On our first full day in Phuket, Joe mentioned that I should get a massage while Scarlett was napping. OK! No problem following THOSE orders! The hotel's massages occur under a big pagoda next to the pool and start at 300 Baht ($10). Well, because of my sunburn I acquired that day, the lady suggested I get their "after sun care" massage which was 500 Baht, so I did. It felt great! 60 minutes later and having to be awakened twice (I guess I was relaxed), it was over.
Then on Sunday during Scarlett's nap, I walked down the street to a reflexologist for a foot massage. I was really hoping it would be one where they told me about specific ailments I had or dietary needs or something cool like that, but she didn't really say anything except to giggle at me when I jumped from being ticklish. This was 60 minutes and also 300 Baht.
And now, today, on our first day in Chiang Mai, Joe got his first Thai massage. (Also 60 min, 300 Baht) He also enjoyed it, but thought it was a little painful.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Good Bye Phuket, Hello Chiang Mai!
Monday, April 25: Day 13
Today we said good by to Phuket. I feel like we could have used one more day to explore Phuket Town, one evening to witness the craziness of Patong (although not really appropriate for small children) and perhaps another full day to spend lounging on the beach and time to give scuba diving a try. But alas, we have to keep trucking. It's nice to know there's a spot in the world that we'd like to explore further. And while some of the parts of Phuket and Phi Phi feel very touristy, other parts are so lovely and relaxing that it's worth going if you get the chance.
We had a 10:35 flight this morning, so just enough time really to get up, shower, eat, pack and go. I haggled a bit with the cab driver over price. He told Joe it was 700 Baht to get to the airport (45 minutes away) in the small car (think Ford Focus) or 800 Baht in the mid sized SUV. I told him we prefer the cheaper option and the small car was fine. He insisted on taking the SUV, started the engine and started loading our bags. I told him no, the small car was fine and that we only wanted to pay 700. I think he just wanted to drive the SUV b/c when I told him (again) we are paying 700, he said, "Ok. 700." If you stop and think about it, it was only $3 difference, but it was the principle of it all. :)
The 2 hour flight was w/o incident, but we arrived hungry. We secured snacks and a cab (360 Baht to go about 40 minutes) and got to our hotel, the Horizon Village Resort, around 1:15 pm.
The hotel is part of a large complex, complete with botanic gardens, topiaries, paddle boats, restaurant, pool, petting zoo, sauna, playground, etc.. It is outside of Chiang Mai, but has a free shuttle into town, was a great rate for a large room and seemed like something the kids would enjoy. We walked around a bit after Scarlett's nap and found this pond with a fish feeding area. We bought some fish food and started feeding them. The koi were 1'- 2.5' long and the catfish were easily 3' long. We then wandered the gardens a bit, had dinner and retired for the evening.
Tomorrow- thai cooking school and temples!
Today we said good by to Phuket. I feel like we could have used one more day to explore Phuket Town, one evening to witness the craziness of Patong (although not really appropriate for small children) and perhaps another full day to spend lounging on the beach and time to give scuba diving a try. But alas, we have to keep trucking. It's nice to know there's a spot in the world that we'd like to explore further. And while some of the parts of Phuket and Phi Phi feel very touristy, other parts are so lovely and relaxing that it's worth going if you get the chance.
We had a 10:35 flight this morning, so just enough time really to get up, shower, eat, pack and go. I haggled a bit with the cab driver over price. He told Joe it was 700 Baht to get to the airport (45 minutes away) in the small car (think Ford Focus) or 800 Baht in the mid sized SUV. I told him we prefer the cheaper option and the small car was fine. He insisted on taking the SUV, started the engine and started loading our bags. I told him no, the small car was fine and that we only wanted to pay 700. I think he just wanted to drive the SUV b/c when I told him (again) we are paying 700, he said, "Ok. 700." If you stop and think about it, it was only $3 difference, but it was the principle of it all. :)
The 2 hour flight was w/o incident, but we arrived hungry. We secured snacks and a cab (360 Baht to go about 40 minutes) and got to our hotel, the Horizon Village Resort, around 1:15 pm.
The hotel is part of a large complex, complete with botanic gardens, topiaries, paddle boats, restaurant, pool, petting zoo, sauna, playground, etc.. It is outside of Chiang Mai, but has a free shuttle into town, was a great rate for a large room and seemed like something the kids would enjoy. We walked around a bit after Scarlett's nap and found this pond with a fish feeding area. We bought some fish food and started feeding them. The koi were 1'- 2.5' long and the catfish were easily 3' long. We then wandered the gardens a bit, had dinner and retired for the evening.Tomorrow- thai cooking school and temples!
Tsunami Territory
I had to make special mention of the fact that we have spent the better part of a week in areas pummeled by the December 26, 2004 Tsunami. While in Penang, Laurel pointed out the corner of the island that did get hit by the wave, but otherwise Penang was relatively unscathed. And of course, Phuket was devastated. Kamala Beach was apparently the hardest hit part of the island, as evidenced by all of the newer looking construction. The vegetation is pretty mature by now and we saw very little remnants of tattered structures. I sort of expected there to be some of that, but there wasn't. And everywhere you go along the coast, there are "Tsunami Evacuation Route" signs, warning sirens, and signs telling you what to do in the event of a tsunami. (I wonder if any of those things were in place before 2004?) Directly across from our hotel in Kamala Beach there was a Tsunami Memorial Park. There was a large sculpture and a couple of memorial signs and plaques. The sculpture is meant to represent the shift in nature that occurs to obtain equilibrium of the earth- meaning natural disasters only occur when things are unbalanced. And the other thought is that loss of life and other things happen for a reason and the sculpture is meant to be the physical object that rises to replace this loss.
Hello Kamala Beach!
Sunday, April 24: Day 12
Today is our 1 full day at Kamala (with the accent on the last syllable) Beach. We intended to go to the beach in the morning before it got too hot, then do the pool in the afternoon, but by the time we did breakfast and got the sunscreen slathered on, it was pretty hot out already. So we decided to do the pool in the morning and the beach for dinner and sunset. (how horrible that THAT was the extent of our decision making for the day, right?!) After the morning pool time, we wandered down the street to find lunch. (The main street in Kamala is way less busy than in Kata) We ended up at the end of the main drag at an open air restaurant that sort of had a pub feel to it. It overlooked the ocean and had a nice little breeze which was perfect because it was HOT today and the kids were grumpy. While wandering around outside with Scarlett trying to divert a melt down and waiting for the food to arrive, Joe noticed a little Indian place that he wanted to try for dinner. And I wandered out for a bit later while the girls were finishing their meals and watched a local fisherman throwing his net out. He just wandered around in the knee deep water looking for a good spot. He didn't catch much that I could tell.
After lunch it was back inside to escape the heat and let the kids rest, while Joe coded for a bit and I went to get a foot massage. When I returned, it was time to hit the pool bar for happy hour (can't pass up on a BOGO!) while the girls swam & splashed around a bit. Audrey has now added diving from the pool step to her list of swimming accomplishments. (The last time I took her to the rec center pool in March, she would sit on the pool ledge and jump into my arms, but only if she was holding onto my arms the whole time & her head didn't go under)
We then wandered across the street to the beach, walking through a Tsunami Memorial Park (see later post). We walked along the beach slowly- it was quite lovely with very little waves, perfect sand and a nice late afternoon temp. Unfortunately the girls were obviously hungry and not in the mood for going in the water, so we made our way to the Indian restaurant. It was Northern Indian cuisine and super yummy! The naan was thin, but good. I got a mushroom masala, which I've never seen on a menu before. It was very tasty! And Joe got a daal makhani that was apparently delish. Scarlett gobbled up her Tandoori Chicken, Audrey ate a little of it, but ate most of the naan and rice. Mostly she complained about how very little attention she receives from her parents (seriously) and was on the verge of a full meltdown with tears brimming in her eyes. She was definitely tired, but beyond that, she has been extra sensitive lately, turning to tears if you just look at her funny. I've been trying to understand what it's all about. The best I can figure is that the seasons are changing and it's her 1/4 birthday (she has a definite pattern of major mood swings with the changing of the seasons, and the quarterly age mark falls in the same time frame).
Anywho, if you could get past the whiny, melty down 5 year old and the rather content but squirmy toddler who kept wanting to lean over the unsafe railing next to the table, one would notice (which thankfully we did) a lovely, picture perfect sunset occurring over the Andaman Sea. We saw it from start to finish and attempted to savor every moment. Even the kids enjoyed it but Audrey was stuck on the thought of "Well if it's getting darker b/c the earth is turning away from the sun, then how come we don't fall on our heads?" And "I don't feel it turning, so it must not be." None of my rather lengthy and detailed explanations about gravity and the position of the earth and sun seemed to work for her, so we just dropped it and watched the sunset and the little lizards crawling on the walls.
A quick walk (really more of a light jog) back to the hotel to get the lovely little beasts, er, I mean ladies, their beauty sleep. Tomorrow, we leave Phuket Island and head to northern Thailand!
Today is our 1 full day at Kamala (with the accent on the last syllable) Beach. We intended to go to the beach in the morning before it got too hot, then do the pool in the afternoon, but by the time we did breakfast and got the sunscreen slathered on, it was pretty hot out already. So we decided to do the pool in the morning and the beach for dinner and sunset. (how horrible that THAT was the extent of our decision making for the day, right?!) After the morning pool time, we wandered down the street to find lunch. (The main street in Kamala is way less busy than in Kata) We ended up at the end of the main drag at an open air restaurant that sort of had a pub feel to it. It overlooked the ocean and had a nice little breeze which was perfect because it was HOT today and the kids were grumpy. While wandering around outside with Scarlett trying to divert a melt down and waiting for the food to arrive, Joe noticed a little Indian place that he wanted to try for dinner. And I wandered out for a bit later while the girls were finishing their meals and watched a local fisherman throwing his net out. He just wandered around in the knee deep water looking for a good spot. He didn't catch much that I could tell.
After lunch it was back inside to escape the heat and let the kids rest, while Joe coded for a bit and I went to get a foot massage. When I returned, it was time to hit the pool bar for happy hour (can't pass up on a BOGO!) while the girls swam & splashed around a bit. Audrey has now added diving from the pool step to her list of swimming accomplishments. (The last time I took her to the rec center pool in March, she would sit on the pool ledge and jump into my arms, but only if she was holding onto my arms the whole time & her head didn't go under)
We then wandered across the street to the beach, walking through a Tsunami Memorial Park (see later post). We walked along the beach slowly- it was quite lovely with very little waves, perfect sand and a nice late afternoon temp. Unfortunately the girls were obviously hungry and not in the mood for going in the water, so we made our way to the Indian restaurant. It was Northern Indian cuisine and super yummy! The naan was thin, but good. I got a mushroom masala, which I've never seen on a menu before. It was very tasty! And Joe got a daal makhani that was apparently delish. Scarlett gobbled up her Tandoori Chicken, Audrey ate a little of it, but ate most of the naan and rice. Mostly she complained about how very little attention she receives from her parents (seriously) and was on the verge of a full meltdown with tears brimming in her eyes. She was definitely tired, but beyond that, she has been extra sensitive lately, turning to tears if you just look at her funny. I've been trying to understand what it's all about. The best I can figure is that the seasons are changing and it's her 1/4 birthday (she has a definite pattern of major mood swings with the changing of the seasons, and the quarterly age mark falls in the same time frame).
