I order eggs with bacon and toast. I have been ordering the cereal most days. This will be my last breakfast at this hostel. Today I check out and move further down the beach. I don't want to change, but was only able to get a room here for one week. I only got that because someone cancelled and I had been trying to get booked here. The owner mailed me and offered me one week. I took it. Now, my time is up.

This has been a fun place . I met the expat group and enjoy sitting around at breakfast (it's anytme of the day you want to eat) and chatting with people from all around the world.

My backpack is sitting by my table as I eat. I say goodbye to the people I have grown to know over the past week. I chat with the staff and give them a little extra in tips today. I hope to return sometime.

Tips are not always given here. They are given only on certain occasions. When you do tip, the standard is 10%25, not 20%25 like in the U.S.

I catch a songthaew to my new hostel. I made reservations here last week so I would have a room ready when I checked out from the other hostel.

The guy at the counter looks at my reservation. "You are a day early", he says. It is February 5th. My reservations are for February 6th. I can't believe it. I had one more night at the previous hostel paid for . I should have checked out tomorrow, not today. Most of the time on this trip I have to think hard about what day of the week it is. I sure don't usually know what the date is. Wow, do I feel s_t_u_p_i_d.

He says he can let me check in a day early, though. I don't want to go back and face the people at the other hostel with what I have done. I pay the additional $7.83 for a room for the night here.

I have already paid for tonight at the other hostel. You always pay in advance. But, I am not going back there and tell them what I have done. The Thais call it "saving face". You always avoid confrontations or embarrassing situations when possible. You 'save face'.

I read a quote once:
"Sometimes my mind wanders, sometimes it leaves completely."

Maybe, just maybe, though... it says something to live a life where time is not so important . But, I really don't want to lose touch with reality just yet, either. I know I shouldn't tell this. Some people in the U.S. already question my mental stability.

The hostel is on the beach. The section here is less crowded. I walk up the beach to see the rest of it. It gets denser with people as I go. Across the street there are restaurants and stores and street vendors selling their goods and food.

As I walk, I see a truck trying to parallel park. He knocks over a motorbike that is parked. This makes 3 accidents I have seen while in Thailand so far. I am surprised I have not seen many more. Two were in Bangkok. One day, while out walking in Bangkok, I saw a van pull out of a parking lot. He wedged himself in between two vehicles that were stopped at a traffic light. He was going the opposite way and had to cross one lane to get to the direction he wanted to go. As he pulled in front of the late model car, he got the front bumper of the car . It pulled right off. Half of it was dangling to the ground. He looked at the person in the car and motioned for him to back up a little so they could get unhooked. When he did, the van just drove off and the car did too, in opposite directions. Neither seemed concerned about the damage that was done.

The other accident was when a friend and I were walking in Bangkok and a motobike came up between the car next to the curb and the curb. Motorbikes do this. They ride between the car and the curb. They just have a few inches to ride, but that's what they do. This motorbike hit a car mirror and the bike spun around. They driver was laying on the pavement not moving. Blood from his head was all around. A few Thais with phones rushed over to help, so we left, since a crowd was already gathering.

So, this is the third accident I have seen here.

Further down the beach, I see a woman sitting outside the restrooms . She wants 5 baht to use her restroom. That's about 15 cents. Some other days later, I notice she is not here early in the morning. I guess you can use her restroom free then. I am not even sure she works for whoever owns the restrooms. I took a picture of her, though. Take a look at her picture and tell me if you would argue with her about paying 15 cents to use her restroom.

Night has settled in by the time I start walking back. I have walked more than 3 miles of the beach.
The smells from the food carts remind me it is time to eat. I see all types of seafood, including fish cooked whole with eyes still in tact. I eventually find some Pad Thai and the guy puts it in a plastic bag and includes a styrofoam bowl to take with me. I will take it to the hostel to eat.

I cross over to the beach side and walk along the sidewalk through the trees. The palm trees are swaying a little in the breeze and the ocean is pulling back, it is low tide .

The umbrellas have been let down and there are people raking the sand on the beach. The sand is nice on the beaches here.

The night air is so peaceful. Then, I see a beach volleyball game going on. I sit on the curb with my feet on the sand and watch the game. I notice some thais a little ways down the sidewalk with a big spread of food they are eating.

What am I thinking? I don't have to wait to get to the hostel to eat. I will just spread my food out here, on the sidewalk, Thai style, and eat while watching the game.

I have noticed that with all the lose dogs here that just hang around everywhere, they do not stand around the food carts and beg for food. Even if they are there, they just lay to the side. But, tonight, there is a little dog (not more than 5-8 lbs) watching me. He walks up and I share some of my food with him . He doesn't speak english, though. I know because when I say to him, "No more, all gone", he doesn't understand. He just keeps waiting for more.

While out walking today, I saw a bus with clothes drying on the front bumper. I took a photo. It's so funny what you can see here, right in the middle of town. I also took a picture of a cart a guy pushes around selling wicker and bamboo furniture.

I know many of you are worried about me missing the Super Bowl. Well, it was televised here in real time. Real time here was 6:30 a.m.(Monday) for kickoff. to start, I was told some sports bars would have cheap breakfasts and show the game. I didn't know where one was though, so I wached a play by play of it on the computer. Not as good as seeing the game, but it worked and I enjoyed watching it, the power outage they had and all. Too bad for the 49ers, though.

I see "Happy New Years" signs all over . And, it says 2013. There are about 60 million chinese in Thailand, so they celebrate the Chinese New Year here. The Chinese New Year is celebrated worldwide to mark the first day of the New Year in the China calendar, which is different from the Gregorian (western) calendar. It is also known as the Spring Festival or the Lunar New Year and celebrations can last for about 15 days. So, guess I am witnessing New Years here now.

They also celebrate the Western New Year on January 1. They will celebrate the Buddhist New Year in April, it will be 2556. But, I see both 2013 and 2556 all around town. I guess it keeps everybody happy and give the Thai people three New Years Days to celebrate. Nothing wrong with that!

Today is Feb 9. It is 10 a.m. Fireworks have been going off since early morning. The New Years' celebrations are starting I guess. The first fireworks I heard was when I was still in bed. I thought maybe there was a terrorist attack happening. The fireworks are on a long snake like string and are extremely loud. They are much louder than fireworks in the U.S. They pop for a while then, at the end, there is a bomb like sound. This happens every little bit. They are much louder and pop longer than in the U.S. I wonder what it will be like when night gets here? Maybe I will see some while at the beach tonight.