Another Sunny Day in Paradise......

Ahhhhhh--still sunny on Koh Samui!

 The sunrise over the ocean this morning was very pretty:

We spent another day relaxing around the pool, walking on the beach and swimming in the ocean.

We love the beach here, the sand is very fine and soft,  and feels great on the tootsies!    The water is very warm, but still feels refreshing when we're hot.  The ocean floor is soft and sandy, with no rocks.  It is also quite shallow--we can walk out a long ways and only be in water up to our waists.  The sea has been very calm the past 3 days, and we've really enjoyed our "dips",  just bobbing along with the gentle waves.

Lunch today was just across the street at our favorite little restaurant.  We each had one of those yummy squid salads, and it was just as good as yesterdays.  I tried one of their mango-coconut "shakes", as they call them.  It's just fruit and ice blended, so it was very light and refreshing.

Back to the pool, and more relaxing!  We leave early Friday morning, so we are really enjoying every minute of our beach time.

We had been talking over dinner plans for this evening, and we decided we'd have our one "nice" dinner out tonight.  When we travel we allow ourselves one nice dinner in each location, and the rest of our meals are usually in small local restaurants or, here in Thailand, street vendors or markets.

We've been admiring the big displays of fresh seafood at the larger restaurants; they put it on ice, right out by the sidewalk to entice the tourists.  I've been especially tempted by the huge king prawns:

Our plan for the evening was to walk in to Central Chaweng beach again, looking at the seafood restaurants along the way.  We thought we'd find a place for a pre-dinner drink, then just mosey along, shopping for a few souvenirs.

Along the way, I got a little distracted by fish of another kind........Fish Spas!  I'd been thinking about doing this, but I was waiting for my last blister to completely heal.  My poor feet are finally blister-free, so today's the day!

I'd been checking out the many spas in our neighborhood,  looking for one that looked very clean, with clear water and many active fish.  I found one that was up to my standards, paid the nice lady 200 baht (about $7 U.S.), and set on the bench next to that tank of wiggly fish.  I took of my flip flops, and put my feet into the water.

OH MY!!!  My legs and feet were instantly attacked by hundreds of tiny, hungry fish, looking for an easy meal!  Sheesh, they must have been starving, because they really "went to town" on my legs and feet.  It was a bit unnerving at first, then I got used to (well----kind of used to) the tickling sensation.  Here they are, just munching away:

And me, grimacing, giggling and screeching just a little:

After about 15 minutes of being tickled and munched on, I dried my very smooth feet and we continued on with our walk.  Would I do it again?  Nah--once was enough, and my curiosity has been satisfied.

We strolled along (me on my perfectly smooth feet!!), checking out several seafood restaurants, trying to decide which one looked the best. We settle on one of the nicer ones, and sat at a table with a street view.  We ordered king prawns, tuna and barracuda steaks, squid (of course!) deep fried curried crab.  It was just O.K., the prawns were grilled to death--a bit rubbery, which was a shame, because they tasted great.  The squid was the best, very tender and fresh. The tuna a barracuda steaks were fine, but nothing special.  The crab curry was delicious, but more trouble than it was worth to get the meat out of the shell!  Our meal also included salad, potatoes and corn on the cob, a teeny tiny portion each.

  

This is their seafood display, note the size of the prawns!

 Our prawns and fish:

For the money we paid, about $50 U.S., I certainly wouldn't choose it again.  We've had much better food from a street vendor for less than $3.00!  I think we fell into a tourist trap, which we usually manage to avoid.  Oh well--a lesson learned, and at least we didn't over eat!

After our slightly disappointing meal, we slowly walked back to our little bungalow by the beach, enjoying the soft, warm tropical air.   Tomorrow is our last day on Koh Samui, then we are off to Bangkok for 4 more days.

Tomorrow on Koh Samui:  Just relaxin' by the pool, of course!