Traditional Thai Massage is more than just a good rub. It involves poking, prodding, twisting, and stretching, too. Steve and I finally experienced the full body version today, delivered by a couple prison inmates at The Chiang Mai Women’s Prison.

This prison has a rather innovative (I presume) program of training its inmates for jobs “on the outside.” In additional to massage training, the prison also sells crafts made by the inmates, and I think I saw a restaurant staffed by prisoners, too. It’s either a brilliant social program, or a forced labor camp…I am going with the former in order to feel good about participating.  

When we got to the prison, we were waved in by a tiny uniformed lady. We entered a highly air conditioned room (it felt great since it was hot and muggy outside) and were greeted by three smiling inmates in blue pajamas -- the masseuses/prisoners. The room was lined with mattresses placed on the floor, just like other massage rooms I have seen in Thailand. It was a lot more open than you would expect. No clanging of jail cell doors or anything like that.  

Steve and I were given our own pairs of pajamas to wear, then we lay down to receive our torture, I mean massages. While Steve LOVED it, I found the whole thing to be quite painful. My lady had very strong hands, and when she wasn’t trying to remove my muscles forcibly with them, she was standing or kneeling on some part of my body. Some people love it, some people, not so much. There was a moment when, as I lay on my stomach, she used my arms to pull my head and upper body up forcibly, kind of like a backbend. I think that’s what did me (or at least my lower back) in … I am now hobbling around like an old lady!

We left, and paid our 360 baht (about $12) bill on our way out. We also left something nice in the tip box. I hope the ladies actually get it (I think they will), and I hope they do well in their futures.

Other highlights of the day included: breakfast at the hotel’s huge and wonderful buffet; strolling through old city and stopping at several shiny gold temples; Steve’s $3 haircut (a #1 on the razor!); getting a lesson on the five precepts of Buddhism from an orange-robed monk at “Monk Chat” at a temple (Wat Chedi Luang). We also helped six little girls nervously practice their English at this same temple. They asked us a series of simple questions (What is your name? Where are you from?) from a card and tape recorded our answers. They took turns with the card, and a couple of them were so nervous and shy, but they all did well. There was a lot of giggling, and they were so cute… we had a fun time.

Finally at 4pm we strolled over to Wualai Road, where a “walking street market” is set up on Saturdays. It was a little early, so we killed time by… getting foot massages! After then, after the foot massages were over, Steve’s lady talked him quite easily into a shoulder massage. So I had one to, and it was a tamer version than I had just experienced at the prison, and felt pretty nice.

We then spent about three hours at the market, which was lined with vendors selling many handmade goods. Many of the things had a real creative and artsy flair. One could find purses, figurines, notebooks from handmade paper, etc, etc etc.  They had some T-shirts, too, of course … I got a Hello Kitty tank top for about $1.  I bought a number of souvenirs that I will now have to ship back. Everything was priced cheaply, and most things had price tags on them. The numbers were so low I didn’t do any bargaining at all! We also had dinner at the market. I had a papaya salad for about 30 cents, and then a little banana leaf boat thing filled with a mushroom omelet, also about 30 cents. Steve had a couple meat dishes, and nothing was over $1. Amazing!

Tomorrow…a date with some elephants! We are so excited. Stay tuned!

We departed our lovely, wonderful, gorgeous apartment today at 5am, to catch a plane to Bangkok and then on to Chiang Mai. I think our home is only thing we will miss about Phuket! I felt absolutely giddy to be leaving. We have learned a good lesson here though: we are better suited for city life than a beachy island setting, at least on this trip.  

We were early to the airport, so we hung out in Thai Air’s Royal Silk Club room for an hour. Then we had a short flight to Bangkok in Business Class, then a 3+ hour wait there, again spent in Thai Air’s lounge.  I checked my email and…! I’ve been gone from Phuket for just a few hours and already my luck has changed! In my mailbox was an email from American Express, telling me they WOULD honor my $4000 claim for the traveler’s checks after all!  These checks were stolen a few days ago in Phuket, and Amex previously denied the claim because I hadn’t signed the upper left corner of the checks when I received them. So this is excellent news! Hooray! 1) Phuket is long behind me and 2) already I am $4000 richer. Things are looking up!