Anywho, if you could get past the whiny, melty down 5 year old and the rather content but squirmy toddler who kept wanting to lean over the unsafe railing next to the table, one would notice (which thankfully we did) a lovely, picture perfect sunset occurring over the Andaman Sea. We saw it from start to finish and attempted to savor every moment. Even the kids enjoyed it but Audrey was stuck on the thought of "Well if it's getting darker b/c the earth is turning away from the sun, then how come we don't fall on our heads?" And "I don't feel it turning, so it must not be." None of my rather lengthy and detailed explanations about gravity and the position of the earth and sun seemed to work for her, so we just dropped it and watched the sunset and the little lizards crawling on the walls.
A quick walk (really more of a light jog) back to the hotel to get the lovely little beasts, er, I mean ladies, their beauty sleep. Tomorrow, we leave Phuket Island and head to northern Thailand!
Scarlett's Language Explosion
So funny little Scarlett is having a language explosion while we are on our trip. Before we left, she would pair 2 words together, but it sounded more like 2 words that happened to be said next to each other instead of a little 2 word phrase. For instance, "Hi. (slight pause) Mommy." Now it's definitely a little phrase! In the mornings she pops up out of her crib and whispers, "Hi Day (for Audrey) Hi Daddy. Hi Mommy." We have also heard "Chase birdie now, pleeaassee." And "Pool! Simming! YAY!!!" And "more, more noo-nos (noodles) pleeaassee." She is also giving it a go at Thai. For 'thank you' she says "Kap Kap Kaaaa" (it should sound like kob kuhn kah-aa) and for hello she is saying "Sa mommy kaaa" (it should be more like sa wah dee kah-aa) Too cute! And yesterday she was walking around saying "Ni hao" (which is hello in Chinese) and we asked her, "What does ni hao mean?" Her answer: "Chinese." I didn't realize she knew that connection. And when you ask her how you say thank you in Chinese, she growls like a dragon. I'm not sure what that's all about!
Hotel Bookings
I wanted to mention here about how I booked the hotels we've been staying at. I used a website called Agoda where you can get rooms for 40%- 70% off of the standard rates. Mostly, we stay in 2 star hotels when we travel, especially in Asia. They are usually just fine (except for that one time in Longsheng China... I'm not sure it was even worth the $15 we paid to stay there. *shudder*) and have the level of amenities that a Courtyard Marriott typically has. I noticed while trying to decide which hotels to stay in however, that when I mentioned we were traveling with a 5 year old child, any of the 2 star hotels (that typically cost $25-$60) would automatically add a nightly extra bed fee of at least $30 to stay there. Argh. Suddenly, the cost of the 2 star hotels was the same as the 3 star hotels, which, for the most part, don't charge for an extra bed. (Scarlett's baby cot is free at all hotels we are staying at) So, we have been staying at nicer 3 star hotels. And b/c of booking through Agoda, we are staying pretty inexpensively.
Also, as a side, side note, my hotel research method also (of course) includes an extensive cross checking of online travelers' reviews, mostly found on Trip Advisor and Agoda. I then set up a matrix (sometimes in Excel, sometimes just in my head- dorky I know) comparing cost, amenities, location and reviews. Then I decide which 2 or 3 hotels are the best value (using the previously mentioned criteria) with the best reviews. I then present the options to Joe to see if he has an opinion. And then I book. This process can take HOURS to sift through all of the options! It wasn't until I got to THIS point in my booking process for our first hotel stay in Singapore that I discovered the extra bed fee. You can imagine how irritated I was to encounter this problem. In the end however, we have been staying at lovely places that are fairly problem free.
Also, as a side, side note, my hotel research method also (of course) includes an extensive cross checking of online travelers' reviews, mostly found on Trip Advisor and Agoda. I then set up a matrix (sometimes in Excel, sometimes just in my head- dorky I know) comparing cost, amenities, location and reviews. Then I decide which 2 or 3 hotels are the best value (using the previously mentioned criteria) with the best reviews. I then present the options to Joe to see if he has an opinion. And then I book. This process can take HOURS to sift through all of the options! It wasn't until I got to THIS point in my booking process for our first hotel stay in Singapore that I discovered the extra bed fee. You can imagine how irritated I was to encounter this problem. In the end however, we have been staying at lovely places that are fairly problem free.
Good Bye Phi Phi Don!
Saturday, April 23: Day 11
We got up this morning and headed down to eat breakfast at the restaurant. So far every hotel we've stayed in (with the exception of Singapore) has had a free buffet breakfast. This has worked very well for us and the kids because we can offer them little nibbles of lots of different things. This is especially good for Scarlett, who as I mentioned before is being quite picky with food lately. I NEVER thought I would say this, but Audrey appears to be our good eater, for now, anyway.
I then popped back up to the bungalow to pack everything up so we would be ready to bust out of here at check out time. We then lathered everyone up and headed down to the beach. For some reason, Audrey didn't really want to go swimming this morning, so she and Joe just mostly relaxed in the shade on the lounger. (A note here about Joe's injuries- they are getting better everyday and the swelling has subsided quite a bit. I think just sitting on the boats and chilling with his feet up at the beach has helped. Both feet are bruising around the heels, from landing on them strangely I suppose. But he is walking without much difficulty now. Phew!)
This particular beach has some nice shells, so we collected a handful of them to take home with us. We then showered, checked out and hung out waiting for the 1:30 long tail boat ride back to the pier. We bought 30 minutes worth of internet access at their "business center" (a handful of computers & wi-fi sitting under an open air pagoda structure). We had lunch and then went to the ferry. By this time it was the heat of the day, which we have learned is the perfect time to find some shade or air conditioning and just relax. It is also perfect that this hot time coincides with Scarlett's nap time, so she's been able to take one daily.
The ferry ride was uneventful, but Scarlett did pass out on me while on the long tail boat. I suppose the ride lulled her to sleep. We then took a cab to our next destination, Kamala Beach, located on the northwestern end of Phuket. It took about an hour from the ferry. I would have liked to explore Phuket Town, as it apparently has some nice art galleries and is not 'resorty.'
Instead we went straight to the hotel, the Print Kamala Resort.
The hotel grounds are nice with a main hotel up front near the restaurant, fountains and pools, then a collection of bungalows toward the back of the property. I reserved a bungalow, which is pretty nice. We are supposed to have free wifi, but are having trouble accessing it. Hmmm... it is spotty at best near the front of the resort and nonexistent where we are at the back.
There are a lot of little shops along the street the hotel is located on and there is a bridge accessing the beach right across from the hotel. Score!
We had dinner at the hotel where they had live entertainment. It was a Sonny and Cher sort of duo singing 90s cover songs, all in a calm, acoustic manner. Lovely voices, but sort of funny really. It was just us and one other table, so every time we made eye contact with the singer, she really responded to us with smiles and hand gestures. We of course then went to the pool until bed time. I can't believe we only have 1 week left on our trip!
We got up this morning and headed down to eat breakfast at the restaurant. So far every hotel we've stayed in (with the exception of Singapore) has had a free buffet breakfast. This has worked very well for us and the kids because we can offer them little nibbles of lots of different things. This is especially good for Scarlett, who as I mentioned before is being quite picky with food lately. I NEVER thought I would say this, but Audrey appears to be our good eater, for now, anyway.
I then popped back up to the bungalow to pack everything up so we would be ready to bust out of here at check out time. We then lathered everyone up and headed down to the beach. For some reason, Audrey didn't really want to go swimming this morning, so she and Joe just mostly relaxed in the shade on the lounger. (A note here about Joe's injuries- they are getting better everyday and the swelling has subsided quite a bit. I think just sitting on the boats and chilling with his feet up at the beach has helped. Both feet are bruising around the heels, from landing on them strangely I suppose. But he is walking without much difficulty now. Phew!)
This particular beach has some nice shells, so we collected a handful of them to take home with us. We then showered, checked out and hung out waiting for the 1:30 long tail boat ride back to the pier. We bought 30 minutes worth of internet access at their "business center" (a handful of computers & wi-fi sitting under an open air pagoda structure). We had lunch and then went to the ferry. By this time it was the heat of the day, which we have learned is the perfect time to find some shade or air conditioning and just relax. It is also perfect that this hot time coincides with Scarlett's nap time, so she's been able to take one daily.
The ferry ride was uneventful, but Scarlett did pass out on me while on the long tail boat. I suppose the ride lulled her to sleep. We then took a cab to our next destination, Kamala Beach, located on the northwestern end of Phuket. It took about an hour from the ferry. I would have liked to explore Phuket Town, as it apparently has some nice art galleries and is not 'resorty.'
Instead we went straight to the hotel, the Print Kamala Resort.
The hotel grounds are nice with a main hotel up front near the restaurant, fountains and pools, then a collection of bungalows toward the back of the property. I reserved a bungalow, which is pretty nice. We are supposed to have free wifi, but are having trouble accessing it. Hmmm... it is spotty at best near the front of the resort and nonexistent where we are at the back.
There are a lot of little shops along the street the hotel is located on and there is a bridge accessing the beach right across from the hotel. Score!
We had dinner at the hotel where they had live entertainment. It was a Sonny and Cher sort of duo singing 90s cover songs, all in a calm, acoustic manner. Lovely voices, but sort of funny really. It was just us and one other table, so every time we made eye contact with the singer, she really responded to us with smiles and hand gestures. We of course then went to the pool until bed time. I can't believe we only have 1 week left on our trip!
And What a Good Friday it is!
Friday, April 22: Day 10
So this morning we went down for breakfast and packed everything up then took a cab to the Phuket Town Pier to catch a ferry to Phi Phi Don (pronounced 'Pee Pee' which Audrey finds hysterical), where we will be staying for just one night. The hotel receptionist told us the ferry was at 10:00 and it took 30 minutes to drive to the pier. Well, it actually took at least 45 minutes to get there and the ferry didn't leave until 11:00. This was a bit irritating as we just sat waiting at the pier with 2 grumpy, hot girls when we could have been either hanging out at the hotel, walking around at Kata Beach or wandering around Phuket Town. Oh well. What lie waiting for us on the other end of the ferry ride was wonderful!
The ferry ride took about 1.5 hours and went past some lovely little islands. When we landed on Phi Phi, the area around the pier was filled with people selling trinkets, food, drinks, etc. It was mostly portable stalls, but there were some permanent structures too. We saw one lady with a monkey dressed in clothes performing and taking photos with people. I didn't see her charging for this, but I'm sure she was. We had watched a video about traveling in Phuket before we left home and they spoke about these monkeys. Apparently people steal them from the jungle, train them, then discard them when they get old and more hostile. It is a real problem b/c the monkeys can no longer fend for themselves in the wild and need to be rehabilitated on this special island just for them.
