Bangkok revisited (Perry)

After our live-aboard trip to the Similan Islands, Jen and I have decided it's time to head to northern Thailand and with that, we decided to stop over in Bangkok once again. This time, we avoided the Khao San Road area and stayed with Thip, one of Jen's host sisters. The area where she lives is called Meng Jai and, as we discovered, was a very close taxi ride (80 THB) to the some great shopping (i.e. MBK, Central World, Siam Square, Siam Center, etc.). Of course we only discovered this after spending the better part of our first day walking and taking the subway/skytrain, which was also fun. (Well, maybe not the walking in the blazing heat part so much . . . )

So what did we do in Bangkok our second time around? We ate, and ate very well! Jen's host sister Thip is a chef and restaurant owner so when it comes to eating out, she knows what to order. The food we ate was very tasty and very different from the standard tourist Thai food we've been eating. Also, Thip and her restaurant are being featured in Bazaar Thailand (magazine) so one of the days we accompanied her to the photoshoot at Cakewalk (her restaurant). It was very exciting but mostly Jen and I just sat around and, you guessed it, ate. An added bonus was that Jen ran into one of her old classmates from Santa Cruz Convent. "Fah" kept us company all day as well.

On the second night, we visitied with one of Jen's friends "Oh" and went to a posh restaurant called Zense, located on the 16th floor of the Central World Plaza building. Good food and good company was accompanied by our first bottle of red wine in over two months. Suffice it to say, we had a good time. The next couple of days were filled with Jen and I getting our Laos and Cambodia visas, extending our Thailand visa, and visiting with the rest of Jen's host family.

I was able to get my nerd on by going and seeing the Watchmen which coincidently was playing here when we arrived. Usually, for movies that I hype up I don't come to the realization that it wasn't good for months, but this movie was the exception. While I still the love the story, the movie was disappointing.

Anyways, we thoroughly filled up our four days in Bangkok and for me, I'm so glad that we got a chance to revisit because I feel that I saw a more real side of Bangkok.

We want to thank Jen's host family for such a wonderful time staying with them. Thank you to Thip and Art for helping us to find our way around, giving us the most comfortable bed we have slept in since with left home, and of course keeping our bellies full of amazing Thai food. And especially thank you for taking us to Bangkhuntien to visit Mama, Papa, Jin, Lek, Nee, and Jan. We love you!! And also thank you to "Oh" for taking time out to spend with us. We love you too!

Hi to everyone at home . . . we miss you and love you too!

For photos go to http://gallery.me.com/adamschen

Similan & Surin Islands (Jen)

Now that it has all gone smoothly, I am finally allowed to tell you that Perry joined me in scuba diving. That's right, our "beginner swimmer" is now PADI open water certified! (Thanks in no small part to our super relaxed and patient dive instructor Dan.) It was a perfect situation really, as I needed a bit of a refresher as well. It turned out to be just Perry and I diving with Dan, so we had a lot of personal attention. And, when Perry decided that four dives a day for four days might be a little much for his first time diving, I essentially had my own personal guide. It was fabulous! We saw so much amazing marine life. I also completed my advanced diver course on the boat, which allows me to dive deeper, at night, etc.

We had an absolutely fantastic time on the liveaboard (Manta Queen II). I believe we have now been officially spoiled however. I.e. Why would I carry my own equipment, when on our liveaboard it was just nicely set up for me with a full tank 4 times a day? Why would I dive in poor visibility, when I am used to the gorgeous clear waters near Similan and Surin, which were also teeming with marine life? Needless to say, it was incredible. The boat itself was great too. All we did was sleep, eat and dive, literally. (We ate about 5 amazing meals per day!) Everyone on the boat was super friendly as well - it was just a great atmosphere.

Highlights included:
-> seeing Manta Ray (so massive and graceful), leopard shark, octopus, and other crazy stuff
-> braving the current at the "Dome of Doom", hanging on the ascent line for my life and flapping like a flag in the wind (don't worry, our beginner swimmer sat that one out)
-> learning about all of the fish and other marine life we saw each dive (which, sadly, I already cannot recall all of the names - as you can probably tell from the photos)
-> night diving and seeing the phosphoresent plankton (at least I think that is what it was) glowing when you move your hand back and forth
-> assuring Perry it was ok that he used up 200 bar of air in a 30 minute dive . . . ;-)
-> And of course, just enjoying the completely relaxing boat life

For photos of diving, taken by us (on the surface), and our instructor Dan (below the surface) check out http://gallery.me.com/adamschen

Khao Lak (Jen)

Ah, I am sooo relaxed. I think it has finally hit me that I do not need to see everything, do everything, or think about going back to work for another 10 months or so. (sorry for rubbing that in . . .) I’ve finally realized that it is ok to spend an entire day just reading and lazing about. That is what Khao Lak has done for both Perry and I.