Our flight to Chiang Mai was another quick one, in a huge plane. Business Class went all the way back to Row 25, and was completely full. They served a chicken dish that Steve reported was “the best chicken he has ever had in his life.” He couldn’t stop raving about it! They didn’t have any vegetarian food, but I had some rice which was pretty tasty and kind of sweet.
 
At Chiang Mai, we were met by a very nice lady and a driver from our hotel, the Royal Princess. It was pouring rain as we drove in heavy traffic to the hotel, and it was hard to get a sense of the place on that drive. It wasn’t very nice, but you really can’t judge a city by the road to its airport.

The hotel is kind of old, but nice, and the service was very good when we checked in. We had noticed at the airport that the workers seemed especially smiley and helpful, and this was the case at the hotel as well. So many smiles, kind friendly faces (and a little joking around too) gave me a really good first impression of Chiang Mai.

Our room is a far cry from how we lived in Phuket. That place was huge so we really spread out. We will have to “condense” again, like when we were in Japan. In fact, the set up here is very similar to our Namba hotel in Osaka. I have a desk, and Steve has a somewhat comfy wing chair where he can watch his TV downloads, so I think we will be happy and comfortable here.

We set off to do a quick exploration of the area and to find a late lunch for me, since I hadn’t really had food on the airplane. Our hotel is located outside of the Old City, right next to Chiang Mai’s “famous” Night Bazaar. Unfortunately, we picked a really ugly major street to walk along, but soon enough we found… a vegetarian restaurant! Well, how nice! In Phuket I hadn’t found one place that advertised vegetarian dishes, so I was surprised to see this place here. It had stopped raining so we sat outside (kind of hot for that) and I devoured Pad See Eiw and Mixed Vegetables. It was delicious and I felt very happy. Steve wasn’t feeling all that well, so he just had 7-up and a few of my vegetables.

We walked back on a smaller street lined with some interesting bars and restaurants. There were a couple Irish Pubs with Guinness on tap, which served to further enhance my opinion of Chaing Mai.

We went back to the room for a nap (we had gotten up at 3:45am and were beat), then we set off again at about 8pm. This time Steve was the one who was starving, so we found a food court in the Night Bazaar across the street. There was some sort of talent show / live entertainment happening on a stage near where we sat and I took a few pictures of a pretty little girl doing a Thai (I assume) dance.

We walked through the bazaar, and there were some very interesting things for sale. I might have to go shopping here and make a shipment back home! Lots of Thai silks (tablecloths, pillow covers, etc), carvings, and of course the ubiquitous t-shirts with funny sayings. The vendors were not aggressive at all, which was nice. Almost everyone was wearing smiles, and there were friendly faces everywhere.

During our first walk we had stopped and spoken to a young man (he was in town to get fitted for a wedding suit. We kept waiting for a sales pitch from him, but it never came. He was just a nice guy making conversation!) He had told us about a special parade and ceremony where boys become monks and get their heads shaved, so we tried to find that. No luck. We waited at the open gate area near the Old City for awhile, but no monks showed up for hair cuts. Maybe he had the wrong date.

So we have seen very little of the city so far, but my first impression is a good one. People seem so friendly, and although there are definitely many tourists here it’s not like Phuket, where it seems everything has been built for the tourists. I am really looking forward to the coming days… there is a lot to see and do here. I hope we have enough time!  Ha. There’s never enough time. 
 

I moped around the apartment this morning, still feeling sorry for myself for having been robbed yesterday. Here’s the deal: it just doesn’t make SENSE. This condo is new, and the building seems so secure! There are guards and surveillance cameras, plus our place has two locked entry doors.

Steve and I discussed our ideas on how it may have happened. The poor cleaning lady is not fairing well in these speculations! But she is a friend of the owner who vouches for her unconditionally. So, lacking plausible explanations, we have had to get creative. One of our working theories is that a trained monkey entered through the balcony door. Wait, stay with me here. Now, this monkey has only been taught to steal purses, which is why our electronics were untouched! (Then… in a bizarre move, the monkey choose to exit out the front door, instead of back down the balcony…? See, all our theories fall apart like that. )

After a bit, the locksmith came to change the lock, and then we went to the police station to file a report. We were escorted by two men from the management company, who would act as our translators. (One guy, Peter, was Thai but had an odd accent. Turns out he had lived in Texas for 30 years!)

