You may have noticed that we’ve been a bit MIA lately. Our social media business has really gone up a notch and so my focus has been there, however, I do try and keep a note of what we’ve been up to each month as I love to read back on where we were and what we were doing.
So here we go, this is a brief look into our month and what we’ve been up to for November. This is our time to reflect on the month and what lessons we’ve learned, how we’ve spent our time and how we’ve been feeling. One of the things we love most about long-term travel is the community and how everyone supports each other. We’d love for you to share what you’ve been up to in November and answers to any of our ‘what’s’ below.
Let’s get going…
What we’ve been doing
We took a short 4-day trip to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. When we first arrived we had a complete shock, neither of us had spent any real time in a city for so long that it just felt really alien. We took the train from the airport to Central and then took a taxi to our apartment, and as we very quickly learned, using Grab is a much, much, cheaper and easier way to get around the city. A short 10 – 15 minute drive costs around £3.00.
After we’d checked in we took a walk to explore our area, we were slightly out of the city so there wasn’t a great deal to see or do, but we had some incredible Indian restaurants right on our doorstep, and actually a pretty huge shopping mall, Sunway Putra. Over the four days we explored most of the city, we didn’t pay to visit the attractions, but we did go and take a few snaps. The highlights were KLCC Park, Petronas Towers and Bukit Bintang which is a popular spot in the centre of the city, full of bars and restaurants. I will likely do a more thorough blog on Kuala Lumpur and our time there as we have some great bar and restaurant recommendations as well as some top tips for your visit. Stay tuned for that one.
What we’ve been eating
When I say we’ve been busy, I mean, these are the only food photos I’ve taken outside of work for the whole of November. I also think that with social media being my full-time job, when I’m not working I do try and keep my phone use to a minimum, which often means it stays in my bag so I can be present. Things I didn’t capture were; the most amazing Indian meal in Kuala Lumpur, a Sunday lunch at The Shakespeare pub, a seafood feast at La Brisa in Fisherman’s Village, lots of homecooked meals including Sunday Roasts and Croatian pasta dishes.
- Sushi King, Kuala Lumpur – we went here for brunch one morning and it was absolutely incredible, you could take from the belt or order al a carte and we honestly ate our body weight in sushi and it cost around £9.00… for both of us! Malaysian prices are something else.
- Pinchoa Tapas Bar, Kuala Lumpur – seriously the best Spanish tapas either of us has ever tried, everything from the sangria to the tortilla, the patatas bravas to the goat’s cheese and walnut crostini were just incredible. Everything was a standout, super flavourful and I can honestly say that if you visit KL, this is the one and only restaurant you need.
- Homemade spicy pumpkin soup – for a brief while we had a blender and I took full advantage. Pumpkin is incredibly cheap in Thailand, a huge pumpkin costs around £1.00 and would easily make 3 batches of soup. My recipe is soup-er easy; sautee 2 white onions, and 2 large garlic cloves until translucent, add in a big ol hunk of pumpkin with lots of salt and pepper, get a bit of colour on that and then add around 1 – 1.5 litres of veggie stock & your desired amount of chilli (I use two dried Thai chillies and it’s pretty fiery), let it simmer away for about 20 minutes, then just blend, voila.
- Picos, Koh Samui – we love Pico’s, it’s a small family-run hotel, with around 20 beach bungalows and a restaurant, the prices are fair and the Thai food is always 10/10. We kept it simple with pork fried rice, papaya salad and tofu pad thai on this occasion.
- Kohinoor, Koh Samui – easily one of the best curry houses in Samui, we eat here probably once a month as standard and even though the menu has so many incredible dishes we always end up ordering the same things; lamb biriyani for Carl, a chana masala for me and to share, tarka daal and plenty of butter roti. Add it to your list for Samui, it’s so good.
What we’ve been watching
Pain Hustlers
I had high hopes for this one as we so loved Dopesick with Michael Keaton. This series focused more on the pharma reps, which was still an interesting story but if you’ve seen Dopesick then this felt a bit… blah by comparison. Still, we love a ‘based on true events’ show/movie so this was still a good watch. Rating for us was a 6/10.
