New Years Eve! Ready to roll.....
One of my closest friends emailed me from Paris in early December and asked if I wanted a partner in crime for the holidays - to meet me in India or Thailand for Christmas and New Years! What a special treat! So, Barbara "Salsa" Carasso came from Paris and met me for a holiday/vacation. It felt great and so comfortable to be with such a good friend - someone who I've known for 11 years. We talked, drank banana-coffee shakes, shared cocktails, watched sunsets and layed under the stars. Oh, and we had one of the most memorable New Years of my life.
We first met up on Ko Samui island. But, after two days, we took the ferry over to Ko Tao to meet Matt, Hannah and Jessica from the Full Moon Party.
smooch!
Ko Tao was amazing. The five of us must have drank over 100 shakes combined. Banana shakes, Mango shakes, Chocolate-Coconut shakes, M&M shakes, Banana-coffee-chocoate shakes and dozens more. Oh, and a few cocktails too..... We layed in hammocks and ate long relaxed dinners on wooden-deck restaurants hovering over the beach. The days were filled with snorkeling, reading, talking, eating, and drinking more shakes. We didn't need to adventure much. It was nice to relax and just chill.
Barbara and I left to be on Ko Phangan Island for New Years. We were lucky to find some beautiful bungalows and settle into a new place. We had no definite plans for New Years Eve and so we decided to just "see what happens.
from our dinner table.
" I love traveling like that. So, we started the evening with some cocktails at our resort bar where we met a Dutch guy and a German couple. Barbara had a tube of glitter and decided that everyone needed a little glitter on their face. Ok. And then they invited us to join them for the evening. Why not? So, we jumped in Bondi's jeep and went for a nice dinner on another beach up a dirt road. Barbara had brought her little tube of "glitter" and started glittering everyone she saw. Soon, people started coming up to her and asking to be glittered. Pretty soon, we were the most popular people on the beach - "the glitter people". We drank champagne and island cocktails all evening. We met people from dozens of countries all around the world.
Tanote Bay - Ko Tao, Thailand
I think Barbara glittered over 200 people that night. At one point, I looked around at the beach-nightclub and every single person had glitter on their face. Every single person! Watching them get glittered was hilarious. Some people were shy. Some hesitant. Some bold and wanted more. Some brought their friends over to get glittered. We made friends with everyone, and it was quite amazing.
And.... we were so lucky with the music!! Aaron from Defected Records (one of my favorite house music labels) was on tour - on his way to Hong Kong and happened to be at our beach for New Years. So, he DJ'd all night - into the wee hours of the morning. We had what I call "a magic music night.
Our Beach on Ko Tao
" There was amazing music bumping in every corner of the bar, on the beach and at every moment of the night! People were setting off fireworks in the sand. And, just after midnight, we bought a prayer-light. This is like a mini hot air balloon (the size of a TV) that you send up into the sky. Each of us wrote our own wish on the material and sent it off - watching it float away up into the sky. It was a beautiful way to start the year. Happy New Year 2008. I hope it is a happy, peaceful and healthy year for you!