The police station was very quiet. All the desks were strangely bare of pens, papers or files, although they did have a couple computers set up. It looked like they had just moved in and had yet to unpack. The officers were sitting around a large table, and I think we were probably interrupting a nice chat. The guys all spoke in Thai a bit, and then we all sat down at a desk. An officer asked me all the questions one would expect, such as name, passport number, details of the theft and a timeline. This was done through my translators, and I was sure glad they were there. (By the way, I did not put forth the monkey theory at this point. It needs…some work.)

Having taken his notes on a plain piece of paper, my officer then got out the Official crime report ledger. He turned to the next blank consecutively numbered page, and I saw that I was Number 021. Hmmm, guess there’s not a lot of crime in Phuket. He filled out each area of the report in very neat handwriting. After all was complete, I signed the report, which was written 100% in Thai and could have said anything, and we were off.

During the time we were in the station, the weather had changed from sunny to a complete downpour. But as we exited it was sunny again. I love this whole monsoon thing.

We were dropped off at our place, and then went out to find lunch. We ended up at a place our diving guy had recommended, simply called “Thai Food” on Kata Beach. We had very delicious Thai salads, and I had a Thai omelet while Steve seared his mouth on a curry. We had asked that everything be prepared “PED PED (very spicy)!” and the staff was intently watching us eat. Our mouths were burning, and our eyes were watering. When we were done the waitress said, “too hot for you, right?” but we assured her we thought it was delicious, which surprised her to no end.

At some point during lunch it was decided we would go back up to Mai Khao beach, way up at the north end of the island. We think there’s a turtle conservation area up there and wanted to find it. Maybe they will let me release some baby turtles into the ocean!

Well, three hours later, we still hadn’t found it, though we did find an incredibly desolate and windblown section of beach. There were no turtles, though, which is just as well. They would have just blown away, and that would be a pretty sad thing to see. We walked along the beach a bit until the sandblasting on our skin became more than we could bear. The pounding surf was incredible. In some places, there were shells of buildings that we think were wiped out in the 2004 tsunami. Not much rebuilding had been done, and it was easy to see why… It felt like the untamed ocean could swallow us up in a moment.

Back at Kata Beach in the evening, we walked to the main drag for dinner. I bought a Lacoste t-shirt along the way for $5. We went to an all-white, bright, restaurant called Mali, where Steve ordered a lobster the size of a Smart Car, and I had an awful pizza. (OK, OK, I officially give up on pizza now! I am now completely convinced no one in Thailand knows how the hell to make one right!). We also had “free salad bar!” which was fresh and delicious, although instead of lettuce they had green beans. No complaints from me of course. I love green beans.

On the way home, we booked one of those awful tours to “James Bond Island.” I couldn’t help myself. If you recall, we drove ourselves up there a couple days ago, and tried to find a guy to take us out in a boat. The longboat guy wanted more than 2000baht to just drive us around the bay! The trip I booked will cost 1500baht each for the whole day, and includes all transportation AND lunch! Unfortunately we will have to share the experience with about 40 others, but I guess that’s how it is. There just aren’t that many entertainment options on Phuket, sad to say.

Tomorrow: I don’t know. Maybe a road trip off Phuket again, or to the Phuket Aquarium? I guess we’ll figure it out tomorrow…we’re on “island time!”

Bear with me as I poke fun at the overtly aggressive selling efforts of the tailors on Phuket. No matter we went in Phuket, someone tried to sell Steve  a suit and me a gown. There was a tailor on every block! It got to be a bit much, and we went from politely declining, to ignoring them, to trying to avoid them altogether.

I present to you a page from the book…

The Tailor's Handbook to SUCCESS in Phuket.
CHAPTER 8 :  SALES & MARKETING: THE JOB DESCRIPTION OF SUCCESSFUL TAILORS!
Follow these tips to make your tailor shop a blazing success!

It’s all in the name: Festoon your storefront with logos of well-known, expensive brands such as Armani, Versace, and Hugo Boss. You may also consider adapting one of the names for the store itself. This will bring the tourists in droves! The name “Armani” on your store will undoubtedly establish you as a reputable authority in the business of creating clothes. People will always pay more for Armani (or something pretty close)! Tip: the more logos, the better.  