The hotel we are staying at is called Phi Phi The Beach Resort. It is located on Long Beach at the southern end of the island. We were picked up on the pier by a long tail boat taxi. The ride to the hotel took about 15 minutes through truly lovely water. Now the water at Kata Beach on Phuket was beautiful, but this water has that magical, clear aqua color that you associate with paradise. Truly lovely!
The hotel is a collection of small bungalows perched on the hillside with the hotel reception desk, bar, pool and restaurant down below next to the beach. We arrived in time to get our suits on and head down to the restaurant for a late lunch then to the beach. We had curries and noodles, all of which were very tasty. The water was calm and perfect and Audrey could safely walk out pretty far. Plus there are a ton of fish right near the shore, so the girls could experience swimming with the fish without officially snorkeling. They loved it! We intend to do more of this tomorrow too.
We sat and watched the sun set completely from the lounge chairs on the beach with some happy hour Chang beers (Buy 2 get 1 free!).
The people working and living here seem pretty happy and like they are loving life. We are questioning WHY we are only staying one night as this place is indeed a little slice of heaven!
So this morning we went down for breakfast and packed everything up then took a cab to the Phuket Town Pier to catch a ferry to Phi Phi Don (pronounced 'Pee Pee' which Audrey finds hysterical), where we will be staying for just one night. The hotel receptionist told us the ferry was at 10:00 and it took 30 minutes to drive to the pier. Well, it actually took at least 45 minutes to get there and the ferry didn't leave until 11:00. This was a bit irritating as we just sat waiting at the pier with 2 grumpy, hot girls when we could have been either hanging out at the hotel, walking around at Kata Beach or wandering around Phuket Town. Oh well. What lie waiting for us on the other end of the ferry ride was wonderful!
The ferry ride took about 1.5 hours and went past some lovely little islands. When we landed on Phi Phi, the area around the pier was filled with people selling trinkets, food, drinks, etc. It was mostly portable stalls, but there were some permanent structures too. We saw one lady with a monkey dressed in clothes performing and taking photos with people. I didn't see her charging for this, but I'm sure she was. We had watched a video about traveling in Phuket before we left home and they spoke about these monkeys. Apparently people steal them from the jungle, train them, then discard them when they get old and more hostile. It is a real problem b/c the monkeys can no longer fend for themselves in the wild and need to be rehabilitated on this special island just for them.
The hotel we are staying at is called Phi Phi The Beach Resort. It is located on Long Beach at the southern end of the island. We were picked up on the pier by a long tail boat taxi. The ride to the hotel took about 15 minutes through truly lovely water. Now the water at Kata Beach on Phuket was beautiful, but this water has that magical, clear aqua color that you associate with paradise. Truly lovely!
The hotel is a collection of small bungalows perched on the hillside with the hotel reception desk, bar, pool and restaurant down below next to the beach. We arrived in time to get our suits on and head down to the restaurant for a late lunch then to the beach. We had curries and noodles, all of which were very tasty. The water was calm and perfect and Audrey could safely walk out pretty far. Plus there are a ton of fish right near the shore, so the girls could experience swimming with the fish without officially snorkeling. They loved it! We intend to do more of this tomorrow too.
We sat and watched the sun set completely from the lounge chairs on the beach with some happy hour Chang beers (Buy 2 get 1 free!).
The people working and living here seem pretty happy and like they are loving life. We are questioning WHY we are only staying one night as this place is indeed a little slice of heaven!
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Gas Stations
One thing we noticed while out walking is the "gas stations." Actual gas stations like back home are few and far between. I think I've seen 1 or 2 while driving and walking around the island. But what you do see is this: sitting in front of a shop there's a handful of 40 oz beer bottles all lined up on a table or in a wire rack, filled with gasoline, a funnel sitting next to them and a sign for "Gas- 50 Baht" (or whatever the price is). It is really a great idea, especially considering the high volume of motorcycles and mopeds that people drive. It's great as long as you don't sit the gas bottle down next to your bottle of Chang beer and get them confused, as they look remarkably the same! Here is a good argument for drinking a Stout or other dark beer.
First Full Day in Phuket
Thursday, April 21: Day 9
So this morning we went down for breakfast then packed up to go to the beach. We were there by 9:30 or so and secured a couple of lounge chairs under an umbrella. The water was a little choppy, but ok if you got past where the waves break against the beach. I took Audrey out while Joe sat under the umbrella with Scarlett nursing his club foot and scraped up shin. He wasn't sure how salt water would feel on the scrape. Audrey really liked "riding the waves" and swimming around with her goggles on. Then it was Scarlett's turn. Normally I don't mind handling both girls at the same time, but in a choppy sea that can have strong undercurrents, I don't feel comfortable with more than one at a time. I wasn't sure how Scarlett would feel about going in the water b/c she wanted to have nothing to do with it in Penang. I grabbed her, brought her to the water's edge and asked if she wanted to go in. She said "toes. water. swim?" Ok then! In we went. She LOVED it and was saying "simming! simming!" between giggles. I then managed to convince Joe to come in mostly because I didn't want him to remember our time in Phuket just watching from under an umbrella. He came in and was fine. We all then retreated under the shade of the umbrella for awhile b/c it was starting to get warm and we were feeling parched. Chang beers were 40 Baht, so we had a couple with apple juices.
One thing I had read about the beaches here, and that turned out to be true, is that there's no shortage of people wandering around trying to sell you stuff. After a couple of 6.4% alcohol beers, I was in the mood to haggle with them. So they walk past you and hold out their goods. If you shake your head no, they are pretty good about walking away and not bugging you. But if you show any interest, they are right there wanting to chat. Audrey of course sees these pretty little things going by and starts pointing, saying, "oo!! Mommy! Can I have that? Please? It's SO beautiful!" This type of enthusiasm does not help set me up into a very good bargaining position. A guy came by with necklaces with little dolphins & elephants made out of "real fish bone, not plastic." He started at 500 Baht for one and even with Audrey exclaiming how much she liked them in the background, I was able to get him down to 180 Baht for 2. I learned in China the fine art of doing this (learned by watching Tim & Laurel do some amazing bargaining in the markets in Shanghai). I set my own little rule to not pay more than 30% of the starting price and that you can usually get down to 20-25%.
Then a guy came by with some sunglasses and even though Joe got a pair in the food market in Penang, he saw a pair that was exactly what he was looking for. The guy started at 1800 Baht ($60) and Joe got him to go down to 600 baht ($20). I was slightly disappointed as I thought he could have gone down to 500 Baht, no problem, but in the end it was still an ok price.
We then ordered lunch from a food stall down the beach- some sweet & sour veggies and pad thai. So yummy and deliciously inexpensive, especially for beach food.
It was too hot to spend any more time in the sun, so we walked back to the hotel. I stupidly did not put cover ups on myself or the girls and all 3 of us managed to get sun burned! As soon as we got back to the hotel I could see the red on Scarlett's arms. :( It's not a horrible burn by any means, but still, we are trying to be so careful with them and the sun.
Audrey and I headed to the shady part of the pool while Joe worked and Scarlett napped. We then popped out to find dinner down the street, where we wandered in and out of shopping stalls (not in the mood to bargain, so no shopping was done), got some drinks & ibuprofen and some other swelling reduction medicine for Joe, then stopped into an Italian restaurant for dinner. We ordered a pizza that was actually a really good New York style thin pizza. I was surprised it was that good. Then back to the hotel for bed.
So this morning we went down for breakfast then packed up to go to the beach. We were there by 9:30 or so and secured a couple of lounge chairs under an umbrella. The water was a little choppy, but ok if you got past where the waves break against the beach. I took Audrey out while Joe sat under the umbrella with Scarlett nursing his club foot and scraped up shin. He wasn't sure how salt water would feel on the scrape. Audrey really liked "riding the waves" and swimming around with her goggles on. Then it was Scarlett's turn. Normally I don't mind handling both girls at the same time, but in a choppy sea that can have strong undercurrents, I don't feel comfortable with more than one at a time. I wasn't sure how Scarlett would feel about going in the water b/c she wanted to have nothing to do with it in Penang. I grabbed her, brought her to the water's edge and asked if she wanted to go in. She said "toes. water. swim?" Ok then! In we went. She LOVED it and was saying "simming! simming!" between giggles. I then managed to convince Joe to come in mostly because I didn't want him to remember our time in Phuket just watching from under an umbrella. He came in and was fine. We all then retreated under the shade of the umbrella for awhile b/c it was starting to get warm and we were feeling parched. Chang beers were 40 Baht, so we had a couple with apple juices.
One thing I had read about the beaches here, and that turned out to be true, is that there's no shortage of people wandering around trying to sell you stuff. After a couple of 6.4% alcohol beers, I was in the mood to haggle with them. So they walk past you and hold out their goods. If you shake your head no, they are pretty good about walking away and not bugging you. But if you show any interest, they are right there wanting to chat. Audrey of course sees these pretty little things going by and starts pointing, saying, "oo!! Mommy! Can I have that? Please? It's SO beautiful!" This type of enthusiasm does not help set me up into a very good bargaining position. A guy came by with necklaces with little dolphins & elephants made out of "real fish bone, not plastic." He started at 500 Baht for one and even with Audrey exclaiming how much she liked them in the background, I was able to get him down to 180 Baht for 2. I learned in China the fine art of doing this (learned by watching Tim & Laurel do some amazing bargaining in the markets in Shanghai). I set my own little rule to not pay more than 30% of the starting price and that you can usually get down to 20-25%.
Then a guy came by with some sunglasses and even though Joe got a pair in the food market in Penang, he saw a pair that was exactly what he was looking for. The guy started at 1800 Baht ($60) and Joe got him to go down to 600 baht ($20). I was slightly disappointed as I thought he could have gone down to 500 Baht, no problem, but in the end it was still an ok price.
We then ordered lunch from a food stall down the beach- some sweet & sour veggies and pad thai. So yummy and deliciously inexpensive, especially for beach food.
It was too hot to spend any more time in the sun, so we walked back to the hotel. I stupidly did not put cover ups on myself or the girls and all 3 of us managed to get sun burned! As soon as we got back to the hotel I could see the red on Scarlett's arms. :( It's not a horrible burn by any means, but still, we are trying to be so careful with them and the sun.
Audrey and I headed to the shady part of the pool while Joe worked and Scarlett napped. We then popped out to find dinner down the street, where we wandered in and out of shopping stalls (not in the mood to bargain, so no shopping was done), got some drinks & ibuprofen and some other swelling reduction medicine for Joe, then stopped into an Italian restaurant for dinner. We ordered a pizza that was actually a really good New York style thin pizza. I was surprised it was that good. Then back to the hotel for bed.
Audrey Learns to Swim!
