Home sweet home

Sunday 23^rd February

How good it is to be home!  Erin (John’s daughter) had the place clean and tidy and put a vase of flowers on the table to welcome us home.

We had a very long tiring day.  Contrary to my usual habit, I actually managed to get a few hours sleep on the plane.  I was particularly surprised as I’m still a bit sore from my mishap in the swimming pool, so I didn’t expect to sleep at all.

 

Sunrise over Oz

We were met at the Melbourne Airport by John’s sister, Lindsay and went back to her place for lunch with the family.  It was great to catch up with everyone and to see some highlights of the Winter Olympics.  We couldn’t find the Olympics on TV while we were away, so missed both the opening and closing ceremonies as well as all the action.

Later in the day, Lindsay dropped us back at the airport for the seventh and final leg of the journey.  The flight was uneventful, but we later heard that a Tiger Airways plane had to turn back after taking off from Adelaide.  That could so easily have happened to us and I’m not sure that my weary bones would have appreciated any delays.

My brother Steve picked us up at Adelaide Airport as my Barina was at his place.  We’d lent it to my visiting Aunt and Uncle who visited from England while we were away.  Nice of Adelaide to put on the longest hottest heatwave ever for their visit.

We had dinner with Steve and his family and I could feel myself teetering on the edge of a coma while I tried to maintain a degree of sociability.

John drove us home and I made sure I kept chatting so he didn’t nod off.  When we got home, we had plenty to chat about with Erin but didn’t last too long.  I don’t remember the last time I slept so well.

Overall, the trip was fantastic but you won't ever see me in Phuket again.  The highlights for me were definitely the temples of Cambodia and the stay at Lonely Beach on Koh Chang.  The cooking class in Cambodia was also a memorable event - now I just need time to reproduce the wonderful dishes that we've discovered.  It’s so tempting, with the cheap Air Asia flights, to take off again in the near future, but we both want to try to avoid the temptation and aim for an ‘around-the-world’ trip for our next adventure.

An afternoon at the museum

Saturday 22^nd February

Our plan this morning was to be at the Museum of Islamic Art by about 10.00am but our need to sleep in overrode that intention.  We decided to stay at the hotel until closer to the midday checkout time.  As we’d been without Internet yesterday, I got the photos and blog updated then we packed up and went down for breakfast.  Fortunately the lift behaved nicely today so we didn’t have to arrange for permanent accommodation at the Grand Seasons.

We left our bags with the obliging hotel staff and set off to the station, stopping off for lunch on the way. 

Overreaction?

Offerings include a cigarette

I really hope that 'knucker' means 'knuckle'

The plan was to take the train to Sentral then a taxi to the Museum.  What we hadn’t counted on was dishonest taxi drivers outside Sentral station.  We were aware that we needed to take a metered taxi if we didn’t want to be overcharged.  All of the taxis near the station had a sticker which read “This is a metered taxi.  Haggling is prohibited”.  We asked one driver how much it would cost to take us to the museum and he said 23 Ringgit.  I don’t think so!  He said they don’t use a meter, they use a ‘card system’ whatever that means.  We then tried going further down the road to flag down a taxi.  That didn’t work either.  One of the drivers we asked said that his meter wasn’t working.  We saw a taxi at the service station so went to ask the driver if he could take us.  He wanted 25 Ringgit.  Then we walked back over to the monorail station and at last found someone who was an honest driver.  We watched the meter ticking over and it made it up to 7.30 Ringgit by the time we reached the Museum, so the rogues near the station were going to charge us three times the real cost.  Not very tourist-friendly, guys!

The museum was absolutely fantastic.  The first gallery we saw contained some artistic Islamic calligraphy.  I never knew there was such a thing.  There was a wide range of styles, from very modern looking pieces to the more traditional.  Very impressive.

 

Calligraphy with 3D look

The writing on this piece went right to the very centre

We then visited the display of Islamic Architecture with beautifully detailed models of some of the major mosques of the world and information about their construction etc.  We could have spent much longer in that section, but we were conscious that there was still a lot to see.  Each area of the museum had a beautiful dome above it, each in a different colour and style with different decoration.  Just gorgeous!