Show off your work, but not too much: It is important that you display some of your work in the display window of your store, even though it will most likely be obscured by the logos and stickers recommended above. This is NOT the time to be creative! You want your work to appeal to the general masses, so choose to display generic styles and colors… preferably “proven” styles and colors that were popular several years ago.

Be slick: You are the representative of your store, and you must sell, sell, sell… and look the part of a salesman, too! 1) No matter how warm it is, always wear nicely tailored (but generic) long pants and a crisp, long-sleeved shirt. This is the type of clothing the overheated beach-going tourists passing your store are most likely to buy. It also serves to offer them pleasant memories of the business meetings back at home, which they always miss terribly when they are on vacation. 2) You must always be clean-shaven, and wear lots of cologne. You might consider applying gel to your hair, for a slick look. Potential buyers appreciate and trust a slick-looking salesman!

Lie in wait, then pounce! For morning to night, lurk just under the eve of your shop. When an unsuspecting tourist happens by, lunge out quickly, saying, “Hello! My Friend!” Extend your hand to further establish your professionalism and trustworthiness. If you are met with resistance, or if your target is so rude as to ignore you, it’s a good idea to position your body (and your smiling face!) directly in his path. Remember: PERSISTENCE PAYS OFF! If this technique does not result in success the first time, remember they have to pass you going back the other way, so: try, try again. And again, if necessary.  

A final word of advice: if the recommendations above do not result in a sale, try your best to look hurt and offended.  If you can make your target feel bad or guilty, you are one step closer to a sale! Remember, sell, sell, sell… and never give up!

+++

Today Steve was working, so I went on my own in the sweltering heat. I returned the rental car, and walked slowly back to the apartment. So hot! On my way, I saw the tailor who has been haunting us the past two weeks. No matter how many times we passed and said “no thank you,” he would still optimistically try to sell us clothes. The man is indefatigable.

I had time to kill so I stopped to chat. His name was Chris.  “Where are you from?” he asked. “Chicago?! Great! I love your drink! Red Bull! So good!”  The man had confused his sports teams with his energy drinks! I tried to set him straight, telling him that the Bulls basketball team is from Chicago, but Red Bull is from the Netherlands (I looked it up later. Oops, it’s Austria.) I asked where he was from. “Burma! I am Burmese. Nice people!” I asked about his family, and he said he was from the north and everyone was unaffected by the cyclone. We talked a bit about how nice Burma is, then the topic moved back to the cyclone and the foreign aid situation. He ranted a bit about the corrupt government. “They just steal. Everything!” He told me his friend back home had just purchased a very fine, “very expensive” (about $10) bed covering at a market in Burma. When the friend got home, he found a tag hidden in the blanket that said, “Donated by the people of Japan.” Chris insisted that the government sold the bedspread intended for the cyclone victims.

We spoke for about 30 minutes. Chris speaks several languages, but English is his “worst,” so it was a slow conversation. During our talk, he didn't try to sell me any clothes at all. He was actually a really nice guy.

Sometimes, when you’re pestered and annoyed by a slick-looking salesman (or a pushy lady with jewelry and rain ponchos), it’s so hard to remember that behind every tailor shop and souvenir stand is just a regular person, trying to make a living.

+++

Later that afternoon, after Steve and I had lunch (again) at Thai Food Restaurant, I decided to go to the beach. Two weeks here, and I hadn’t yet been sun worshipping OR swimming! (Steve stayed behind. He hates sand :^)

I laid out my towel on Kata Beach at 2:20 with the goal to spend 30 minutes basking in the sun. Tick tock tick tock. BORING! I can’t do this. About 5 minutes later I headed to the water … and the crazy crashing surf that I’ve been admiring and fearing these last two weeks. 

I don’t have a lot of experience swimming in the ocean other than when I have been scuba diving (a completely different thing), and there was a Rip Tide Warning sign posted(!), so I made sure I was around other people and within sight of the lifeguard when I went into the water.  I went out a little bit,  then a little bit further, and…wham! Slammed by one wave, and then another. It took me a while to figure out the best way to meet the waves (jump up over it as best you can, twisting to let it hit your back), but I had an absolute blast getting completely pummeled by the waves! The whole time my swimsuit kept trying to swim off with out me! (Everyone else seemed to be having the same problem.) I did this for about an hour. It was fantastic fun and a good work out … too bad I waited until the last day to give swimming a shot!