Wednesday April 20. It's our first day in Phuket. Within minutes of being in the hotel pool, Audrey had her goggles on and was being quite brave going under water without holding her nose. (side note here- she used to not be afraid of the water. Then we had a bad experience with swim lessons when she was 3 and ever since it has been an uphill, gentle battle getting her to approach the water without trepidation) So she was playing around looking underwater, holding my hand and kicking. Then all of a sudden, she let go of my hand and started moving through the water by herself! No glug, glug to the bottom which is what usually happens (granted we were in less that 3' deep water) but actual forward motion! I was so excited I picked her up shrieking about how stoked and proud I was and yelling to Joe across the pool to watch, totally embarrassing her. I gave her a few tips on hand movement and proper kicking and she tried again. This time she went further! She was so excited and wanted to immediately play mermaids. Now obviously she's not doing proper strokes, but she is doing AMAZING in just one afternoon! I was beginning to think about swim lessons for the summer, trying to figure out if we go the rec center route again or spring for more personal lessons. But in typical Audrey fashion, she beat me to it and pretty much taught herself how to swim! (she taught herself how to read last fall and took to riding a bike like nobody's business last summer) By the end of the day today, she was swimming with her face underwater all of the way across the kiddy pool (about 12' maybe?) without needing to pop up for a breath. She was quite proud of this action!
Our 2 Thai Phrases
So the 2 Thai phrases that we learned from Beam and Alanya in the pool today are:
Hello: "Sa-wat-dee kah-aa" and
Thank You: "Khob Kun Kah-aa"
Hello: "Sa-wat-dee kah-aa" and
Thank You: "Khob Kun Kah-aa"
Good Afternoon Phuket!
So we landed in Phuket on a pretty small prop engine plane, all bruised and battered from the morning's excitement. We secured a cab to our hotel in Kata Beach called the Kata Sea Breeze resort. The airport is on the NW side of the island while the hotel is on the southern part. It took over an hour to get here from the airport and cost about 750 Thai Baht, or $25. (Exchange rate is $1=30 Baht) The drive took us past a Tsunami Memorial, through towns with old & new construction, and past the road that goes up to The Big Buddha. The Buddha sits up on top of a giant hill (really more like a small mountain) overlooking the sea. It is quite lovely! We enquired today about how much it would cost to hire a cab to go up there- 1000 Baht. I'm not sure we'll spring for it since we'll still have time in Chiang Mai with other temples and Buddhas to see.
Scarlett slept in the cab, we got to our hotel and immediately headed out to check out the beach. We plan to spend a significant amount of time there tomorrow, but we just wanted to lay our eyes on the Andaman Sea. It was about a 10 (very hot) minute walk down the street to the beach access. The beach is long and beautiful with powdery fine sand and was quite busy. We hung out for just a few minutes, then went back to the hotel & immediately to the pool, which was complete with a swim up bar. Yes! We ordered apple juices for the girls (Scarlett said, "Apple juice pleeaasse mommy?" How can you say no to that?) a Chang beer for broken down Joe and a pina colada for me. It was late afternoon, so the weather was perfect and sunny, but not too hot as the shade was moving across the pool. We spent the remainder of the afternoon in the pool then went to the hotel restaurant for dinner. Afterwards, Audrey wanted to go back to the pool, so Joe took Scarlett up to our room for bed while I went to the pool with Audrey.
There were 2 other little girls in the pool whom Audrey started to play with. One was a 7 year old Thai girl named Beam who speaks no English and who's mom worked in the hotel. Then other was a 9 year old Scottish Thai girl named Alanya who lives in Kuala Lampur, Malaysia and was visiting on holiday. She speaks a few words of Thai with a Scottish accent and was able to teach us some. The three of them played until the pool closed at 8:00, then it was upstairs to bed. Joe worked some tonight with a 24 hour wifi pass. Unfortunately, no free wifi here either!! (This is totally different than China, where we were able to hop onto free wifi pretty much everywhere we went without any problem.)
Scarlett slept in the cab, we got to our hotel and immediately headed out to check out the beach. We plan to spend a significant amount of time there tomorrow, but we just wanted to lay our eyes on the Andaman Sea. It was about a 10 (very hot) minute walk down the street to the beach access. The beach is long and beautiful with powdery fine sand and was quite busy. We hung out for just a few minutes, then went back to the hotel & immediately to the pool, which was complete with a swim up bar. Yes! We ordered apple juices for the girls (Scarlett said, "Apple juice pleeaasse mommy?" How can you say no to that?) a Chang beer for broken down Joe and a pina colada for me. It was late afternoon, so the weather was perfect and sunny, but not too hot as the shade was moving across the pool. We spent the remainder of the afternoon in the pool then went to the hotel restaurant for dinner. Afterwards, Audrey wanted to go back to the pool, so Joe took Scarlett up to our room for bed while I went to the pool with Audrey.
There were 2 other little girls in the pool whom Audrey started to play with. One was a 7 year old Thai girl named Beam who speaks no English and who's mom worked in the hotel. Then other was a 9 year old Scottish Thai girl named Alanya who lives in Kuala Lampur, Malaysia and was visiting on holiday. She speaks a few words of Thai with a Scottish accent and was able to teach us some. The three of them played until the pool closed at 8:00, then it was upstairs to bed. Joe worked some tonight with a 24 hour wifi pass. Unfortunately, no free wifi here either!! (This is totally different than China, where we were able to hop onto free wifi pretty much everywhere we went without any problem.)
Audrey's Favorite Part of Penang
I asked Audrey what her favorite part of Malaysia was. Her answer: "Playing with baby Miles and Laurel's banana pancakes!" She did indeed have fun entertaining Miles and he just followed her around. And Laurel's pancakes were super yum! Audrey was upset that we only had a few days with them and asked if we could stay longer. :) Thank you so much Tim, Laurel and Miles for letting us invade your home, being excellent hosts and showing us around your special little corner of the world! And of course, thank you from Audrey for being her favorite part of Malaysia. :)
Bites, Bruises and Malaysian Ditches
Unfortunately, we have to have a special post for injuries and mishaps. In the week before we left on the trip, Audrey came down with a cold. She started with a slight fever one afternoon, which disappeared very quickly, but was replaced by a runny nose and sneezing. We were REALLY hoping to avoid having the kids get sick right before leaving as flying for 21 hours could be miserable with a head cold. Thankfully Audrey cycles through illnesses quickly (which I attribute to the fact that she went through a licking phase when she was 2. She would randomly lick things- once it was the walls of the elevator in the doctor's office (EW!) and once it was the handrail in the Beijing subway station!!(SHUDDER!!) And everything in between for several months. She apparently built up a rather incredible immune system with these antics b/c she rarely gets sick) She did indeed get better moments before leaving town, but of course we were worried that Scarlett would get ill. And as you know from our previous post, she did come down with a fever and runny nose in Singapore. Poor babies! So on Tuesday morning (in Penang), Audrey woke up early complaining that her elbow hurt and she couldn't sleep any more. I looked at it and it looked fine. By the time we sat down for breakfast, her elbow had swollen to twice it's normal size and was super puffy. It looked like a spider had bitten her. We gave her benadryl and marked the area with a pen to watch it's progress. It did grow a bit more throughout the day, so we marked it's new line, but by this morning (Wednesday), it had subsided quite a bit. Phew!
As I stated earlier, one of our last stops in Penang was at the park to let the kids play, which they did. On our way back to the car, Joe was carrying Scarlett. There is a concrete drainage ditch that you have to step over, no more than 2' wide, but about 3' deep. We had JUST been talking about how careful you have to be around those things on our way to the food market as Laurel relayed a story to us about how her friend fell in one while carrying his baby. Well, you guessed it. As I was trying to help Audrey across, Joe stepped across with one foot and somehow slipped and fell when he didn't get his proper footing. It all happened so fast, but the part that I still can't shake is the sound of Scarlett's head hitting the concrete. That is one of the worst sounds in to world! I screamed, jumped down to rescue Scarlett and help Joe up. The poor guy had twisted one foot and scraped up the other shin. Within seconds he had a giant goose egg on his shin and an ankle starting to swell. Scarlett got a tiny little quail egg on the back of her head, but of course my mind raced to imagining her with a brain hemmorage and needing to be cut open half way around the world! (Thankfully I just have an overactive imagination!) We raced back to the apartment where Laurel quickly got a bucket of ice together for Joe to put his foot in and I got bags of ice for Joe's leg and Scarlett's head, while Audrey tried to help stop the bleeding on Joe's leg. We had about 45-60 minutes before we needed to leave for the airport, but luckily all seemed to be doing better by the time we left. Fortunately I had packed the gigantic band-aid into our travel first aid kit (not thinking we would really need it and that it probably was just taking up space for more practical, smaller, Hello Kitty band-aids) as well as the neosporin. (And yes, "practical" and "Hello Kitty" were used in the same sentence) Both necessary tools when your husband falls into a Malaysian sewer/ drainage ditch. In an effort to always look on the brighter side of a situation, at least he is up to date with his shots and the ditch was dry and not flowing with who knows what!
As I stated earlier, one of our last stops in Penang was at the park to let the kids play, which they did. On our way back to the car, Joe was carrying Scarlett. There is a concrete drainage ditch that you have to step over, no more than 2' wide, but about 3' deep. We had JUST been talking about how careful you have to be around those things on our way to the food market as Laurel relayed a story to us about how her friend fell in one while carrying his baby. Well, you guessed it. As I was trying to help Audrey across, Joe stepped across with one foot and somehow slipped and fell when he didn't get his proper footing. It all happened so fast, but the part that I still can't shake is the sound of Scarlett's head hitting the concrete. That is one of the worst sounds in to world! I screamed, jumped down to rescue Scarlett and help Joe up. The poor guy had twisted one foot and scraped up the other shin. Within seconds he had a giant goose egg on his shin and an ankle starting to swell. Scarlett got a tiny little quail egg on the back of her head, but of course my mind raced to imagining her with a brain hemmorage and needing to be cut open half way around the world! (Thankfully I just have an overactive imagination!) We raced back to the apartment where Laurel quickly got a bucket of ice together for Joe to put his foot in and I got bags of ice for Joe's leg and Scarlett's head, while Audrey tried to help stop the bleeding on Joe's leg. We had about 45-60 minutes before we needed to leave for the airport, but luckily all seemed to be doing better by the time we left. Fortunately I had packed the gigantic band-aid into our travel first aid kit (not thinking we would really need it and that it probably was just taking up space for more practical, smaller, Hello Kitty band-aids) as well as the neosporin. (And yes, "practical" and "Hello Kitty" were used in the same sentence) Both necessary tools when your husband falls into a Malaysian sewer/ drainage ditch. In an effort to always look on the brighter side of a situation, at least he is up to date with his shots and the ditch was dry and not flowing with who knows what!
The Penang Food Market
One thing we wanted to see that we hadn't seen yet was the food market, so we went! It is so totally cool. I wish we had something just like it at home! It is probably about 100' wide by 200' long and is open air with only the roof. There are rows of stalls with food vendors all split into different sections. For instance, one section was the meat market. And subcategories w/i the meat section were poultry, fish and pork. Since this is a Muslim country, the pork is always separated from everything else. The poultry section was fascinating really. There were 3-4 cages of live chickens in the back part, then there was a butchering station next to that. (can you imagine being the chickens in the cage, watching your buddies getting pulled out one by one and slaughtered while you watch, knowing all too well that your time is coming?? Sorry- a vegetarian's perspective of the situation. :D) So then once they are slaughtered, there's a bath area with people working on gutting and cleaning the meat. Once they are finished, they hand the meat to the butcher and he works his magic with his cleaver. Or you can buy them whole of course! Laurel said that whenever she buys chicken there, she doesn't even refrigerate it before she starts to cook with it. It is probably dead no more than a couple of hours before it gets cooked. Now THAT is fresh!