The Crown – Final Season
I’d read mixed reviews about this, it’s a heavy focus on Diana and her death… spoiler alert… it does feel a bit dragged out to be honest, it’s four hours of Diana and Dodi’s relationship, which to me felt excessive, especially as some of the earlier episodes that focussed on huge historic events only dedicated 45 minutes to each, but I get it, people want to know about her life and it was sad, watching this after watching ‘Beckham’ last month, just really makes me dislike paparazzi and the press, just awful. Anyway, we will see this series out to the end, just waiting for the final episodes to be released later in December.
The Age of Adeline
I have been wanting to watch this film for years, I keep seeing clips of it on TikTok and it just looked like such a beautiful and romantic story, so as soon as it was released on Netflix I immediately had to watch it. I thought it was beautifully filmed, it’s romantic, there are sad elements and sweet elements, it’s just a lovely movie, it’s a perfect Sunday afternoon film. I’m going 8/10 on this one.
What we’ve been reading
The Lovely Bones – Alice Sebold
Everyone I spoke to said that they found this book quite heavy, I just thought it was beautiful. It’s a sad story, of course, no child, or person for that matter, should lose their life that way and the saddest part is the not knowing and how it affects their families and those who knew them. I just loved the perspective of the little girl, how she saw things change, how her sister grows up in a way she never will. It’s a brilliantly written book… never seen the movie… but would highly recommend giving this one a read.
All the Lonely People – Mike Gayle
This is the second Mike Gayle I’ve read and I have to say I love his writing style. Both of the stories I have read have an element of change and losing loved ones, but they are so perfectly written. This one had me sobbing towards the end, it certainly has some unexpected twists in the tale, but it gives you such a beautiful understanding of life, families, death, friendship and how we can all make such an impact on others, through the most simple of gestures and just by taking the time to support those around us that need it. Looking forward to my next Mike Gayle read.
What we’ve been struggling with
Missing home
I’m definitely struggling with this at the moment. Since the clocks changed in the UK, we are now 7 hours ahead, so finding time to call home is always tricky, evenings in the UK is the middle of the night and afternoons here are too early to phone. I think it’s the fact that it’s coming up to Christmas too, it’s my favourite time of year, I love the tradition, decorating the tree, wrapping gifts, shopping for gifts, the lights, the cold weather, the fire in the pub, I miss it all. I’ve only ever spent one Christmas away from home and that was in 2021 when we were in Tenerife, I hated it, it didn’t feel Christmassy at all, I missed my Mum, I missed our afternoon trip to the pub to see friends, and no one seemed to be celebrating. This year I will desperately miss being home and being with my Mum and my dog, but I understand that long-term travel means you have to sacrifice things, and this is one of them.
What we’re feeling grateful for
Our life in Thailand
Despite all the ups and downs, with business and money and missing home, we are still incredibly grateful for this opportunity to spend time living in Thailand. It’s not easy, but we consider ourselves very lucky, we’re lucky to have this time, we’re lucky to be able to spend this much time together and we feel so lucky to be able to be here, enjoying the beautiful weather, the people, the lifestyle, it’s all so different to home and we still have to pinch ourselves sometimes that we made this happen and we continue to make it happen.
What we’re looking forward to for December 2023
December for me is all about Christmas. Koh Samui will have moved into high season, so we’re expecting lots more people to visit the island and for businesses to start getting very busy. We’re actually moving apartment mid-month so I can’t get too creative with our decorations until then, but I’m really looking forward to crafting some decorations, maybe finding a branch or two to hang them from and enjoying lots of Christmassy movies and music. I have a selection of Christmas movies that I watch every, single, year without fail; The Santa Clause, Four Christmases, National Lampoons, The Grinch & Last Christmas (a new addition to the list), it doesn’t feel like Christmas until I’ve watched those. What are some of your favourites?
November has been a busy month of work and trying to figure out our future plans, but I’m looking forward to dialling it back a bit for December and getting back to enjoying this little island and all its magic.
So, how was your November and what are you most looking forward to for December?
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Until next time…
travel eat sleep repeat 