After visiting Chiang Mai, I decided to head to the closest beach and that took me to Pattaya, not sure how to describe this place but I had fun. Definately a party place, 1000's of clubs and 1000's of girls. Met lots of nice people both locals and tourist.

I recently went to Chaing Mai and loved it. It was absolutely beautiful and very safe. There were lots of tourist there and everyone was so nice. Lots to do with the markets and night clubs. Lots of outdoor activities in the jungle. I would recommend this place to visit.

Coming soon!

The pool area is the centrepiece of the hotel, jet black tiles instead of the usual blue gives the pool area an exclusive feel, the Jacuzzi is large enough for 12 people. A large tiled arch supports 3 ‘rain’ shower heads, turn it on and all 3 expel a large volume of water such as you’d get in a heavy downpour. Wooden decking surrounds the pool for grip with bare feet however the black marble floor does look a little slippery when it rains however the black marble floor in the lobby does look a little slippery when wet. The entire hotel is squeezed into a fairly small space so the pool area is a little compact, this is not an issue because as nice as the pool area is the beach is a bigger draw and only a couple of minutes walk away (that’s why you’re going to Kata, right?). There’s a sauna and steam room next to the pool that’s free to use and close by is the gym which has the basics. In summary this hotel is unlike any other hotel in Kata, hip and trendy and in a superb location close to the beach, perfect for your pocket with bags of style for trendy twenty somethings, you won’t want to leave. feeling good experience and more information at www.sugarpalmphuket.com

Is it possible to actually DIE from eating really spicy food?! There was a moment, while eating my Spicy Green Papaya Salad at Thai Food Restaurant, that I felt I made need resuscitation. I couldn't breathe. It was THAT spicy. It was our third, maybe fourth, visit to Thai Food. The staff was familiar with me and my husband Steve, and our requests for extra spicy food. They knew we could handle the heat, and I think that is what prompted them to serve us these flammable salads tonight. Anyway, it was painful... but great! :^) Note that this restaurant serves a variety of Thai dishes, and you can request the level of spiciness you prefer. They also serve Western style food such as burgers, fries, and salads. One day for lunch Steve and I had sandwiches... not great, so I'd recommend you stick with their Thai food, which is incredibly fresh and delicious. Steve would like you to try the squid salad. And, well, I think the Green Papaya Salad is absolutely to die for.

Today we took one of those huge group tours to “James Bond Island,” so named because it was a 1974 filming sight in the Bond movie, The Man with the Golden Gun. The trip actually bought us to several islands in the Phang Nga Bay National Marine Park.

I was really expecting the worse from this trip. It has to be bad … everyone on the island is selling trips to it. And I just hate these types of organized tours. Chris (TB: reikunboy) even posted a recommendation that we cancel the trip! So, really, we went into it with our eyes open. We were expecting the worst.

The minibus picked up us at 7:30. From there we stopped at five other places to pick up passengers, which took about 1-1/2 hours. (See, there’s one reason to hate group tours right there!)  The passenger list was very promising, though. In just our little group, we had two ladies from Canada, two guys from Israel, a couple from Turkey, and another couple from India.

We finally arrived at the boat. I am sure this vessel had had many years of useful service, but those years were long over! It was old and decrepit (and did not match the photo on the brochure, by the way). For seating, there were some small plastic chairs set up on the top deck, which was covered. We were lucky to get the chairs, as there were not enough for all until later, when the crew retrieved more from storage.

We headed out, the engine complaining and kicking out black smoke the whole way. It was only 9:30, but one guy (from South Africa) already had a beer. Over the course of the day, he finished one after another. We watched in amazement. Steve said later, I don’t think I have ever seen anyone drink that much beer! Even in college! We went to school in Wisconsin, so that is saying a lot.

It was pouring rain, which prompted the crew to lower the tarps along the side of the deck. These things are usually see-through, but not these. We were surrounded by natural beauty, but were riding it the equivalent of a box car.  The engine fumes were trying to kill me, and the smokers were finishing the job. It was the most miserable boat ride.