Then there was the bakery section, lots of areas of fresh fruits and veggies, the flower market, the egg stand, etc... Then spilling out onto the sidewalks, you have the sunglasses guy, the ladies selling women's underwear, batik fabrics, clothes, souvenirs, toys, gadgets, etc... you name it, they had it all right there. Sort of like Wal-Mart only way better and supportive of local people. Laurel can walk to this market from their place, which she does twice a week to buy their goods. Yummy experience!
Then there was the bakery section, lots of areas of fresh fruits and veggies, the flower market, the egg stand, etc... Then spilling out onto the sidewalks, you have the sunglasses guy, the ladies selling women's underwear, batik fabrics, clothes, souvenirs, toys, gadgets, etc... you name it, they had it all right there. Sort of like Wal-Mart only way better and supportive of local people. Laurel can walk to this market from their place, which she does twice a week to buy their goods. Yummy experience!
Morning in Malaysia, Afternoon in Thailand
Wednesday, April 20: Day 8
Today was our last day in Penang with the Stelzers. We started the morning with Laurel's banana pancakes. Hello Yum! Audrey ate a plate full of them until she was too full to eat any more. We then went to the Food Market (see the next post about this experience) and then back to the batik factory. Yes! This means Joe agreed to purchasing the artwork I liked. My birthday is coming up in a few weeks, so this is officially my birthday present! I'm so excited because it truly is beautiful. And we have this nice big empty wall in our living room that I have been trying to decide what to do with. Now I know! We then decided to take the kids to the park for about 15 minutes (see post below for THIS experience!) before heading back to the apartment for lunch and then departure to the airport. Good bye Malaysia, Hello Thailand!
Today was our last day in Penang with the Stelzers. We started the morning with Laurel's banana pancakes. Hello Yum! Audrey ate a plate full of them until she was too full to eat any more. We then went to the Food Market (see the next post about this experience) and then back to the batik factory. Yes! This means Joe agreed to purchasing the artwork I liked. My birthday is coming up in a few weeks, so this is officially my birthday present! I'm so excited because it truly is beautiful. And we have this nice big empty wall in our living room that I have been trying to decide what to do with. Now I know! We then decided to take the kids to the park for about 15 minutes (see post below for THIS experience!) before heading back to the apartment for lunch and then departure to the airport. Good bye Malaysia, Hello Thailand!
Friday, April 22, 2011
Roti, Butterflies, the Beach, Oh My!
Tuesday, April 19: Day 7
Today Laurel took us down the block to this Indian restaurant for breakfast so we could have Roti. This is the same as the Prata bread we had in Singapore. We got some plain, some with cheese in the middle, egg and banana. It is served with curry and you are supposed to chop it up and dump curry on it- sort of like one would do with french toast and syrup. I liked it plain and thought is was also good with curry, but I just can't fully embrace eating curry for EVERY meal. They all were so good! Of course Scarlett acted as if we were trying to poison her, as she has acted for most of this trip. She seems to be on an every other day eating schedule. At least there is plenty of cheap rice everywhere we go, which we can almost count on her eating whenever. The rest of us loved it, and including coffee, tea and hot Milo, we spent about 24 RG, or $8.
We then headed out to the Butterfly Farm, which was very much like the Butterfly Pavilion in Westminster, CO (only they don't have to manufacture the humidity!).
After that we stopped at the beach on the way home. Audrey enjoyed the water but Scarlett wouldn't get near it. It could have been the rotting, dead, very large (perhaps a shark??) fish just down the beach from us.
We then headed home for lunch and baby naps. While they were napping, Laurel and I popped out to go to the batik factory. There were 4 batik artists working on fabric in the workshop while we were there. We had a chance to talk to a couple of them about their process. They use a mix of stamps and hand drawn patterns with wax. Then they use paint (the consistency of watercolor) and dab it into the wax shapes. It bleeds into the fabric, but is contained by the wax. Those guys move quite fast too! And the colors they use are at the artist's discretion. One thing that is nice to note here is that if we were in China in a place like this, it would have felt pretty... "manufactured for the tourist's experience." Here however, it was very much like we just happened to pop in and see a slice of a day in the life of a batik artist. It was very enjoyable to see! Laurel and I then went into the shop where they sell the batiks and one in particular caught my eye. It was 480RG (which the lady in charge will discount 15%, or down to 405RG, for me), so I chose to wait and ask Joe what he thinks about spending that much $$. If we were at home, I would have snapped a quick photo of it with my Iphone, emailed it to him and either waited for a text with instructions to buy or not buy or just called to talk to him. Then I could have purchased it on the spot. Instead, I will wait and if he agrees, then we can come back in the morning.
After the batiks, the mommas took the kids down to the pool for awhile until Tim got home from work. We then headed down the block to this Chinese restaurant where you just tell them what you would like to eat (using their ingredients on hand of course), then they make it for you. No real menu to order from. The food was so good and the girls gobbled up 2 orders of noodles. We also had a couple of tofu dishes, spicy prawns, broccoli, and a couple of other dishes plus 2 rounds of beers and waters. All of this deliciousness for about 110 RG or $35. Yum!
We played a fun game of Scrabble after putting the kids to bed where Tim came in first place.
Today Laurel took us down the block to this Indian restaurant for breakfast so we could have Roti. This is the same as the Prata bread we had in Singapore. We got some plain, some with cheese in the middle, egg and banana. It is served with curry and you are supposed to chop it up and dump curry on it- sort of like one would do with french toast and syrup. I liked it plain and thought is was also good with curry, but I just can't fully embrace eating curry for EVERY meal. They all were so good! Of course Scarlett acted as if we were trying to poison her, as she has acted for most of this trip. She seems to be on an every other day eating schedule. At least there is plenty of cheap rice everywhere we go, which we can almost count on her eating whenever. The rest of us loved it, and including coffee, tea and hot Milo, we spent about 24 RG, or $8.
We then headed out to the Butterfly Farm, which was very much like the Butterfly Pavilion in Westminster, CO (only they don't have to manufacture the humidity!).
After that we stopped at the beach on the way home. Audrey enjoyed the water but Scarlett wouldn't get near it. It could have been the rotting, dead, very large (perhaps a shark??) fish just down the beach from us.
We then headed home for lunch and baby naps. While they were napping, Laurel and I popped out to go to the batik factory. There were 4 batik artists working on fabric in the workshop while we were there. We had a chance to talk to a couple of them about their process. They use a mix of stamps and hand drawn patterns with wax. Then they use paint (the consistency of watercolor) and dab it into the wax shapes. It bleeds into the fabric, but is contained by the wax. Those guys move quite fast too! And the colors they use are at the artist's discretion. One thing that is nice to note here is that if we were in China in a place like this, it would have felt pretty... "manufactured for the tourist's experience." Here however, it was very much like we just happened to pop in and see a slice of a day in the life of a batik artist. It was very enjoyable to see! Laurel and I then went into the shop where they sell the batiks and one in particular caught my eye. It was 480RG (which the lady in charge will discount 15%, or down to 405RG, for me), so I chose to wait and ask Joe what he thinks about spending that much $$. If we were at home, I would have snapped a quick photo of it with my Iphone, emailed it to him and either waited for a text with instructions to buy or not buy or just called to talk to him. Then I could have purchased it on the spot. Instead, I will wait and if he agrees, then we can come back in the morning.
After the batiks, the mommas took the kids down to the pool for awhile until Tim got home from work. We then headed down the block to this Chinese restaurant where you just tell them what you would like to eat (using their ingredients on hand of course), then they make it for you. No real menu to order from. The food was so good and the girls gobbled up 2 orders of noodles. We also had a couple of tofu dishes, spicy prawns, broccoli, and a couple of other dishes plus 2 rounds of beers and waters. All of this deliciousness for about 110 RG or $35. Yum!
We played a fun game of Scrabble after putting the kids to bed where Tim came in first place.
First Full Day in Penang
Monday, April 18: Day 6
Scarlett slept ok last night, but was up at 5:00 wanting mommy and milk. Oh how I miss the days of nursing when I get this call! It now requires a trip to the fridge, which always wakes me up completely. But she fell back to sleep laying on me and slept until 6:30 or so. And yes, I realize I am reporting a lot about how the kids are sleeping, but what type of day we have is directly related to how the kids sleep, generally speaking.
Today Tim had to go to work in the morning, but we sprung him free at lunch time. The morning was spent going to Penang's Little India for some shopping, followed by swimming in the pool. Pretty much 4 types of shops can be found in this area of town:
1. the metal, sparkly, colorful bracelet store (literally all 4 walls are floor to ceiling full of said bracelets- it was like heaven on earth to a certain 5 year old little girl),
2. the sari store (lots of beautiful fabrics!)
3. the trinket/ souvenir store (every level of junk you can imagine)
4. the spice store (a culinary delight!)
You can imagine that our first stop was in the bracelet store, where the girls each secured their own set of ~15 bracelets "just like all the Indian girls wear" as Audrey said. They were 12 Ringit for each set, but the guy sold them to us for 12RG ($4) total. The spice store we went into had bins of wonderfully smelling spices and sacks and sacks of rice all stacked along one wall. We only had an hour in this area, so we just browsed for a bit in a handful of stores. I did get this lovely little string of elephants for 10 RG in a trinket store.
We then drove to Tim's office (he works for National Instruments) to have lunch with him. His office is pretty close to the airport on the other side of the island. The hawker center we ate at is directly across from his office building and is a huge open air building (probably 100' x 200'??) with just a roof. There were probably 50(??) or so food vendors serving a huge variety of yummy goodness. I got a plate of Chinese vegetarian, Joe got Chicken rice, mango lassis and lime juices for all, some soup, and a couple of other dishes that I can't remember for about $4.oo. (See photo)
We then went back to the apartment and dropped the men off with the babies for nap/ beer time, while Audrey, Laurel and I went to the nearby mall for gelato and pedicures! This was Audrey's first time and she was in heaven. After we were done, she walked toward the manicure station exclaiming, "And next, we get our fingers done!" Sorry to disappoint kid, but we only have so much time!
After the babies woke up, we went to the Penang Botanic Gardens where there were a bunch of monkeys running around. At first the girls were skeptical of them, but the monkeys acted like squirrels do- running around chasing each other, climbing trees, walking along telephone wires and walking past us on the sidewalk.
They didn't bother you and only approached people if you held out food to them, which of course you shouldn't do but we saw this boy feeding one monkey an ice cream cone! The park is also a popular place to go running, play games and check out the orchid house.
For dinner we went into Georgetown to a Northern Indian restaurant called Gem. It was SO good! The naan was to die for, as was the food. This place was a little bit more expensive, but worth it. I think we spent $60 for all of us, including beers.
Georgetown is an interesting mix of old and new. There is a law that you can't tear down historical structures, which is good, but there's a handful of buildings that are very run down, pretty much beyond repair. Those fall under the Heritage Building category, so they sit, waiting for something to happen.
Then it was babies to bed and hanging out chatting for a bit.