One of several beautiful domes

We then had to do a bit of a rush through exhibits of hand written and decorated Korans and other books, weapons including jewel encrusted swords and daggers, textiles and clothing.  We were really impressed with this museum and will definitely go back there in the future with more time to spend.

 

Hand written and decorated books

Evil looking guns

Some of the beautiful items in the museum shop

Museum visitors

We finished our visit with a bit of a browse and a shop at the museum shop, then went out the front to try our luck with finding a decent taxi driver.  We saw some people getting out of a taxi as we were leaving, so we had a chat with them.  They had been charged 25 Ringgit, so the scam is working very well.  Needless to say, we didn’t get a ride back in their taxi.  Another taxi arrived and this driver wanted to charge us 15 Ringgit for the trip that had cost us 7.30 on the way here.  We refused, so he agreed on 10 Ringgit.  This was in another of the taxis with a sign saying “This is a metered taxi.  Haggling is prohibited”.  If he’d used his meter, we wouldn’t have had to haggle.

 

Vegetarian - Fish, Chicken and Duck???
Vegetarian must have a different meaning in KL!
Also notice the 'Marmite sauce' under "Pork"

We made our way back to the hotel on the monorail, collected our bags and then went back on the monorail (feeling a bit hot and tired by then!).  From Sentral, we were able to take the train/bus connection to the Low Cost Carrier Terminal to wait for flight number six of the trip.  We were really pleased to discover that there are showers available at the front of the terminal.  The only shower that we’d been able to find in the past was one in the men’s toilets inside the terminal, but not one in the ladies.  It was quite a relief to be able to have a shower after traipsing around in the heat, knowing that we had a very long flight ahead of us.

I made sure I had my sarong on hand this time, as it’s sometimes a bit cold on the plane.  I’m still not quite convinced that this isn’t an Air Asia ploy to encourage passengers to buy or hire their Air Asia blankets, but either way, I was ready for them this time.

Exploring KL

Friday February 21st

We managed to squeeze around each other and get our bags packed up, then walked back over to the Low Cost Carrier Terminal to get the connecting bus for the trip into the city – via a stop at Macca’s for hotcakes for breakfast.

We travelled on the very comfortable bus to Salak Tinggi railway station and caught the train in to Sentral Station (just to clarify, being the spelling and grammar pedant that I am, this is the correct spelling).  We then transferred to the monorail for the trip to the hotel.  We’d heard that the monorail trip is a good way to see the city and we agreed with that suggestion.  We enjoyed looking down as we passed through the different areas of the city, seeing a lot more than we would have if we’d gone by taxi or ordinary train.

The Grand Seasons Hotel looked a bit old and weary from the outside, but was much smarter and elegant on the inside.  On the downside, they are in the process of having new lifts fitted (trying to jolly along the customers with a ‘turning over a new lift’ sign [rolls eyes]).  Most of the old lifts are still running, but the button for floor 25 (our floor) doesn’t work in one of them.  The hotel staff took us in a different lift and delivered us to the 25^th floor.  Our room is big and comfortable and will hopefully give us a good night’s sleep for our last night before the dreaded long overnight flight.

Once we’d settled in, we went out for lunch in a little Indian café that we stumbled across.  The food was delicious and cost 23 Ringgit ($7-$8)for the two of us.

Next stop was Chinatown where we visited the markets.  Same again – clothing, fake purses etc etc.

Ornate building in Chinatown

 

Market stalls line the street

 Being Friday, our usual Adelaide Central Markets day, we walked to the Central Market.  This is a big market but still the same kind of stuff for sale.  I didn’t find anything that was worth the extra weight in my backpack.

 

Sand art in progress - Central Market

The finished product

Next stop was Merdeka Square where we visited the City Library.  Just can’t help myself.  The outside of the building looks a little weary but it was nice and airy, spacious and well laid out inside.  We had a bit of a browse around enjoying the quiet atmosphere after the clamour of the market.