The crew did their best to make things bearable. They took drink orders, they passed out fruit and cookies, they told little jokes. I appreciated their efforts, and I think the others did too.

We passed by our first stop, because it was raining too hard to go off the boat. Then after about two hours, we finally came to James Bond island, and luckily the rain had let up a bit. We couldn’t see the island (which is really more of a large rock formation) from the boat … we had to take a longboat to the beach, and then walk past a series of vendors trying to sell us cheap jewelry and other schlock.

On the beach in front of the famous rock, there were crowds of people in various weird poses. It is quite the thing to get a picture of yourself “hugging” the rock, “leaning” on it,  or even wearing it as a hat. (A number of those creative photos can be found on this web site!) The amazing thing was the numbers of people -- despite the rain, one almost had to push through crowds to get on the walking path that allowed us to see the rock at different angles. It was easy to see why they came though, as it was a truly gorgeous area. (A very, very large man from Russia was wearing a Speedo and kind of ruined the picturesque setting a little bit :^)

The rain started really coming down, and rain ponchos were selling like hotcakes back at the souvenir stands. As I was juggling my camera, my bag, my towel, and trying to get my newly acquired poncho over all this, a lady kept waving bracelets in my face, “good price!” I got away with just the rain poncho purchase though.

From there, we went to Hong Island, and were taken off the boat in small plastic kayaks. (The guy from South Africa brought a fresh beer with him on the kayak, of course.) Since the boat was tippy and it was raining I left my camera behind … and really regretted it! We paddled through some barnacle-encrusted tunnels to a lagoon surrounded by amazing spans of cliff and rock. It was so beautiful, I wish I could describe it, but all my words are too flimsy.

Unfortunately the island and its inlets were overcrowded with other tour groups making the same trip. But there were a couple areas, when we went around a corner, when it was quiet and I could imagine we had the place to ourselves. It was then I decided the bad boat ride, rain, and the crowds were worth it to be in this amazing place on earth. (Steve disagrees. He said the whole thing was unforgivably sullied but the lines of kayaks going through the tunnels, and the groups of big boats floating all around. Steve agrees that the place is amazing, but would have rather not seen it at all, then to see it under these conditions.)

Back at the boat, the crew had set out lunch. The group descended on it like locusts! An Indian family and I hung back, inquiring about vegetarian food, and two big platters were procured for us. It was really good. I chatted with the Indians for a bit, and later talked at length with their super-inquisitive 15-year-old son. He asked about where I live, where are the best places to go in the US, and a million other questions about schools and visas and the like. The dad, gray haired but energetic, wore a permanent and genuine smile. (Later in the trip, the dad has some sort of seizure in the water and had to be rescued! I didn’t see it but the Canadian ladies brought me up to speed. His son gave him an inhaler and then he seemed fine for the rest of the trip.)

The next stop was Lawa Island (at least I think that’s what it was. It may have been another of the Hong Islands). Mr. South Africa got a fresh beer, and we all got into our little boats. I stupidly left my camera behind once again. It wasn’t even raining! I guess with the bad luck I have been having lately, I didn’t want to press my luck and risk dropping my camera in the water. We paddled through a long dark tunnel and listened to the bats inside, then came into another beautiful lagoon. Stunning!

Our next stop was the “swimming and relaxation” portion of the trip. We parked near Naka Island, where many other boats were already crowding the area near the shore. The rain had stopped, so Steve and I sat in front of the boat with the guys from Israel. We were handed coconuts to drink from and the one guy said it was just like being on Survivor, which was pretty funny. We watched the crew get high (not the captain! It was the kayak paddling guys) and the Israeli told me the punishment for getting caught was 15 years in jail. Doesn’t seem to be much of a deterrent though, at least to these guys.

We stayed there quite a while, watching the crazy people on the other boats do flips into the water. The guy from South Africa,  who at this point had guzzled more Singha than I could count, didn’t seem drunk at all. Amazing.

Then it was time to head home. I stayed in front as long as possible, but the splashes soon sent me to the back deck area, to breath the engine exhaust again.