Scarlett slept ok last night, but was up at 5:00 wanting mommy and milk. Oh how I miss the days of nursing when I get this call! It now requires a trip to the fridge, which always wakes me up completely. But she fell back to sleep laying on me and slept until 6:30 or so. And yes, I realize I am reporting a lot about how the kids are sleeping, but what type of day we have is directly related to how the kids sleep, generally speaking.
Today Tim had to go to work in the morning, but we sprung him free at lunch time. The morning was spent going to Penang's Little India for some shopping, followed by swimming in the pool. Pretty much 4 types of shops can be found in this area of town:
1. the metal, sparkly, colorful bracelet store (literally all 4 walls are floor to ceiling full of said bracelets- it was like heaven on earth to a certain 5 year old little girl),
2. the sari store (lots of beautiful fabrics!)
3. the trinket/ souvenir store (every level of junk you can imagine)
4. the spice store (a culinary delight!)
You can imagine that our first stop was in the bracelet store, where the girls each secured their own set of ~15 bracelets "just like all the Indian girls wear" as Audrey said. They were 12 Ringit for each set, but the guy sold them to us for 12RG ($4) total. The spice store we went into had bins of wonderfully smelling spices and sacks and sacks of rice all stacked along one wall. We only had an hour in this area, so we just browsed for a bit in a handful of stores. I did get this lovely little string of elephants for 10 RG in a trinket store.
We then drove to Tim's office (he works for National Instruments) to have lunch with him. His office is pretty close to the airport on the other side of the island. The hawker center we ate at is directly across from his office building and is a huge open air building (probably 100' x 200'??) with just a roof. There were probably 50(??) or so food vendors serving a huge variety of yummy goodness. I got a plate of Chinese vegetarian, Joe got Chicken rice, mango lassis and lime juices for all, some soup, and a couple of other dishes that I can't remember for about $4.oo. (See photo)
We then went back to the apartment and dropped the men off with the babies for nap/ beer time, while Audrey, Laurel and I went to the nearby mall for gelato and pedicures! This was Audrey's first time and she was in heaven. After we were done, she walked toward the manicure station exclaiming, "And next, we get our fingers done!" Sorry to disappoint kid, but we only have so much time!
After the babies woke up, we went to the Penang Botanic Gardens where there were a bunch of monkeys running around. At first the girls were skeptical of them, but the monkeys acted like squirrels do- running around chasing each other, climbing trees, walking along telephone wires and walking past us on the sidewalk.
They didn't bother you and only approached people if you held out food to them, which of course you shouldn't do but we saw this boy feeding one monkey an ice cream cone! The park is also a popular place to go running, play games and check out the orchid house.
For dinner we went into Georgetown to a Northern Indian restaurant called Gem. It was SO good! The naan was to die for, as was the food. This place was a little bit more expensive, but worth it. I think we spent $60 for all of us, including beers.
Georgetown is an interesting mix of old and new. There is a law that you can't tear down historical structures, which is good, but there's a handful of buildings that are very run down, pretty much beyond repair. Those fall under the Heritage Building category, so they sit, waiting for something to happen.
Then it was babies to bed and hanging out chatting for a bit.
Houston, We Have a Problem
So this morning Joe spent some time trying to figure out a problem with the app his client had just launched. He was having trouble connecting to our computer at home. (a word here about how truly awesome our network setup is at home. Joe can connect to our Mission Control from anywhere in the world really and do his work. This is mostly a blessing, as we can go away for 3 weeks and he can keep up with things and not feel too buried upon our return home. But on the down side, this means he is never 100% disconnected from work) So we realized it was Sunday evening back in Denver & decided to call our fantastic neighbors Dave and Sally to see if they could get into our house to flip the computer off and then back on again. (while Mission Control is a great setup, we've been having some minor glitch lately that requires a reboot. No problem when you are in the kitchen, but a bit of one when you are in Malaysia) We got ahold of Sally via Skype (also an awesome tool), gave instructions on how to acquire our spare key, turn off the alarm and find Joe's office. While she was there she called us b/c the computer wasn't responding when she tried flipping it off and on. After chatting with Joe for a few minutes, they discovered the problem... in my very detailed plan to leave the house as safe and ready for being empty for 3 weeks, one of my tasks was to unplug all unnecessary things like lamps, toasters, coffee pots, etc... yep. You guessed it! The plug that I thought was only attached to 2 table lamps, ACTUALLY powers our phones, cable modem, TV and yes... Mission Control. It lasted for about 4 days on the backup battery then died. Sally plugged it in and voila! Up and running!! Joe was able to fix the problem, the client is happy and the stress is gone. And ALL of it was made possible by our fab neighbors Dave & Sally. (well, I suppose I had a hand in it too :D ) I hope you all are as blessed enough to have some 'Dave & Sallys' of your own. There's nothing better than being on the other side of the planet and knowing that you can call upon your neighbors if needed.
Heading to Malaysia
Sunday, April 17: Day 5
We just had a couple of hours in the morning in Singapore b/c we had to catch a late morning flight to Penang, Malaysia. So we packed (meaning I, while Joe wrestled the crazy beasts we call our children. I'm not sure who gets the better deal here...) Scarlett was still a bit warm this morning, but her temp never got over 99 today. And oddly enough, the runny nose stopped this morning. Thank goodness b/c I was dreading the thought of taking a sick kid to our friends' Tim & Laurel's house & infecting their 15 month old son.
We arrived at Changi Airport w/o trouble. And immediately upon seeing the kids, some airport employees presented the girls with stuffed 'animal' airplanes. Scarlett's is named Changi & Audrey named hers Stuffy. During our now 2 trips to Asia, we have been treated with nothing but kindness while traveling through airports simply because we have children with us. They really have it figured out here! You get priority boarding, toys/ games for the kids to keep, special lines opened just for us, etc... It is the ONE & pretty much only (and yes, I challenge you to disagree with me here!) instance where having kids along makes things easier. Don't get me wrong- I'd love to take a 3 week tropical vacation with just my hubby, but it's nice to know the kids are valued as important little people here.
About 20 minutes before landing however, there was this totally foul stench. Of course everyone started doing the uncomfortable looking around to see who the guilty person was. Then a liquid substance started dripping out of the overhead compartment a few rows ahead of us. I can best describe the smell as this: rotten kim chi/ teenage boy sweaty gym socks & shoes. Seriously! Ew! The flight attendants got rubber gloves, a ladder and cleaning supplies and got busy. They later told Joe it was, and this is in their words, "Some gross Japanese snack food."
Our friend Tim picked us up from the airport in Penang after a 1 hour 15 minute easy flight. We drove the 30 minutes or so back to their place on the northern side of Penang island near the town of Georgetown. Penang is connected to mainland Malaysia by a long bridge, but Laurel told us they never have any reason to go over there. All you need is right there on Penang.
We hung out for the afternoon while babies napped, then we went to dinner at this open air Indian restaurant just around the corner from their apartment. Our "plate" was a giant banana leaf, the size of a standard placemat. We ordered the food which they scooped into piles on our banana leaf. Technically, we should have mixed up the different foods with the HUGE pile of rice on our leaf then eaten that with our hands. But we fork & spooned it. I'm all for eating with my hands, but when you are constantly "on call" with kids & you may need to grab them, spilling glasses, tipping chairs, etc at a moment's notice, it really doesn't help to have a handful of curry, rice and soupy vegetables. The other marks against eating with your hands here, in my opinion, is the lack of napkins. Of course there was a small sink right in the middle of the restaurant that we could use if needed. The food was really good and cheap! For 4 adults & 3 kids to eat dinner, including lime juices for all, it cost 15 Ringit. 1 US$ = 3 Ringit. Isn't that crazy?
Then back to their apartment, kids to bed, hanging out, then lights out. We all started to feel pretty normal today and seem to have adjusted to the time change.
We just had a couple of hours in the morning in Singapore b/c we had to catch a late morning flight to Penang, Malaysia. So we packed (meaning I, while Joe wrestled the crazy beasts we call our children. I'm not sure who gets the better deal here...) Scarlett was still a bit warm this morning, but her temp never got over 99 today. And oddly enough, the runny nose stopped this morning. Thank goodness b/c I was dreading the thought of taking a sick kid to our friends' Tim & Laurel's house & infecting their 15 month old son.
We arrived at Changi Airport w/o trouble. And immediately upon seeing the kids, some airport employees presented the girls with stuffed 'animal' airplanes. Scarlett's is named Changi & Audrey named hers Stuffy. During our now 2 trips to Asia, we have been treated with nothing but kindness while traveling through airports simply because we have children with us. They really have it figured out here! You get priority boarding, toys/ games for the kids to keep, special lines opened just for us, etc... It is the ONE & pretty much only (and yes, I challenge you to disagree with me here!) instance where having kids along makes things easier. Don't get me wrong- I'd love to take a 3 week tropical vacation with just my hubby, but it's nice to know the kids are valued as important little people here.
About 20 minutes before landing however, there was this totally foul stench. Of course everyone started doing the uncomfortable looking around to see who the guilty person was. Then a liquid substance started dripping out of the overhead compartment a few rows ahead of us. I can best describe the smell as this: rotten kim chi/ teenage boy sweaty gym socks & shoes. Seriously! Ew! The flight attendants got rubber gloves, a ladder and cleaning supplies and got busy. They later told Joe it was, and this is in their words, "Some gross Japanese snack food."
Our friend Tim picked us up from the airport in Penang after a 1 hour 15 minute easy flight. We drove the 30 minutes or so back to their place on the northern side of Penang island near the town of Georgetown. Penang is connected to mainland Malaysia by a long bridge, but Laurel told us they never have any reason to go over there. All you need is right there on Penang.
We hung out for the afternoon while babies napped, then we went to dinner at this open air Indian restaurant just around the corner from their apartment. Our "plate" was a giant banana leaf, the size of a standard placemat. We ordered the food which they scooped into piles on our banana leaf. Technically, we should have mixed up the different foods with the HUGE pile of rice on our leaf then eaten that with our hands. But we fork & spooned it. I'm all for eating with my hands, but when you are constantly "on call" with kids & you may need to grab them, spilling glasses, tipping chairs, etc at a moment's notice, it really doesn't help to have a handful of curry, rice and soupy vegetables. The other marks against eating with your hands here, in my opinion, is the lack of napkins. Of course there was a small sink right in the middle of the restaurant that we could use if needed. The food was really good and cheap! For 4 adults & 3 kids to eat dinner, including lime juices for all, it cost 15 Ringit. 1 US$ = 3 Ringit. Isn't that crazy?
Then back to their apartment, kids to bed, hanging out, then lights out. We all started to feel pretty normal today and seem to have adjusted to the time change.
Audrey's Favorite Part of Singapore
Generally speaking, I like to ask Audrey what her favorite part of things are. Today's question was about Singapore. And her favorite part? The Singapore Flyer!