We arrived with a plan to stay one or two days. Just long enough to organize a liveaboard to Similan Islands so that I could do a bit of diving prior to heading back to Bangkok and then up north. We had both firmly declared that we were beached out and it was time to move on. But, I felt I would regret it if I didn’t do any diving here. (I’ve been told that Similan Islands is some of the best diving in the world.)

Things changed. First we checked into our super cute, comfortable, and cheap bungalow. Then we rented a scooter and realized that there are a multitude of near deserted beaches within 10 minutes of here. Then we realized that there is a fantastic noodle soup stand right across the street from our bungalow. Then we met some of the nice and super relaxed locals in this area. Needless to say, we have been here for almost a week now. =)

We’ve spent our days on the beach playing in the waves, driving around checking out waterfalls, exploring back roads, and testing out local “restaurants” with super cheap and tasty (yet very spicy) food. We went to the market yesterday to check out all that was on offer. A great market with tons to buy, and of course tons to eat. As usual, Perry indulged in the meats, and I in the sweet Thai deserts. Sticky rice with banana cooked in banana leaf, young coconut juice . . . sooo good! I swear I will gain 300 lbs before we leave Thailand. I’m almost hoping that the food in Laos and Cambodia won’t be as good. I know I will be hopeless in Vietnam . . .

I have finally gotten around to organizing the diving. We leave tomorrow for a 4 day excursion to Similan Islands. I’m a little nervous about diving again after so long, but the company has offered me a thorough “refresher course” and a near dedicated instructor, so that has calmed my fears a bit. We’ll update again upon our return to Khao Lak.

Love to you all. As always check out photo gallery for more of our adventures. http://gallery.me.com/adamschen

Krabi (Perry)

After leaving Khao Sok, which I also thought was fantastic by the way, we decided to go a bit more south and head to Krabi. Krabi town was the first place that Jen and I had not booked a place in advance and at first, it appeared as if our plan would backfire. Based on the Lonely Planet “Bible”, the Chan Cha Lay was the place to be...clean and cheap bungalows . . . but alas the place was booked. So, we decided to walk the streets and after about 5 minutes (did I mention that I overpacked and my bag was killing me after 5 minutes) we settled on the Cha Guest House. In this situation, first impressions were deceiving as the place turned out to be quite a find. The same can be said for Krabi town.

In our plans, Krabi town was only going be a jumping ground to Railay Beach which we’d heard so many good things about. So, after the first night, we repacked and headed to the pier to take a taxi boat to Railay. Upon arrival at East Railay, we set out on finding accommodation. The first place we checked out was the Ya Ya, which was decent but did not warrant double in price of Cha Guest House in Krabi town. We still had hope and continued our search, but soon realized that the Ya Ya was the standard. Long story short, after about 2 hours, we headed back on the boat and checked back into Cha. Did we jump the gun? Were we to quick to judge Railay Beach? Just to give perspective, a very nice girl named Nicole that we met on the ride in joined us on the ride back.

(For those who love Railay, we later learned from our climbing guide that electricity had recently been run under the water to provide power to the many large and expensive resorts on West Railay. East Railay, which apparently was always not really suitable for swimming due to mangrove trees, etc. is now not suitable for swimming due to inadequate clean up from this project and many work trucks leaking oil into the water.)

Over the next couple of days, Jen and I began to really like Krabi town. The town had a charm to it and our accommodation turned out to be pretty good. Also, within a 5 minute walk was a night market which served amazing and cheap food. Did someone say cheap food!! We definitely ate well in Krabi town. The Thai desserts and fresh Chinese donuts with Thai tea were Jen's favorite. For me, it was the bone marrow spicy soup.

In addition, we decided to sign up for a 3 day mountain climbing course which would cover everything from top rope climbing to lead climbing. I can’t speak for Jen but I was pretty excited. While I’ve done some indoor, climbing was totally new to Jen and also, I’ve always wanted to learn to lead climb. In addition, the climbing course took place at Railay and Phra Nang beaches, which allowed us to enjoy the beautiful beaches around that area during the day, without having to stay in dirty East Railay, or pay top dollar to stay in West Railay either.

Over the course of the next 4 days (thankfully they gave us a day off in between the 2nd and third day so that we could regain feeling in our fingers), Jen and I scaled some pretty amazing routes and learned a pretty cool new hobby, thanks mostly to our great guide named Solay. If ever there was a sport that needed a calm and composed coach, this was it. Solay was both and more. Eventually, Jen and I both learned to lead climb with the help of a top rope for extra security, but on the third day, I completed three lead climbs all on my own!!! To say the least, I was stoked when they were done, but the way up was a combination of nerves and sweat...a lot of sweat.

