On the road again...

I'm currently relaxing in the hotel after a very busy few days! It all started back on Wednesday when I didn't get the nice relaxing morning at work I wanted before I had to leave at 12. Problems sorted I headed to Adelaide Airport for my flight to Sydney only to find out that that flight was to be delayed and I had just missed an earlier alternative flight. As it turned out I got off the plane from Adelaide just as my connecting flight to Singapore was boarding and I still had to change terminals. Thanks to Qantas staff I and some other people from Adelaide made out connection but for the next 8 hours I was wondering if my bags had knowing that there were no other flights to Singapore before I left for Phuket!

The flight over to Singapore was quite uneventful. I sat next to two elderly sisters who were on their way to Paris to start a 3 week European holiday. I get the feeling that they were in for a great time! Even though I tried I couldn't get any sleep on that flight and ended up getting a sore knee due to the confined space! Considering how delayed our flight was leaving Sydney our arrival into Singapore was only 35 min late. I didn't mind however as it was 35min less that I had to wait for my friend and her daughter to arrive at 3am. At around 11pm I made it down to the baggage carousel and I didn't have to wait long to see if I would be travelling very light or not! Because I was one of the last onto the plane, my bag was one of the first off. It was such a relief to see it!

After passing through customs I started the journey to the Budget Terminal which is used by Tiger Air. Even though its classified as a Budget Terminal it was quite nice. I spend the first 3 hours in the Departure Cafe using the free internet there to catch up on the days events. At 3am I met Jacinta and her daughter Tiana in the Arrival section before returning back to the Departure area to kill 4 hours before we could check in! I so badly wanted to sleep but the seats were too uncomfortable to do so! Our Tiger Airways flight was on time to leave for Phuket and I was quite impressed by the aircraft and service. I do however think there wasn't as much legroom as other airlines!

We finally made it to the hotel mid morning and at around 11am local time, 30.5 hours after getting up on Wednesday morning in Adelaide I was able to have a very much needed shower and change into fresh clothes. After a quick lunch we returned to the Hotel and needless to say that as soon as I put my head down on a pillow I was out like a light!
The weather here has been beautiful since we arrived although quite humid... 32ish most days. Apparently I brought the dry weather with me from Adelaide as it had constantly rained constantly for the previous 10 days before we arrived (the left over’s from the Burma Cyclone apparently)! I haven't been swimming down at the beach as yet however I have hit the pool. The water is so nice!

I'm staying in the same region of Patong Beach as I had previously stayed... actually we are next door to the Holiday Inn and I can see the building complex where I first stayed back in August 2006. Even though I've only been here for a couple of days now I have already been to my favourite restaurant, the Banana Leaf a few times! I am planning on trying out a few other restaurants though during my stay... particularly a couple of the Indian ones!
This after afternoon/evening were off to Phuket Town to do a bit of shopping... I'll write more about that experience, the Fantasea show I saw last night and what else I have been up to in future blogs.

Take Care,
Al

Quick Update...

Just a quick update, I'm now in Hong Kong and was welcomed by the magnificent view below when I opened my window. I have heaps of photos of Phuket that I want to post so depending on the heat I will spend some time tommorow arvo on uploading them.



The reason I say depending on the weather is because I have come from the "Warm" temperatures in Phuket (Max 30, Min around 27 while I was there) to Hong Kong (Max 35, Min 24 with slightly lower humidity levels to Phuket).

I'm off for some much needed sleep... till next time... ciao

Charlie and Bella...

When going through my photos I took down at the beach I came across these ones of my two Cats, Charlie (Torti) and Bella (Blue Tabby). They are currently being looked after by a good friend and are well.

I wish they always got on this well... hehe

Thankyou Visa...

What a difference 10 hours sleep makes. After my horror day on Monday yesterday, Tuesday, was a much better day. I slept really well (which after having very little sleep in the previous 56 hours is understandable!) and woke up feeling a lot better. I made my way to the restaurant for breakfast then went for a nice long walk. When I got back I had found a message asking me to call Visa back.

I was helped out by Chris, who was based in Maryland, USA and he was able to get me the Emergency Cash I needed (thankfully no frustrating Indian call centre this time). I have to say that Visa did a great job, in just under 22 hours of me making the phone call I had the cash in my hand. I’m hoping this will keep me going until I get home when I will get a new card issued and then have to re-set all my internet banking accounts etc!