It’s difficult to say if I would recommend this trip or not. Phang Nga National Marine Park is truly gorgeous, and really shouldn’t be missed. But the beauty is marred by the traffic, and as tourists, we are definitely part of the problem here! The traveler’s dilemma: you go to get away from it all and see the beauty of other countries… only to find that everyone else had the same idea!

We seem to be hitting a lot of aquariums on this trip. In Osaka, we went because we really wanted to see a whale shark. In Kuala Lumpur, we went because we needed somewhere to escape the heat. On Phuket, we went because …well, we really couldn’t think of anything else to do. It’s a small island, and we’ve been here two weeks now.

The Phuket Aquarium is by Cape Panwa, on the southeast side of the island. Uncharted territory! (We thought we had seen every corner of Phuket, but this spot somehow was overlooked.) Before visiting the fish, we ate lunch at Cape Panwa Hotel, which seemed like a very nice place. The food was good, and there was a nice breeze where we sat, near the pool.

The aquarium itself seemed a little grubby and neglected to me. The tanks needed cleaning, and I felt they were too crowded (but I always think that). Nonetheless, we entertained ourselves there for quite awhile. I would highly recommend you go -- I think they need your entrance fee!

Now what? We were both feeling so sleepy. We decided to go to the mall (Central Festival). While I bought a new tank top at Zara, Steve sat by the mall’s koi pond. He reported that it was a healthier marine exhibit than we had seen at the aquarium! I watched the lively fish darting around in their clear water, and had to agree.

On our way home, we stopped at an outdoor market just because it looked interesting. It was a ramshackle collection of tents, and there were few tourists, which is always promising. We strolled the aisles of food, which looked soooo tasty, and I wanted to try everything (unfortunately it seemed that everything contained meat or seafood). Vendors were selling grilled squid-on-a-stick, and there were bins of various Thai dishes on display. It wasn’t all that sanitary (lots of flies, uncovered food), but no worse than any other outdoor food market I have been to.

Steve used two simple Thai words to ask about the spiciness of the curry dish he was buying. Some people near the booth laughed, but the man knew what Steve was saying and replied that it wasn’t too hot. People laughed anytime either of us said anything in Thai, which shut me right up (I only know how to say hello and thank you anyway). Steve persisted though -- he is determined to use as much of the local language as possible, wherever we are. But…why were people laughing? This is not something we have run into in any other country (usually, there is encouragement) and it perplexed us both.   

After Steve bought his curry dish, I picked up some of that incredible, fantastic, delicious, mango-sticky rice dessert. I had to get a small portion, since I couldn’t trust myself with more. Whatever I bought, I knew I would eat right away. It is the best food ever made. It’s dessert of the gods, I tell you.

Frankly, we are counting the days until we leave Phuket. Just two days left! Tomorrow we will face tourist hell -- the tour boat to the infamous James Bond island!

i took the airport taxi to our hotel and with all smiles (well.. we filipinos love to smile, hehe).. asked where my room is..

BUT.. oh my, they could not find my name on their reservation list.. I was not booked :(

Oh no, I have no time for this.. i'm already running late.. i had no lunch yet..

I almost lost my smile but i held on to it (yea, I was destined to be part of the TB family...) good thing is, the pretty receptionist was soo nice and assured me they'll see what they can do..whew, thank goodness.. she had a nice name: ___________lea.. haha.. i only remembered the last ones.

anyway, it helped that our host organization had established good relationship with the hotel and so, things were settled then.

i'll certainly recommend the Ambassador's Hotel for their hospitality and great service :)

entrance to the Ambassador's Hotel

home away from home for a week :)

i hate to leave Singapore.. but at the same time I was so excited to see Bangkok  again, after 5 months and thank God, this time, I have my camera with me :)

i arrived Suvarnabhumi airport around noon. This time, I was traveling alone and I had to trust my instincts and my wits :)

First of all, I didn't know where our hotel is exactly AND i didn't know where the meeting venue is. I was already half-day late :) and they were already waiting for me. (opps, not my fault tho.. since I needed to attend a banquet in Singapore last night, so there's my excuse, hehe)

Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport

Today was our last day in Bangkok so we decided to see the Grand Palace. We didn't leave our hostel until pretty late and I really wanted to take a tuk tuk so we tried to find one, which is apparently really hard when you actually WANT one. But we did find one and after A LOT of negotiating we decided to go with him, until he said we had to stop and go look at some shops so he could get free gas, but we didn't have time for that so we just took the skytrain then the water bus.