We realised that there was a train station nearby on a line which had a stop within easy walking distance of the hotel so we negotiated our way through and ended up at just the right place.  On the way back to the hotel we heard some music coming from somewhere nearby so we went over to investigate.  We found a food hall – with very few people in it – with a karaoke machine.  A man was doing a great job of singing so we watched him for a while and decided to go back there for dinner.

 

Now there's a theme for a museum!

City Library

Passers-by posing with Police bikes.
The guy with the hat nearly knocked the bike over.
Not a good move, mate!

When we got to the hotel, the dodgy lift gave us a bit of grief.  One of the hotel staff was operating the lift so we got in and told him that we wanted the 25^th floor.  He pressed the button for Floor 24A.  When we got out, we expected to find stairs, so we asked him how to get to the 25^th floor.  He pointed to the right and then he was gone.  We walked all around Floor 24A looking for stairs.  After a while, I wondered if it was like Platform 9 ¾ and we’d have to run full speed into the wall.  We asked a young staff member how to get to Floor 25 and he suggested the lift.  Good grief!  We pointed out that the lift wouldn’t go there and we wanted the stairs.  That was too much for his English so he went to a nearby room which seemed to be full of other young staff members (Off-duty? Partying while on-duty?  Who knows!)  They all had a bit of a conference and someone eventually decided to show us a staff door.  Behind this door was another door.  Behind this door was a staircase.  Hooray!  We legged it up the stairs and will now hope that there is not a fire in the hotel as nobody (except us, maybe) will be able to find the stairs.  They don’t need to tell me not to use the lift in case of emergency.  You couldn’t pay me to get in the lifts in an emergency.

As the Internet was still not working, John went down to the reception desk to discuss it with the staff and got a very pleasant surprise along the way.  When the lift opened, there were several men and a woman that John described as ‘like a Princess’.  She was immaculately dressed in sequined flowing clothes with a gorgeous multi-layer tiara.  John said ‘Wow’.  One of the guys with her said he gives his permission for John to take a photo.  I’m glad I don’t need my husband to give permission if someone wants to take a photo of me.  As John had only gone to discuss Internet access, he didn’t have either his camera or his phone.  As an added bonus, a couple of floors further down, another of these stunning beauties got in the lift.  Someone asked if they were going to a wedding, but apparently they were just going to a formal dinner. 

The Internet was still being worked on, so we cleaned up for dinner and stepped outside the hotel – only to discover it was pouring with rain.  Not a bad moment for the very first rainfall of our trip!  We were able to borrow an umbrella from the front desk and make our way back to the Karaoke food hall.  Not many of the stalls were open and those that were seemed to be selling food that was a bit too spicy for John’s liking so we changed our minds about this one.

We’d passed a few cafes on the way from the hotel, so decided to try one of these.  Once again, we had Indian food, carefully choosing food that was not too spicy.  I found a chilli in mine and thought about offering it to John but decided against it for my own wellbeing.  Dinner here was 18.50 Ringgit (about $6 for the two of us).  Not blowing the budget today!

Back at the hotel, where the Internet was still not working, we decided to drop into the hotel restaurant for dessert.  John had a banana split and I had fresh fruit.  The servings were huge and probably twice as much as we needed, but very nice anyway.

 

Mmmmmm!

We’re a bit frustrated about no Internet as we have calls to make and web check in to take care of.

 

This way to Mecca.
These arrows are on the ceilings of hotels
to point out the correct direction of prayer

Tomorrow we’re off to see the Museum of Islamic Art.

Demonstrating my diving skills at the pool

Thursday February 20th

We didn’t make any plans for our last day in Phuket other than taking it easy until we had to go to the airport.  We got ourselves sorted and packed after breakfast and checked our bags in at the front counter. 

Lovely planter box
Retirement Project no. 26, John Abell?