Shopping in Singapore
A quick note here about the madness of shopping in Singapore. Even though it did rain heavily, we got to experience enough of Orchard Road. If I remember correctly, it is about 3 km long and the 1 km or so that we walked was both sides of the street lined with 4-7 (or higher) stories of high end shopping malls. There are gigantic tv screens on the exterior walls of the centers which housed Cartier, Prada, Gucci, etc... And it isn't just Orchard Road that has the shopping malls. There are malls everywhere. Across the street from our hotel was a 4 story mid-high end center. Then 2 blocks down, there was another just like it and so on. It's no wonder people say you can come to Singapore and max out your credit cards. If I was more of a shopper, I could see where that would be trouble. Those of you who are shoppers, stop salivating before you ruin your laptop.
Reliable internet/ time/ energy issues
Hello! Sorry for the delayed posts, but we have not been fortunate with much wifi connection time. I'll be adding photos to posts once we get to a place with free Wfi again!
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
This day was not quite as we had planned...
Saturday, April 16: Day 4
This morning began early for Audrey and I. We both were awake by 5:30, so we sat in the bathroom playing so we wouldn't wake up Scarlett & Joe. I concocted the most brilliant plan for the day while taking a quick shower. I had it all laid out to maximize our last full day in Singapore. This is how it was supposed to go:
-Take showers to wipe of a layer of sweat & dirt from our first day in Singapore. (We were walking around in our lightest summer attire sweating our brains out while the locals wore jeans, long sleeves and I even saw a few jackets! What!?)
-Find breakfast so I wouldn't implode
-Take the train to Orchard Rd & walk up and down the 3 km stretch of the famous shopping district.
-Lunch in Little India
-Back to the hotel for Scarlett's nap. Joe could work for a bit while I went down to the pool to swim laps, then Audrey & I could play in the pool until Scarlett woke up.
- Then Joe could go to the hotel gym to run while I took the girls to the pool.
-Then off to Chinatown to have dinner at this vegetarian restaurant where you just pay what you think the meal is worth.
- Explore Chinatown that evening.
- Go to the Raffles Hotel, which is across the street from our hotel. This is where the drink, the Singapore Sling, originated. We of course would be having one of these!
-Back to the hotel for bedtime.
This is how the day went....
- I took a shower, then Joe got up with Scarlett. She had a fever of 100.1. Then she almost threw up in the toilet (but didn't) and was very lethargic. We gave her tylenol, then Audrey and I headed out to find breakfast and ibuprofen.
- Scarlett perked up & was even running around, so we decided to head to the train for Orchard Rd, only about 2 hours behind schedule.
- We walked about 10 steps on Orchard Rd when it started pouring rain.
- We headed into the underground shopping area where Audrey bought the brightest red lip gloss she could find.
- We had lunch in a hawker center underground where Scarlett became hot & lethargic again. However, the food was great! Audrey and I had a miso/ noodle soup & Joe ate Indian food.
- We headed back to the train (the rain had stopped by now) & planned to go to Little India since Scarlett had napped a bit in the Ergo carrier. While buying tickets, Scarlett complained that her tummy hurt, so Joe raced to the bathroom with her, but she was fine. We decided to go back to the hotel for her to rest instead of sightseeing.
-Joe worked for a bit while the girls napped.
-Cab to Little India for dinner, where the food was good, but not fantastic. I have discovered that I personally do not care for Southern indian food. It's too spicy for me.
The neighborhood, however was like stepping right into India- very saturated in Indian culture. Audrey was exhausted and passed out at the dinner table.
- There was no way we were leaving Singapore without trying a Singapore Sling, so we took the sleepy girls to the bar, er... I mean, Raffles Hotel, and ordered 2 Slings.
While drinking them (very tasty btw) Joe and I were discussing how much we thought they were, as we never saw a menu. I optimistically guessed $9 & Joe guessed $14. As part of their way of maintaining a civilized, orderly society, they tax the heck out of alcohol in Singapore. We saw a 6 pack of beer at 7-11 for 20 S$ & a bottle of wine that would be about $7 in the US for 32 S$. (the exchange rate is roughly 1 US $- 1.2 S$)
And the verdict when the bill came.... 58 S$ for 2 Singapore Slings! Yowzers!!
-Then back to the hotel to sleep. Scarlett fought the fever all day & started to get a runny nose on top of it.
So much for hatching a plan!
This morning began early for Audrey and I. We both were awake by 5:30, so we sat in the bathroom playing so we wouldn't wake up Scarlett & Joe. I concocted the most brilliant plan for the day while taking a quick shower. I had it all laid out to maximize our last full day in Singapore. This is how it was supposed to go:
-Take showers to wipe of a layer of sweat & dirt from our first day in Singapore. (We were walking around in our lightest summer attire sweating our brains out while the locals wore jeans, long sleeves and I even saw a few jackets! What!?)
-Find breakfast so I wouldn't implode
-Take the train to Orchard Rd & walk up and down the 3 km stretch of the famous shopping district.
-Lunch in Little India
-Back to the hotel for Scarlett's nap. Joe could work for a bit while I went down to the pool to swim laps, then Audrey & I could play in the pool until Scarlett woke up.
- Then Joe could go to the hotel gym to run while I took the girls to the pool.
-Then off to Chinatown to have dinner at this vegetarian restaurant where you just pay what you think the meal is worth.
- Explore Chinatown that evening.
- Go to the Raffles Hotel, which is across the street from our hotel. This is where the drink, the Singapore Sling, originated. We of course would be having one of these!
-Back to the hotel for bedtime.
This is how the day went....
- I took a shower, then Joe got up with Scarlett. She had a fever of 100.1. Then she almost threw up in the toilet (but didn't) and was very lethargic. We gave her tylenol, then Audrey and I headed out to find breakfast and ibuprofen.
- Scarlett perked up & was even running around, so we decided to head to the train for Orchard Rd, only about 2 hours behind schedule.
- We walked about 10 steps on Orchard Rd when it started pouring rain.
- We headed into the underground shopping area where Audrey bought the brightest red lip gloss she could find.
- We had lunch in a hawker center underground where Scarlett became hot & lethargic again. However, the food was great! Audrey and I had a miso/ noodle soup & Joe ate Indian food.
- We headed back to the train (the rain had stopped by now) & planned to go to Little India since Scarlett had napped a bit in the Ergo carrier. While buying tickets, Scarlett complained that her tummy hurt, so Joe raced to the bathroom with her, but she was fine. We decided to go back to the hotel for her to rest instead of sightseeing.
-Joe worked for a bit while the girls napped.
-Cab to Little India for dinner, where the food was good, but not fantastic. I have discovered that I personally do not care for Southern indian food. It's too spicy for me.
The neighborhood, however was like stepping right into India- very saturated in Indian culture. Audrey was exhausted and passed out at the dinner table.
- There was no way we were leaving Singapore without trying a Singapore Sling, so we took the sleepy girls to the bar, er... I mean, Raffles Hotel, and ordered 2 Slings.
While drinking them (very tasty btw) Joe and I were discussing how much we thought they were, as we never saw a menu. I optimistically guessed $9 & Joe guessed $14. As part of their way of maintaining a civilized, orderly society, they tax the heck out of alcohol in Singapore. We saw a 6 pack of beer at 7-11 for 20 S$ & a bottle of wine that would be about $7 in the US for 32 S$. (the exchange rate is roughly 1 US $- 1.2 S$)
And the verdict when the bill came.... 58 S$ for 2 Singapore Slings! Yowzers!!
-Then back to the hotel to sleep. Scarlett fought the fever all day & started to get a runny nose on top of it.
So much for hatching a plan!
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
First 24 hours in Singapore
Friday, April 15: Day 3
So we arrived in Singapore at midnight and were in our hotel room by 1:00 am this morning. Sleep was fitful for all last night and we all were up and wide (ish) awake by 5:00 am. (see photo of our view) We had breakfast in the hotel restaurant where Audrey charmed the pants off of the waitstaff and secured an entire bowl of marshmallows for her hot chocolate. They were the big marshmallows too. And like 15 of them! What was the waitstaff thinking?? Hot chocolate is not a normal choice for breakfast in our house, mind you, but today at Audrey's preschool they were acting out a book and having hot chocolate with their snack. She was bummed to be missing out on this, thus the hot chocolate for breakfast for her in Singapore.
We then wandered down the block to enquire about doing a Duck tour. The amphibious vehicle goes both on land and in water, which we thought the girls would enjoy. We did enjoy it and learned all sorts of interesting facts about Singapore. For example, about 30% of the land in Singapore is reclaimed land. Meaning they either use discarded dirt from construction projects or they purchase dirt from elsewhere & have it shipped in to increase the size of the island. As a matter of fact, the Carlton Hotel, where we were staying, sits 1 block from what used to be beach front. Now it is a solid mile from the water.
We also rode on the Singapore Flyer, which is a 165 meter tall ferris wheel, only it has glass enclosed capsules that you ride in. We had lovely weather for it & could see quite far. Audrey loved it & Scarlett appeared to, but was pretty tired & wanted to run around until she accidentally got clocked in the head with an Australian tourist's camera. After that she just crawled around & did her best wet (and screaming) noodle impression any time we attempted to pick her up.
After the tours, we went back to one of the malls near our hotel to have lunch. We ate at this Hawker center, which is pretty much a food court only with REALLY good food from a variety of vendors in their stalls. We had our choice of Indian, Chinese, Korean, fruit stand, Japanese, etc... I had this Roti Prata bread, which is a thin dough that is super tasty and served with curry.
We all were pretty tired after our late lunch & practically crawled back to the hotel. We put Scarlett down for a nap & the rest of us decided to close our eyes for a few minutes. Well... 3.5 hours later we all were waking up at 7:00 pm!! Yikes! Uber big mistake when trying to adjust the body to the new time zone!
We managed to make it out of the hotel & wandered the 2 blocks to the Singapore Art Museum which was a few blocks from our hotel. I found out that they have free admission on Friday nights, so it was a no brainer activity for us. There was some really interesting modern pieces by up and coming young artists. Mostly they seemed interested in land, politics, and other social issues for their subject matter. We barely made it out of there alive due to the fact that we all were hungry, especially the kids. I thought Audrey was going to lose her marbles if we stayed another minute. Usually she handles art museums & galleries very well as she has frequented them regularly since she was a zygote.
We went to dinner at another hawker center where we had Indian, steamed buns & freshly squeezed juices. Again, barely making it out alive due to exhaustion, we managed to find our way back to the hotel and crashed, eventually. Except for those of us awake writing blog entries.
So we arrived in Singapore at midnight and were in our hotel room by 1:00 am this morning. Sleep was fitful for all last night and we all were up and wide (ish) awake by 5:00 am. (see photo of our view) We had breakfast in the hotel restaurant where Audrey charmed the pants off of the waitstaff and secured an entire bowl of marshmallows for her hot chocolate. They were the big marshmallows too. And like 15 of them! What was the waitstaff thinking?? Hot chocolate is not a normal choice for breakfast in our house, mind you, but today at Audrey's preschool they were acting out a book and having hot chocolate with their snack. She was bummed to be missing out on this, thus the hot chocolate for breakfast for her in Singapore. 