Late in the afternoon I went down to the beach to take some photos of the sunset. While I was there I was approached by a South African guy who asked me if I could get some AA batteries for him. Why couldn’t he get them himself? Well he and his friend did something that was stressed to me the last time I was in Phuket, do not hire/ride a bike! You have to see it to really understand how crazy it is here but the result of their effort was bandaged arms, legs and a big limp! The other problem with having an accident is that no matter who in reality was at fault, because you’re not a local you’re at fault and have to pay for repairs!

I did get some nice photos that I have placed below. I’ll try to post some more on my MySpace page. One thing that continues to amaze me are the “Monkeys” as I call them that jump on the back of the tourists that go Paragliding to help them guide the sail. The tourist is strapped in a full safety harness… the guys that jump on the back pretty much just hang there! I’ll try to get some video to show you but until then have a look at this:

From a distance you can see the parachute and also the two guys on it.

Up close it seems there is a "freeloader"

Below are a couple of the picures I took on the beach including one I took for an English Friend. There was an Australian flag on the beach as well but I didn't get any good photos of that one (it was a tatty flag as well so not a good one to use).

I'll leave it at that for now... I have had a lovely lazy day today including some shoping but I'll go through that another time.

Take care...

al

Crappy Day....

Are you allowed to say that you have had a crappy day when your on holidays? Well for me today was pretty crappy. Maybe I feel this way because I have had no more than 7 hours sleep since I woke up Sunday Morning (56 hours ago), it could be because its hot and sticky here and I’ve come from 15 degree weather or it could also be that I put the wrong pin number in and lost my credit card and had to spend 30min on my mobile talking to an Indian call centre to get some emergency cash from Visa (sorry for the long sentence!). Oh well…

Hopefully I will get the emergency cash soon so anyone that has placed an order should be ok! The day wasn’t a complete “loss”… I did get to do something I haven’t been able to do in years… Have a bath! I have a lovely large bath here so I was able to get in and relax while watching one of my favorites shows… “Air Crash Investigators” (hmm is it appropriate to watch such a show in the middle of a holiday where flying is involved?)

After checking in and trying to get some sleep I decided to go for a walk. The Burasari is just across the road from the “Holiday Inn” where I stayed last year so I’m familiar with this area. I went looking for a particular T-Shirt sell I bought a whole lot of T-Shirts from last year but I couldn’t find her. There are so many people that want to sell you their products but there is only so much I can buy (which is nothing at the moment!!)

I was looking forward to going to the Banana Leaf restaurant tonight to get my favorite dish, chicken with cashew nut but I’ve now decided to get room service… I think it will be for lunch tomorrow now ;-)

Sorry for the glum blog tonight… things will turn around I’m sure after a good nights sleep and a big breakfast.

Take Care,
Al


PS… I just realized one other reason why I may feel crappy…. Because I am drinking Pepsi (its complimentary at the hotel… I wonder why!). Now that’s two things I don’t normally do that I have done while on this holiday. 1) Bought a book 2) Drank one full can off Pepsi!

Still in Transit...

Just a quick update.. I'm currently eating breakfast (yes breakfast which is not normally something I do!) in Hong Kong International Airport. I have 2 hours to wait until my flight boards so what better way to spend it than on the internet!
I actually bought a book in Melbourne called "Who Killed Channel Nine". I was only able to read a small portion of it as my eye started to hurt... this morning my eye is as painful as ever so I'm hoping the antibiotics kick in soon or it won't be too good a holiday! Hopefully swimming in the beaches in Thailand will help ;-)
No pics this time... I'll upload more in the next couple of days.
I trust everyone is well.
Al

In Transit....

I'm now "in transit" in Hong Kong waiting for my flight to Phuket tommorow morning in 9 hours time. I was able to find a place called "The Travelers Lounge" which enables me to have a bed (well... sorta bed), snacks and breakfast. It was a lot cheaper than going accross the road to the 5 star place or into Hong Kong itself for a couple of hours sleep.

Above the Northern Territory

Above... umm... somewhere up there...

I soooo need the sleep at the moment. I wasn't able to sleep on the plane and my eye has been annoying me. Hopefully some sleep will help it.

I'd better be off... More to come.

Al