Just to add a bit of activity to the day, I managed to make a very non-elegant entry into the pool, resulting in a huge, purple and very painful bruise on my bum.  I was attempting to go down the ladder into the pool and my foot slipped out from under me.  I landed very heavily on the top step and then continued on into the pool.  Luckily I didn’t pass out, as John managed to miss the whole event and wouldn’t have noticed me missing for some time.

Still smiling despite undignified pool entry

Half an hour before the minibus was due to arrive we went and got tidied up and changed, then waited, waited, waited until the bus eventually arrived.  The driver was a bit of a lead-foot but nobody compares to the crazy guy who drove us from the Thai border to Koh Chang.

Massage girls enthusiastically awaiting customers

They fine wheels over here

The time at the airport was the usual ho-hum waiting for the boarding call, except we were provided with a bit of entertainment by a group of Russians whose plane had been delayed.  They seemed to think that if they all surrounded the check-in desk, that would make a difference.  One of them was complaining in a very loud voice and his fellow travellers had to calm him down.  If he’d carried on, he would probably still be in Phuket now.  Some security guys were called and then a pilot came and had a big talk with them.  I don’t know if he said “free vodkas at the bar”, but they suddenly all dispersed and the show was over.

Raging Russians.  The t-shirt is a very common souvenir
in Cambodia and Thailand

The other entertainment was watching the Silk Air check-in staff attempting to locate the final three passengers who had not yet boarded their flight.  They made several ‘final call’ announcements and then one of the staff took a laminated ‘final call’ sign and walked all around the vicinity.  The passengers were then called by their names and still didn’t show.  The big screen above the desk was flashing ‘final call’ in red and then eventually three passengers, who had been sitting there all along, suddenly realised that their flight was about to leave.  The ever-polite staff, while carefully refraining from whacking them over the heads, quickly checked their boarding passes and rushed them through the gates. 

Our flight was also a little delayed and was very bumpy at the beginning, but as it was only a 75 minute flight, that was not really a big deal.  However, we didn’t get to our hotel till 1.00am so we were well and truly ready for bed.  We’re staying at the Tune Hotel again as it is only a short walk from the terminal, but tomorrow we’re moving to the Grand Seasons Hotel which should be a bit classier.

The not-so-chilly chilli

Wednesday February 19th

Today after another rather late start, we decided to declare ‘pool day’, which meant about the same as yesterday, but by the pool instead of on the beach.  Firstly we went for a walk up the road just to see if it was any more enjoyable than last time we did it.  This time we got accosted several times by western guys.  We had no idea what they were trying to con us in to, but John told them what he thought of them.  (Go John!).

When we got back to the hotel, we did a bit of a scientific analysis of the direction of the sun and the location of the trees and chose a couple of deck chairs that would stay shaded all day.  The water felt a bit cool at first, but it was so refreshing.  I’m amazed at the amount of reading that I’ve done on this trip.  I think I’m on to about my fifth or sixth book – unheard of at home where everything else seems to get in the way.

I overheard a conversation which shed light on the westerners bothering tourists.  Apparently they are time share salesmen.  Having once had a much-too-close encounter with a time share salesman I recommend to anyone who meets one of these creatures to run away as fast as you can and don’t look over your shoulder.

Lunch was a couple of sandwiches from a beach front stall and afternoon tea was a thick shake from the nearby Burger King.

Three things that occurred to me today:

1)     There aren’t as many Aussies here as I’d expected, but of those who are here, the majority seem to think that the plural of ‘you’ is ‘yous’ and most of them look like they’ve had a really bad night when they turn up for breakfast.

2)     A holiday is Patong is not my style.  I’ve enjoyed lazing about but there are other places I’d rather do this.  I’m glad to say that I mentioned this to John and he feels exactly the same way.  I guess that’s why we married each other!

3)     Some people find constant noise and activity invigorating and that makes for a good holiday for them.  I’m a peace and quiet and ‘leave me alone’ kind of person, so that’s why Koh Chang worked for me.  No tuk tuks, chairs for hire on the beach, time share salesmen, ambulances screaming past, fake purses, McDonald’s, fireworks, vans with speakers advertising Thai boxing and sleaze.

