12th January 2018

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR ROSIE!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

Wishing you a VERY Happy Birthday!! 

Enjoy your day Rosie, have fun at the cinema.

We'll celebrate your Birthday with a glass or two of wine this evening ;-D

Sending lots of love and hugs,

Jenny Wren, Simone & Cuthbert

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

11 January 2018

Hi everyone, I've been very lapse with the blog   ...apologies!!   I trust & hope that everyone had a brilliant New Year and you're all set for what 2018 brings.

Simon and I just stayed at the Crystal bar on New Years Eve, didn't really have a lot of choice as he runs it :-D   I must say we had a lovely and relaxed evening.  Most of the Crystal gang were out partying in Sairee and it was just nice to chat to the chosen few :-D     We had planned to leave before midnight but I was told we were drinking and chatting till around 1:30am  ...where did the time go?!

So this year, Simon and I have started swimming.  We try and go every other day.  It's pretty difficult when your teaching and diving all day but we've been very good and for the days we've missed, we've made up for by doing the extra lengths (Simon has anyway :-D)    I've been very lazy on the cycling front.  I've not been out for any lengthy rides at all.  I'm aiming to go out this weekend.  I still cycle to & from the office  ..most days :-D 

Simon is now actually taking time off from the bar   YIPPEEEEEE ...as his partner LOL is covering and stepping up his game  NOT!!  ...Last weekend we had some friends over for home cooked pizza, cooked by Steve, who runs 'Crystal Images'  the videography company who we share the ECO office.  He had lost a bet with Simon (Formula 1 racing bet) and so the bet was to cook pizza from stratch at ours for everyone.  Steve, being a former chef did an amazing job.  He was at ours from 9.30am prepping, making dough, slicing & dicing ..I didn't know that so much work went into making pizzas :-D 

One of the meaty ones 

 

It's been very hot & sticky for the last week or so and today we've have a couple of hours of heavy rain which has been very pleasant.

Simon is out on the boat today this morning doing dives 3 & 4 with a group of Swedish lads.  This is his first Open Water in quite some time.   Now that he's not doing social media for Crystal anymore, he's having to teach to earn the pennies.

01 January 2018

Happy Birthday To You!

Happy Birthday To You!

Happy Birthday Dear Rob!

Happy Birthday To You!

Have a super day :-D

Love and hugs

Jenny Wren & Simone

X x X

31st December 2017

Christmas Day was the last real dry day we've had.  Since then we've had heaps of rain and the diving has been pretty bad with really low visibility of 1-3 meters.  The sea temperature has dropped to 26 degrees which is very chilly.  It's brilliant for the corals, it's like sending them on a nice relaxing winter holiday :-D   Simon and I have only been out for a single dive this week, it's been that grim. 

So it's New Years Eve  ...my goodness where has this year gone?  We've not got any plans for this evening apart from going down to the Crystal bar  ..as Simon has to be there.  We're hoping everyone leaves around 10pm and then Simon is free to what ever he fancies.   I don't mind if we go out, stay in  ..as long as we're together it doesn't matter.  Last year I think we made it back home just in time to open the bubbly and toast the New Year in.

So, before we head out, Happy New Year everyone!!!

25th December 2017

We hope you all had a festive time.

Thinking and missing everyone very much!

Christmas Eve at Crystal Crew for Secret Sanata

Simon, Tim and I wishing everyone a MERRY CHRISTMAS!

All our prezzies -D

A quick 4 hr game of Risk before lunch :-D

17th December 2017

We are on a visa run in Penang, Malaysia at the moment.  Staying in the lovely George Town in a Heritage house, 2 doors down from where we stayed last time.  It so similar that Simon thought it was the same place until we opened the door.

Our journey began with an 6am ferry from Koh Tao to Surat Thani airport, a flight to Kuala Lumpur another flight to Penang and then a taxi ride to our accommodation.

So a long but smooth journey.  Not having anything to eat apart from some crisps we were both very eager to dump our bags and head out to find something to eat.  Not yet having hired bicycles, we walked into town, stopped at the nearest bar for a drink to make a plan and to use their internet.  On ordering, we were told that Ladies drinks were FREE before 9pm

After a few games of Connect 4, Simon doing a little research on places to eat and sending random photo's to family, we left the bar a little tipsy and headed to an Indian restaurant called  'The Kashmir' which was on our route back to our accommodation. The food wasn't great, the entertainment terrible (Indian band) but we found it hilarious.  Simon took a short video :-D

Tomorrow we're hiring some bikes, handing in our visa/work permits, going to breakfast at Mugshot Cafe and then doing a little shop to get some basic provisions.

30th November 2017

The weathers not been that great.  It's been mostly raining heavily during the early hours and it's been pretty choppy at sea.  The visibility has been pretty grim, 10 meters max but most days diving, it's been around 7 meters tops.  We still be out and about.  My Eco Intern came down with some illness, had a temperature of 40 and resting heart rate of 140  ..so the clinic suggested he went to Koh Samui Thai International hospital for more tests etc,   ..the funny thing is, he stayed there for just under a week and he still hasn't got a proper diagnosis of what he had./got   Thankfully he's just about recovered now.  He's been missing on the odd occasion, mostly in the mornings but I've learnt that this is more due to one too many beers the night before   ..so I have come to have no sympathy for him at all.  Youngsters today!!!   Arghh!!!!!!

Si's OK  ..he's busy, same same  ..his back and his ears have been bothering him but he soldiers on and doesn't complain at all.  He's my hero!!!

I've just finished a 4 person Reef Check Course  ..it's a 4 day course which teaches people how to survey / monitoring fish, invertebrates and substrates using a standardized method which they'll be able to join teams worldwide to submit important scientific data to help scientists access the health of the reefs.   So, even though I'm supposed to have finished,  I've got 2 of the students coming in to repeat exams,  one chap who's older, doesn't really like to be told anything and is a little disruptive.  What usually takes 4 days with time to spare, has taken a day and a half more and that's if they pass.  All very nice but it sometimes makes me doubt my teaching :-D

Reef Check Course

Coral Transplant dives after the Reef Check