We got to the Grand Palace at about 2 and wandered around there for a while. Angela and Christina had to borrow clothes but I was okay, even though the shirt I brought did NOT match my skirt at all, but whatever. The whole place is really cool, everything is so detailed and theres so much to look at. We wandered around there till around 3 when we caught a taxi back to Lub D. We got there at about 4 and had already packed up, we pretty much walked in, got our stuff and then took a taxi to the Southern bus station...the CORRECT one.

We caught a cab and he said he knew where he was going, apparently not...We had to stop and ask for directions 3 TIMES before he finally found it, over an hour later. What I want to know is how can you not know where the major bus terminal in your city is if your a cab driver!!?? Oh well..then we had a bit of an arguement about the price and finally went to buy our tickets to Phuket. Well, 1st class was sold out so we had to take the VIP bus which costs us almost 1000 baht!! Grr. We bought some snacks and then waited for our bus, which left at 7:30. While we were buying our snacks I noticed that some people infront of us weren't moving..I was really confused and pointed it out to Angela, and then I noticed some strange music playing and then all of a sudden everyone started walking again! We were SO confused, it was very strange. I later read in my lonely planet that when the National anthem plays everyone has to stop and be quiet. We must have looked like idiots.

We caught our bus at 7:30 and it was SO nice, nicest bus ever. We had tons of feet room and our seats reclined a lot. We also got given free water, juice, a muffin and nuts and a blanket. It was like a flight! Better than Jetstar haha. At midnightish we stopped at a restaurant type situation for a bathroom and food break. The bathrooms were nasty but we got free drinks with our tickets! Woo. Then we went back on the bus and slept pretty much the whole way there. It was sweet

Today me, Angela and Jeremy went to the Tiger Temple!! We got up relatively early and caught a taxi to the 'Southern Bus Station'...When we got there the station was completely empty, no tourists and a couple buses. Apparently there are 2 stations but this jerk made us pay him and then pay 50 baht more each to get to the real one from a different taxi driver, and the station is just up the road!! Grr. Anyway, then we bought tickets to Kanchanaburi that costs us 80 baht each, we bought some snacks and then caught the bus. It took 2 hours to get there but the bus ride was pretty fun, we listened to Dane Cook the whole way there.

When we got there we weren't exactly sure how to get to the Tiger Temple, but that problem was solved quickly..as soon as we got off the bus there were Thai people waiting saying 'You go to tiger temple?' So we went with one of them and rode in the back of a pickup truck which took 45 minutes, and I swear people were laughing at us haha. Anyways, we got there and the driver asked if we had clothes to change into..We were like..'no. why?' He said we'd find out. So we walk up to the entrance and we can't wear tank tops and shorts that go above the knee..so we were screwed. We couldn't even rent clothes we had to BUY new outfits! I was spewin, but we couldn't not do it we were already there! So that cost us 400 and the entrance fee was 300.

We went into the temple and followed some tour groups and got in this line for some reason, then everyone started walking so we followed. It was SOO hot we were so sweaty. Also, it turns out we were following a tiger, but we eventually got photos walking next to it. Then we got to the tiger canyon and the guide gave us some info on what to do and not to do. It was free to get photos just next to the tigers but to get photos holding their head in your hands it costs 1000 baht and we thought, well we're already here we've already spent this much, what the heck! why not. So we paid and we also got a bunch of postcards, a magazine and a necklace.

Getting the photos with the tigers was SOO sweet. They were ginormous! They seemed a little sedated...but the people weren't being mean to them and we got tons and tons of photos with lots of different tigers, it was amazing! One of the coolest things I've ever done by far. After we were done we wandered around a bit and then went back to our taxi man(we changed first..) and went back to the bus station and bought a ticket back to Bangkok. Well, 3 hours into our trip we were still nowhere near Bangkok..so make sure you take the right 2 hour bus not the wrong 4 HOUR bus..it took ages to get back! Then we had to take a taxi BACK to our hostel. It was a pretty expensive day but so worth it!