We thought we’d better be a bit more adventurous for dinner, so after cleaning ourselves up, printing off our boarding passes and booking our tickets for the airport transfer for tomorrow, we went looking for something exotic.  We’d only gone a few steps outside the hotel door when we found a restaurant which was doing Lebanese, Italian and Indian food.  That sounded adventurous enough.  We had Butter Chicken which was absolutely delicious … but halfway through the meal we had a bit of an unfortunate incident.  The meal came with a small plate of vegetables with a dipping sauce.  We had a couple each and then John picked up what he thought was a green bean.  The restaurant guy tried to warn him but it was too late.  John had already stuck the whole green Thai chilli in his mouth.  It took a few minutes to detonate, but when it did it went off with a big bang.  John’s face was really red and the staff got him a drink of water, then some ice and eventually it calmed down.  It certainly cleaned out his sinuses and tear ducts.  I’m sure he’ll be a bit more careful in the future.

Dinner - note the innocent looking green 'beans' on the dish on the right

After dinner, we went for a big stroll up the street with the eventual goal being a big souvenir shop which we’d seen yesterday.  Firstly, we stopped off at a stall selling sarongs.  I’ve discovered that the sarong is my new best friend for travelling so I wanted to get a couple for future trips as well as for taking to the Woodside Pool which we plan to make more use of when we get home.  The guy quoted me 200 baht and when I went to walk away he said 150 baht.  As I wanted to see what else was on offer, I told him I’d come back this way later.

Next stop was KFC for an ice cream.  The service was unbelievably slow but we weren’t in a hurry.

When we got to the souvenir shop we had a good browse around and bought something that we’d spied on yesterday’s visit.  Next goal was the nearby loo, which took us past another sarong stall.  I asked the lady how much and she said 450 baht.  I think she could see what I thought of that idea and she started the downward quotes while hanging on the the back of my shirt so I didn’t run away.  We told her that the guy up the end of the street was selling for 150 baht, so eventually I got 2 sarongs for 300 baht which was a bit more like it!

My new future travelling companions

When we got back to the hotel, the band was playing and the young girl from last night’s cameo appearance was on the stage again.  This time she sang Jessie J’s Price Tag and did it very well.  She’ll have plenty to tell her friends when she gets home.

We’re off to Kuala Lumpur tomorrow but don’t have to leave until 4.00pm so we can have a leisurely day.  Another one.

Relaxing on the beach

Tuesday February 18th

A new day, a new attitude.

 

The sight that greeted us as we emerged for breakfast.
A beautiful place for a beautiful bride to be photographed

We had a very slow lazy start to the day and thought we were about to miss breakfast but once we got to the dining room at 9.45am, we discovered that breakfast goes till 10.30 so the rushing about wasn’t necessary.  The breakfast choices were vast so we filled up well.

We then took ourselves off to the beach for the day.  We hired a couple of the beach chairs that lined the beach, choosing a couple that were under the trees at the back of the beach.  We happily whiled away the day swimming, reading and napping.  We’ve been quite surprised by the level of tanning that goes on.  Whereas we do everything we can to keep the sun off our skin, we see people laying out in the full sun for hours, getting a very leathery look as they go.  Not for me, thanks!

No, that's not John paragliding

When the beach chair guy started packing up, we upped sticks and moved back to the hotel pool where we blobbed away another hour.

 

Little pineapple dudes sitting by the pool.
Cute idea for serving pineapple juice!

We decided to try the hotel restaurant tonight.  The food was delicious and we enjoyed sitting for a while listening to the band.  They played a good mix of contemporary music and golden oldies including “Horse with no name” and “Reminiscing”.  We were surprised when we looked up at the stage during the performance to see that the singers had been joined by a young teenage girl.  We thought it was going to be one of those painful moments when someone mistakenly thinks that they can sing, but she was very good.  She only sang one song and got a well-deserved round of applause from the audience.

