The Fish Market

Easier than the fishing part, Mark and Donna invited us to share Janelle and Scott's last night in Thailand with them at Chewang pier.  Richard and Megumi (our dive instructors) led us to their favorite "bring you own fish" restaurant, and with bags of clams, squid, and giant tiger praws in hand, we sat down together for a feast.  The kids enjoyed the experience of picking out their own meal while it was still swimming - and with the barbeque hot and steamer ready, we ate until we were more stuffed than a fish on a wall.
For dessert, we headed to the Sunshine Bar (when in Thailand....) complete with pole and a secret drawer, with a  "magic teapot" for shots - mmm, what is in that stuff?  Even Travis got a nip of the "Sunshine Shot", some vodka with crushed Fishermen's Friends cough drops mixed in.... can't see why that hasn't caught on!!!
As for the pole, well, let us say it was still early enough in the evening that the kids got first go, and Katie loved ringing the bell - we are so in trouble with this girl in time to come....  The first group headed back to the hotel, and the second lasted slightly longer - hi to new Canadian friends met at the bar, a teacher from Ontario teaching math/science in Indonesia and his mom from Canmore!  (I won't mention names, but Rick had fun helping "Mom" up the pole by the end of the night, too!  Mom, you ROCK!)
No tuk-tuks to be found on the street a little later, we managed to rescue a Thai taxi driver from a rather heated fare dispute with some un-friendly tourists, who refused to pay the agreed amount after they arrived at their destination.  Not sure why, but there seems to be a lack of understanding about the barter process by the tourists who come here from Russia.  In this case, Rick was able to help extract the Thai man from a head-lock position, with the tourist complaining "This is a bad man" - Rick stood up for the driver which evened the odds out somewhat, and the three men did fork over some cash, though less than was agreed.  Once they left (with an unnecessary salute) we did secure a ride with the thankful Thai, and were left wondering how long Thailand will remain the friendly place it is when they are having to deal often with tourists such as these.  Sure wish Team Canada would have won the gold today.... ooooh those Russians.