greek God costume for Halloween haha. Turns out with all the ex-pats and other countries' presence here, they DO celebrate Halloween!

First Pool Party Trunk Show!

Friday night was Matt and I's first chance to sell our swimwear! Thanks to his friend Laurent, who let us set up at his gay pool party at Indochine Resort and Villas. We are still at the tail end of the rainy season though and sure enough, it ended up pouring for a decent chunk of the pool party. Despite the weather, and the smaller turnout, we still sold some swimsuits! Two of our customers were the dancers that performed at the party. Lucky for us they are also fabulous advertisements for the swimwear...

The rain did not let up, however, after the party ended. It actually became heavier. Unfortunately you cannot ride a motorbike in torrential downpour... So after checking the weather and realizing it was not going to end anytime soon, we caught a ride with the dancers and Laurent's mom to Patong (about 10 min closer to us from the hotel, but still 20+ from home). Where we decided to get a hotel room for the night (at this point it was about 1am). This was Matt and I's classy hotel room for the night...

As we entered the room (soaked from the rain) Matt goes, "well isn't this romantic..", right as I killed a cockroach with my sandal. Hahaha. We had a good laugh. I mean for 500 Baht ($17) a night who can complain?? All part of the adventure!!

An Intro to Thai

Matt has taught me a few phrases and numbers in Thai. Wooo, brevity is definitely not their thing here. I suppose that should make this my country then? Haha. Yeah I thought Greek was hard when I back packed through there after college, but Thai is a whole new beast.

This is the extent of my Thai so far...

"sa wat dii kha" = Hello

"khob khun kha" = Thank-you

"nam plao" = Bottled water

"neung"         = one
"song"           = two
"sam"            = three
"si"             = four
"hah"            = five
"hok"            = six
"chet"             = seven
"paet"       = eight
"gao"          = nine
"sip"             = ten

No promises on the spelling there. I'm a work in progress. After those basic numbers, though, counting is surprisingly easy! It's basically just combining those numbers above, with the exception of twenty ("yee sip" instead of "song sip"), and when you're adding a one you use "et" instead of "neung" ("si sip et" would be 41, instead of "si sip neung")

Definitely not an easy language. It is very interesting to listen to though. I like the way the tone rises and falls, it's almost melodic. Unfortunately the more I travel, the more it seems clear that the English language is the ugliest haha.

15 Things You Might Not Know About Thailand

After nearly two days of travel...
(Dulles --> LAX --> Beijing --> Bangkok (BKK) --> Bus to DMK --> Phuket)
 I arrived safely at Matt and I's house in Phuket, Thailand!

(to be accurate this view is about 15 min from where we actually live)

To say that it's another world here, would be an understatement. There are the obvious differences, of course, the ones that everyone knows about.. the language (Thai), religion (Buddhism), climate (tropical), and the time difference (11 hours ahead of EST) All of which are an experience!

But here are 15 things you probably don't know about Thailand...

1) You cannot flush toilet paper 
(didn't learn this fun fact until I got here..it's all an adventure! haha)
2) There is no such thing as personal space in this culture
3) You cannot drink the tap water
4) Motorbikes are used like minivans for Thai families
(the most I've seen so far is 4 people on one: a mom, a dad, a toddler and a baby)
5) They do not use shower curtains
6) There are 7-11s on every corner
7) They are REALLY into KFC and fried chicken in general
(they will eat it for breakfast)
8) There is a scent of shampoo called "Beer and Eggs"
9) They call white people "farangs". This is actually the same word used for guavas...Incidentally Thai people find great humor in seeing whites eating guavas ("farangs" eating "farangs")
10) They do not have dryers
11)  One word in Thai has 5 tones, each with a different meaning (for example the word for "rice", if used with different tones can also mean "white" and "stinky fish")
12) It's normal for people to have roosters
(There is one right outside my window that likes to start crowing at sunrise...they actually do this)
13) There is a very large Russian population
14) There is a section of the supermarket entitled "Jeans and Camping"
15) They have Dunkin' Donuts, where they sell Thai Iced Tea!
(Thai Iced Tea for those who haven't had it is DELICIOUS)

So there is an obvious adjustment period. Luckily for me, Matt has been a wonderful teacher and has really paved the way for me! I don't know how he did it all by himself. I'm in awe! I'm also incredibly grateful for this whole experience. It's already an adventure!