The band

My substance of choice

We’ve decided that today’s activities (or lack thereof) are what we both want.  There are animal shows which I refuse to support, a temple (but hey, we’ve just been to the Angkor temples) and there’s a Buddha statue somewhere (couldn’t beat the Reclining Buddha in Bangkok or the huge Buddha that we’ve visited in Nara) so relaxing on the beach is just what we'll do.

I will like Patong. I will like Patong.

Monday February 17th

Feeling a bit blue today, but everyone loves Phuket don’t they?  What’s wrong with me?

 

The house of the rising sun

We had a bright and early start this morning and got a taxi to the BTS train station, a train to the MTR line, then a train to the station which connects with the amusingly named Airport Express.  

Snigger snigger

Couldn't agree more

At the changeover at the MTR station, we saw our first sign of any political activity – a small group of people sitting on the ground looking about as threatening as our cat.  We did notice that when the National Anthem played, everyone in the station stopped where they were until it finished.

Wild protests near the railway station

We got on the train to head out to the airport and sat waiting, waiting, waiting until finally we moved.  About 6 metres.  We weren’t going to make our plane at that rate!

We crawled along a bit more then got a bit of a speed up then stopped a bit more.  This was the story for the rest of the journey, but we were only about 20 minutes late and we’d left a few hours spare as we’d heard about the train delays.

We settled ourselves in to a café in the airport to wait it out.  I had a very late night last night and an early start this morning and I don’t cope too well with humidity so this might help to explain my general lack of enthusiasm.

We got to the gate to board our plane, which was supposed to leave at 12.45.  Here again we were waiting, waiting, waiting and boarded just before 12.45.  The delay didn’t matter a great deal as we knew that we could get a shared mini bus to Patong at any time.  The flight was smooth and much more comfortable than one of our earlier plans which was to go by bus (groan).

We got our minibus tickets and were loaded on with our bags in the back.  It took us about 35 minutes to get to the hotel.  As we checked in, it seemed to be taking a little longer than usual but once we found out that it was because we’d been upgraded to a ‘luxury’ room, a giant room overlooking the pool, all was forgiven.  We didn’t waste anytime getting into the pool and spent a few relaxing hours by the poolside once we’d cooled down.

From our balcony

We then went on foot for the grand tour of Patong with the ultimate goal of finding food. 
Dinner ended up being a snack here and a snack there as we wandered around past various street vendors.  There was a very talented young man singing in one of the food court areas so we sat down and listened for a while with a nice cold Coke.  

A happy food vendor who was bopping along to the music 

The grand finale was a crepe made by one of the many pancake-making street vendors – banana caramel for me and banana maple for John.  We sat in front of our own hotel to eat these as a band was playing there too.  There’s lots of music and action and I think the streets get even more lively later when we old farts will be tucked up in bed.

Sounds OK so far, doesn’t it?  On our bus trip from the airport, we past a couple of signs advertising tiger shows and elephant shows which made me feel pretty sad.  Then this evening, we got constantly hassled by the taxi drivers, shysters and people trying to convince us that we needed to buy their stuff.  Think I should have stayed at Lonely Beach.  The final straw that set me off was having sleazy men sticking their advertising for Ping Pong Girl shows in our faces as we walked down the street.  I’m not going to go into the details of this hideous practice here but if you’re interested here’s a link to an article that I read a few days ago which has been festering in my mind ever since  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ping_pong_show.  So - abused tigers, elephants, girls and women have been at the front of my mind today.  I feel so powerless and it saddens me very much that people provide the demand for this blatant abuse that they call entertainment.  I think I require counselling.

I’m hoping that a good night’s sleep will change my attitude, but going by the fireworks and music going on outside, that can’t be guaranteed.

On the bright side, our room is gorgeous, the pool is huge with swim-up bar and little spa bubblers placed around the edge and the beach directly across the road.  We had a quick look at the beach today, but will spend more time there tomorrow.  I will like Patong.