We then wandered down the block to enquire about doing a Duck tour. The amphibious vehicle goes both on land and in water, which we thought the girls would enjoy. We did enjoy it and learned all sorts of interesting facts about Singapore. For example, about 30% of the land in Singapore is reclaimed land. Meaning they either use discarded dirt from construction projects or they purchase dirt from elsewhere & have it shipped in to increase the size of the island. As a matter of fact, the Carlton Hotel, where we were staying, sits 1 block from what used to be beach front. Now it is a solid mile from the water.
We also rode on the Singapore Flyer, which is a 165 meter tall ferris wheel, only it has glass enclosed capsules that you ride in. We had lovely weather for it & could see quite far. Audrey loved it & Scarlett appeared to, but was pretty tired & wanted to run around until she accidentally got clocked in the head with an Australian tourist's camera. After that she just crawled around & did her best wet (and screaming) noodle impression any time we attempted to pick her up.
After the tours, we went back to one of the malls near our hotel to have lunch. We ate at this Hawker center, which is pretty much a food court only with REALLY good food from a variety of vendors in their stalls. We had our choice of Indian, Chinese, Korean, fruit stand, Japanese, etc... I had this Roti Prata bread, which is a thin dough that is super tasty and served with curry.
We all were pretty tired after our late lunch & practically crawled back to the hotel. We put Scarlett down for a nap & the rest of us decided to close our eyes for a few minutes. Well... 3.5 hours later we all were waking up at 7:00 pm!! Yikes! Uber big mistake when trying to adjust the body to the new time zone!
We managed to make it out of the hotel & wandered the 2 blocks to the Singapore Art Museum which was a few blocks from our hotel. I found out that they have free admission on Friday nights, so it was a no brainer activity for us. There was some really interesting modern pieces by up and coming young artists. Mostly they seemed interested in land, politics, and other social issues for their subject matter. We barely made it out of there alive due to the fact that we all were hungry, especially the kids. I thought Audrey was going to lose her marbles if we stayed another minute. Usually she handles art museums & galleries very well as she has frequented them regularly since she was a zygote.
We went to dinner at another hawker center where we had Indian, steamed buns & freshly squeezed juices. Again, barely making it out alive due to exhaustion, we managed to find our way back to the hotel and crashed, eventually. Except for those of us awake writing blog entries.
The Flights Over were as smooth as glass!
Wednesday & Thursday, April 13-14: Days 1 & 2
The girls did AMAZING on the flights! This was the one part of the trip that I felt we were as prepared as we could be and the rest was in Audrey & Scarlett's hands (who am I kidding? That pretty much describes all of our vacations and really just life in general!). We took off from Denver at 9:30 am on the 2+ hour flight to LAX. Of course before we had even left the ground in Denver, Audrey asked a couple of times if we were there yet and Scarlett did her best wet octopus impression. Most of the 1st flight was like this, which made us a bit nervous for the 18+ hours we still had ahead of us. We had enough time in LAX to get lunch and let the girls walk around a bit before boarding the 11 hour flight to Tokyo, Japan (landing there around 4:00pm local time). The girls settled into the long haul nicely with Scarlett sleeping 1.5 hours and Audrey about 3. About 7 hours into the flight, Audrey said, "We have been on this plane for a really long, long, long, long (repeated quickly for 60+ seconds in an exasperated tone) time! I'm getting really frustrated here!" Occasional walks around the plane helped with this frustration. Flying over Japan was stunning. The cloud cover was heavy, but we could see the mountain ranges peaking above the clouds, which was just lovely. The Narita airport had a nice kid's play area that the girls took advantage of to run off some energy. Then it was onto the final 7 hour leg to Singapore. I was nervous that there would be massive revolt among the little people over getting on 1 more plane, but each time Scarlett exclaimed wildly, "YEA! Nuh hairpane!" (another airplane) They were both exhausted by the time we got on this plane, as it was about 4:00 am for them with little sleep. Audrey's reaction to this madness: "I was on 1 plane for 2 hours. Then another for 11 hours. Then another for 7 hours? I feel almost dead. I feel really weird." By the time we got settled into the flight, it was 7:00pm local time, which set us up well for getting acclimated to the time change. Audrey slept about 4.5 hours & Scarlett about 6, which was awesome. When we landed in Singapore, Scarlett looked a little worse for wear and I asked her, "So are you ready to get on another airplane?" She blinked a few times, looked at me like I was mad, then slowly nodded her head yes. She looked relieved when I said I was just kidding and that we had arrived in Singapore!
So 3 flights and 17,522 miles later, we are safely here!
The girls did AMAZING on the flights! This was the one part of the trip that I felt we were as prepared as we could be and the rest was in Audrey & Scarlett's hands (who am I kidding? That pretty much describes all of our vacations and really just life in general!). We took off from Denver at 9:30 am on the 2+ hour flight to LAX. Of course before we had even left the ground in Denver, Audrey asked a couple of times if we were there yet and Scarlett did her best wet octopus impression. Most of the 1st flight was like this, which made us a bit nervous for the 18+ hours we still had ahead of us. We had enough time in LAX to get lunch and let the girls walk around a bit before boarding the 11 hour flight to Tokyo, Japan (landing there around 4:00pm local time). The girls settled into the long haul nicely with Scarlett sleeping 1.5 hours and Audrey about 3. About 7 hours into the flight, Audrey said, "We have been on this plane for a really long, long, long, long (repeated quickly for 60+ seconds in an exasperated tone) time! I'm getting really frustrated here!" Occasional walks around the plane helped with this frustration. Flying over Japan was stunning. The cloud cover was heavy, but we could see the mountain ranges peaking above the clouds, which was just lovely. The Narita airport had a nice kid's play area that the girls took advantage of to run off some energy. Then it was onto the final 7 hour leg to Singapore. I was nervous that there would be massive revolt among the little people over getting on 1 more plane, but each time Scarlett exclaimed wildly, "YEA! Nuh hairpane!" (another airplane) They were both exhausted by the time we got on this plane, as it was about 4:00 am for them with little sleep. Audrey's reaction to this madness: "I was on 1 plane for 2 hours. Then another for 11 hours. Then another for 7 hours? I feel almost dead. I feel really weird." By the time we got settled into the flight, it was 7:00pm local time, which set us up well for getting acclimated to the time change. Audrey slept about 4.5 hours & Scarlett about 6, which was awesome. When we landed in Singapore, Scarlett looked a little worse for wear and I asked her, "So are you ready to get on another airplane?" She blinked a few times, looked at me like I was mad, then slowly nodded her head yes. She looked relieved when I said I was just kidding and that we had arrived in Singapore!
So 3 flights and 17,522 miles later, we are safely here!
Experiencing technical difficulties...
So sorry we have not posted yet! While in Singapore we could not get on any wifi networks and here in Penang our connection to the Stelzers' network has been spotty. I've been typing up posts and will begin posting shortly!
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Testing, testing... 1, 2, 3...
Crazy to think we haven't left the country in 3 years! We are at it again starting tomorrow. Off for 19 days to Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Hong Kong. The Stelzers have once again motivated us to travel to Asia as they are now stationed in Penang, Malaysia! Here is our itinerary:
Arrive in Singapore on Thursday April 14 at midnight & stay until Sunday the 17th. We'll spend the time there getting our bodies used to the time change. Oh, which reminds me, everywhere we will be is 14 hours ahead of MST, except Thailand, which is 13 hours ahead of Denver.
Then off to Penang to hang with Tim, Laurel and little Miles until Wednesday the 20th. Tim & Laurel have proven in the past to be amazing hosts! They have been living there since August 2010.
We'll then fly north to southern Thailand to the island of Phuket. We'll spend 5 days (April 20-25) relaxing on the beaches. We'll spend the first 2 days in the Kata Beach area, on the southwestern side of the island. Then we'll hop on a ferry and spend the night on Ko Phi Phi Don (island) which is between Phuket & the Thailand peninsula. We'll then hop back over to Phuket for 2 more nights, but we'll stay on the northwestern side at Kamala Beach (closer to the airport).
From there, on April 25th, we'll head to northern Thailand and spend 4 full days in the city of Chiang Mai. While the southern part of Thailand is known for it's beaches, the northern part is known for it's culture, hills and elephants! Audrey is excited about the elephants, but Scarlett.... well, we'll see when we get there. She keeps looking at me like I'm crazy when I ask if she'd like to ride on one.
On April 28th we head south to Bangkok for just 1 night. Mostly this move is just to get us to the airport in Bangkok which was really the only cheap flight we could get to Hong Kong. I'm hoping we get to Bangkok in time to catch some boxing that evening, but we'll see.
Then bright and early on April 29th, we fly out to Hong Kong where we will spend some time checking out the city by ourselves before we head over to the Sai Kung area, which is where our friends, the Allbrittons, live. Audrey & their daughter Chase went to preschool together last year and their other daughter Madoc is 5 months older than Scarlett. May the squealing commence!
We'll stay with the Allbrittons for 2 nights before we head out on Sunday May 1. We leave at 11:30 that morning & will arrive home at 2:30 that afternoon! Hey it's only a 3 hour flight! HA!!
And that's it in a nutshell. We will plan to update along the way, so check back to see how we are doing! Wish us well as we embark on our first international adventure as a family of FOUR!!
Arrive in Singapore on Thursday April 14 at midnight & stay until Sunday the 17th. We'll spend the time there getting our bodies used to the time change. Oh, which reminds me, everywhere we will be is 14 hours ahead of MST, except Thailand, which is 13 hours ahead of Denver.
Then off to Penang to hang with Tim, Laurel and little Miles until Wednesday the 20th. Tim & Laurel have proven in the past to be amazing hosts! They have been living there since August 2010.
We'll then fly north to southern Thailand to the island of Phuket. We'll spend 5 days (April 20-25) relaxing on the beaches. We'll spend the first 2 days in the Kata Beach area, on the southwestern side of the island. Then we'll hop on a ferry and spend the night on Ko Phi Phi Don (island) which is between Phuket & the Thailand peninsula. We'll then hop back over to Phuket for 2 more nights, but we'll stay on the northwestern side at Kamala Beach (closer to the airport).
From there, on April 25th, we'll head to northern Thailand and spend 4 full days in the city of Chiang Mai. While the southern part of Thailand is known for it's beaches, the northern part is known for it's culture, hills and elephants! Audrey is excited about the elephants, but Scarlett.... well, we'll see when we get there. She keeps looking at me like I'm crazy when I ask if she'd like to ride on one.
On April 28th we head south to Bangkok for just 1 night. Mostly this move is just to get us to the airport in Bangkok which was really the only cheap flight we could get to Hong Kong. I'm hoping we get to Bangkok in time to catch some boxing that evening, but we'll see.
Then bright and early on April 29th, we fly out to Hong Kong where we will spend some time checking out the city by ourselves before we head over to the Sai Kung area, which is where our friends, the Allbrittons, live. Audrey & their daughter Chase went to preschool together last year and their other daughter Madoc is 5 months older than Scarlett. May the squealing commence!
We'll stay with the Allbrittons for 2 nights before we head out on Sunday May 1. We leave at 11:30 that morning & will arrive home at 2:30 that afternoon! Hey it's only a 3 hour flight! HA!!
And that's it in a nutshell. We will plan to update along the way, so check back to see how we are doing! Wish us well as we embark on our first international adventure as a family of FOUR!!
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