It's Not Always Sunny in Thailand
Even though we live in paradise, it's been nice to have interesting weather as a change from one hot sunny day after a damn 'nother!
Further Hamster Adventures in Hua Hin
This post was supposed to contain a much longer and funnier account of how we failed to smuggle Ip Man onto the Hua Hin to Bangkok coach, and after a short argument, and a couple of failed attempts at alternative transport home, ended up making the trip in a driven-much-too-fast taxi with a 'No Pets' sign in the window at a terrifying 140kph.
Supposed to. Only the posterous app for iPhone was so in awe of my pictures of kite surfers and whiskey drinking hamsters that it forgot to send the rambling text. So now you get this instead. I'll try to remember to copy the text before pressing send in future to avoid disappointemnt.
The Aliens Have Landed
For some reason, there is a huge white alien at the North end of the main beach at Hua Hin... flanked by giant eggs. Maybe it's to commemorate how an ancient invasion was repelled from Hua Hin by a giant egg hurling alien? Or not.
No Pets Allowed in Hua Hin
We squeezed 6 of us (4 adults, 1 toddler and a hamster) into a friends car for the 4 hour drive to Hua Hin in holiday traffic, after the rental company we booked a hire car with lost our reservation - and so didn't have any cars left for us when we went to collect.
The unseasonal weather was still in full force as we left Bangkok with some spots of rain, but happily, the further south we came the sunnier it got. Unhappily. as we left our hotel's reception to head up to our rooms and freshen up... The duty manager stopped us and said that there was a strict no pets policy, and Ip would have to stay at the kennels down the street - which, of course, was closed for Songkran. The hotel then offered to let him stay outside in a shack with any hungry snakes, rats and spiders...
After failing to find any other hotels in the area with rooms left, we were just about to give up and endure another 4 hour taxi ride back to Bangkok. But, thankfully a friend of a friend with an apartment in the area saved us at the last moment and offered Ip a room in what appears to be the rather pet unfriendly city of Hua Hin.
Anyway crisis averted, and we're enjoying the weather and wondering how long we'll manage to get away before being soaked by a passing pickup full of Songkran commandos wielding buckets of icy water...
1 Kilo Burger!
At Cafe Europe on Sukhumvit soi 20, they are serving a monster burger that contains a kilo of meat... that's enough for 9 quarter pounders, or 22 McDonalds hamburgers!
The whole thing including fries, salad and a giant cola is free if you can finish it inside 3 hours... on the night of our visit, there had been 106 attempts, with 99 outright fails, 1 disqualification for throwing up right after finishing, and 6 winners. Or ฿1000 if you want to share, which we did, and all 3 of us were decidedly overfull by the time we were done.
The burger itself was delicious, but I need 3 hungry friends to join me for the next outing! Although the tapas menu also looks good for our next visit :-)
Ip is a Happy Hamster today
First Thai Christmas
Having spent Christmas in the capital of the (predominantly Catholic) Philippines for the last two years, we weren't entirely sure of what to expect for our first Christmas in the (predominantly Buddhist) capital of Thailand... we needn't have worried, since the expat community is large enough to ensure that Christmas is celebrated to some extent, despite it being 30ºC in the sun.
Better still, the rooftop bar and restaurant on the grounds of our apartment complex is owned by a fellow Brit expat, who laid on a lavish five-course traditional Christmas lunch. It was so lavish, in fact, that not one person finished, and most of us were defeated by the main course... and it took us most of the afternoon to eat our fill. Nonetheless, with a little extra help from two bottles of Jameson's single malt, a few bottles of red-wine, and several crates of Singha beer, a wonderful time was enjoyed by all!
(In case you're wondering what happened to the final course... it was mince pies and fruit with ice cream, but I could barely lift my fork by the time it arrived, let alone operate my camera!)
Respite in Bangkok
I had the brainwave of making our long flight between Birmingham and Bangkok a little easier by breaking it into two 6-hour stages with an overnight stop in Dubai for 10 hours. The plan was to buy access to a business or first class lounge, take a shower, use the wifi access and maybe catch 6 or 7 hours of sleep in a comfortable recliner. As it turns out, the class divide in Dubai airport is very much alive and well - and the common riff-raff are not allowed to upgrade to a better lounge; as matter of fact they have special areas to keep us in, where sleeping is not allowed and access costs US$30 per 4 hours; there are free showers with no towels, or a 15 minute walk to the luxury showers in the airport hotel at US$32 each!!
In the end, we found reasonably comfy recliners in the waiting room near our departure gate, and used the close-by free showers, drying off with the clothes we changed out of. The 10 hour layover crawled by, but we eventually arrived in Bangkok's giant airport with our nerves mostly intact last night. Better still, we have the same condo we stayed in for our last visit at the beginning of the year, with this view from our window. It's great to be back!!
Oktoberfest 2009
Here are a selection of photographs from our first full day at Daytona Beach. Nursing Wild Turkey induced hangovers, we all missed breakfast and started the day late with a ride around Daytona Beach in convoy. Then across the road from our hotel around the Nascar International Speedway, we spent the an afternoon admiring the choppers and bars at the swapmeet in the Speedway grounds, before heading back to Main Street.
