Hey guys, long time no see! Been pretty busy with poker, coaching, and sitting on the couch lately. The usual.

I was in San Diego the past two weekends for my friend Derric's (SixPeppers) bachelor party and then wedding. Both were tons of fun, got to see a bunch of poker guys I hadn't seen in awhile and great times were had on the whole. The day after the wedding, I hopped on a plane to the island of Koh Samui in Thailand where my former student Nick is renting a house.

My layover in Hong Kong was interesting. I had a lengthy discussion with a local college student about China and his + his friends' perspectives on various events in modern Chinese history. I truly enjoy talking to locals in the places I visit, and especially so when they're from my generation. Also of note was the Popeyes franchise location in the HKG airport:



Got to our house in Koh Samui yesterday and I'm still trying to get adjusted to everything. Our location is great: inside a gated community, very close to a private beach. My room:



Shared balcony with Nick:


Living area:




It's not a villa without a pool:


The fastest, cheapest, and by far most practical mode of transportation here is by motorbike, so Nick and I each have our own to get around town. They drive on the left side of the road here (damn British) which always requires a quick mental adjustment when I get on my bike. It's a lot of fun to buzz around the island on these things.



This seems like a great way to experience Southeast Asia for the first time, even though none of us speak Thai. Many of the locals speak broken Engrish which is fun for me to interpret, but everyone here is super friendly.

Nick's Russian friend Dennis flew in today and is staying with us for about ten days. I think it's funny how both Nick and Dennis are both totally fine sleeping in their rooms with no air conditioning (it's ~85 degrees and extremely humid here pretty much all day & night), while I crank the A/C in my room. It's nearly impossible for me to sleep when it's hot, so room is the only cool place in the entire house. The guys always shiver when entering my door, which is hilarious because they both live in Moscow.

We're going to one of the famous Full Moon parties tonight on a neighboring island; I've heard some really cool stuff goes down at those so we'll see what the deal is tonight. Only regret so far is missing my beloved Spurs' run in the playoffs. Go Spurs!

More from Thailand later in the week...