In total, we spent about a week in Krabi and I definitely think that this and Khao Sok have been my favorite places so far. We’re now on our way to Khao Lak and I can’t wait to see what happens next.

For more photos, go to http://gallery.me.com/adamschen

Khao Sok National Park (Jen)

As you can probably tell if you have checked our photo gallery lately, Khao Sok was my favorite place we have visited so far. We took so many photos! It might be because this is the first “new” place for me, but I think it is more because it is an absolutely gorgeous place. We did some fantastic and challenging hikes. The “waterfalls” at the end of the trails cannot really rival those we are used to at home, but the trails themselves were gorgeous.

We stayed at a very quaint guesthouse called “Our Jungle House”, run by a quirky German Klaus and his Thai wife Pawn. We truly were in the Jungle. At night you can hear so many different animal sounds and see so many stars. On the hikes you can see so many different types of vegetation. We also saw a lot of wildlife, including monkeys, gibbons, couple of snakes, lizards, frogs, wild pig, hornbill, and of course bats. We tired to take photos, but aren’t so proficient with our camera yet . . .

We took a two day trip to Cheow Lan Lake to hike through Namtaloo Cave (also part of the park, but a bit far off). It was a little unnerving in there, walking through water up to your chest with tons of bats hanging overhead. But, it was a pretty cool experience. We stayed in floating raft houses which were great because you can just jump out your front door into the nice clean water of the lake. They weren’t great though, because I’m pretty sure that they have not been cleaned for a long, long time, or perhaps ever. We stayed with some cool people there as well, mostly German and Dutch. It was a small group of 9 which was a good size. I was happy with safety in numbers in that cave! I was excited though, to let Devan know that his Auntie Jen actually went to the “bat cave” after all. I have a feeling he wouldn’t like it as much as he thinks he would . . . ;-)

If felt great to get some exercise after so many days laying on the beach, and the nights were quite cool which made for good sleeps too. Lots of mosquitoes, but you can’t have it all. =)

For more photos go to http://gallery.me.com/adamschen

Koh Samui (Perry)

As I'm writing this Jen and I are actually in Khao Sok National Park, but I feel that I need to touch upon our time in Koh Samui. Of the 2 previous islands we visited, Samui was the biggest and by far the most developed. As such, Jen and I decided that after roughing it Thailand style, we needed some luxury. Hello Anong Guest House.

Arriving by ferry, we were whisked away by taxi to the main beach area of Samui, Haad Cheweng. To get an idea of Cheweng, all you need to know is that there’s a Starbucks, MacDonald’s and Burger King all on the same street. After walking the streets, we settled on Anong Guest House, a decent place tucked in off the main drag. For 800 baht a night, we had air conditioning, hot water, and a toilet that flushed. We had found paradise. Or so we thought.

After a couple of nights in Samui, passing the time checking out the street markets and visiting some of the bars, we figured we were done with the island. And honestly this had nothing to do with both Jen and I getting destroyed in Connect 4 by a super friendly Thai “bar girl”. Seriously, this girl beat us 20 times in a row. No, we were done with the chaos of it all. Plus, we had quickly realized that our “luxury” guesthouse was a little too near the main nightclub “Green Mango” and as a result we weren’t actually getting much rest.

Anyways, on the third and what we thought last day, we were walking the streets looking for a place to book our boat off the island and we were stopped by a Thai guy named Cola. He was obviously selling something but he was pleasant enough and we had nowhere to be so we decided to humor him and play the scratch cards he had thrust into our hands. After checking Jen’s he became very excited. He pleaded with us to listen to some sort of “presentation” for one hour. If we did, he would receive $100 USD from his boss. He also assured us that Jen had won one of four prizes on the back of the card, one of which was a week in a 5 star resort.

Well, we were pretty skeptical, but we agreed, mostly due to Cola’s full-on excitement. Long story short, turns out we actually DID win something, and so spent the following 5 nights at Samui Cliff View Resort. A huge step up from the Anong guesthouse. This place was NICE and obviously a bit more expensive than what was in our initial budget. We both agreed it was time to enjoy a proper honeymoon and decided to stay in Koh Samui a few more days.

An added bonus to the place was that it was right in between two beaches (Lamai and Chewang) so the only economic way to get around was by scooter. That’s right, I finally realized my European dream of driving a scooter. Never mind that it was an automatic and that I nearly drove into on-coming traffic when I first fired it up, it was still a scooter. So for the next few days, Jen and I drove our “hog” around and tore up the island roads, enjoyed the gorgeous pool and views at Samui Cliff View, and did not eat in the hotel’s overpriced restaurant. (Well, ok, we did once . . . )

For photos, as always, visit http://gallery.me.com/adamschen