January 26, 2014

January 26, 2014 – Saying goodbye to Ken and Dina then on to Hong Kong

After goodbyes  Ken headed off to his THIRD, and final, golf game of his tournament, in yet another dapper outfit !!!

 

We spent the balance of the day with Dina, packing, relaxing, sharing photos... then we said our goodbyes and headed off to the airport to fly to Hong Kong.  AirAsia is truly a NO FRILLS airline .... I have never been so jammed into a seat as I could barely get my purse under the seat ahead of me (no way I could fit my carry on bag in anything but the overhead compartment !!) .  The flight attendants welcomed us on board and then ... disappeared, as we were not offered ANYTHING ... not even a glass of water over our entire 3 ½ hour flight !!!  ( I got a chuckle as they came through the cabin just before landing to collect garbage.  Garbage from what ????   All those snacks and drinks ???  I think not ..... ). 

We arrived in Hong Kong about 7:30 pm and took the MTR system (mass transit railway) from the airport to the hotel.  Again, its a very slick system much like our Canada Line .... very easy to figure out (as long as you have a map) and a very efficient way to move around the city !!

Park Lane Hotel is very nice and right across from Victoria Park where there is a night market going on in celebration of Chinese New Year.  The market is a BUSTLE of activity with SWARMS of people arriving each afternoon and staying well into the night  ..... fun to watch from the 27th floor !!

We arrived a bit hungry so we headed up to  RIVA ... the hotel’s deck top restaurant where we enjoyed sliders and a FABULOUS view of the harbor and Kowloon, across the water from where we are.  Tomorrow we check out the city .....

 

January 25, 2014 - .... but I don't speak Cantonese !!!!

.......Let me just start by explaining that I have been unable to post for the last bunch of days because after we arrived in Hong Kong (and my intention was to catch up on the blogging in the hotel !!) whenever I tried to go to the website, it came up in Cantonese.  As you might imagine, this put me at a great disadvantage and I was unable to catch up.  However, I seemed to have worked around the problem and plan to catch up on the last bunch of days as we sit out at the airport waiting for our flight home to Vancouver !!! ........

So here we go ......January 25, 2014 – Last evening together in Phuket ....

Cam and Ken headed off to Red Mountain Golf Course, to play in day two of the SLAG tournament .... in their fancy “golf outfits” which are specially made each year for the tournament.  AND the players have new outfits for each day !!  These are the outfits for the Saturday that Cam joined the group to play.  No problem picking them out on the course .....

 

 

 

 

The plan was for a relaxing catch up day for Dina and I .... Dina, who spent 3 hours driving the boys to the golf course and back, winding her way through terrible traffic,  (not so relaxing) ... and me, who spent a frustrating number of hours trying to blog with a computer that is waaaaay too slow & not cooperating.  (also not exactly relaxing). 

Needless to say,  Dina and I headed off to the beach in the afternoon,  for a VERY relaxing hour long massage !!  Lovely ....  (no photos of us sprawled out on the beachside massage huts ... thankfully !!  )  :-)

Home for a clean up and we then headed to the Adaman Grill right on the beach, for a beautiful dinner and a STUNNING sunset.

 

 

 

Sharing plates of appetizers .... phenomenal food. 

No wonder they call Thailand "The kitchen of Asia" .....

 

 

After dinner, we headed off to pick the boys up from their day of golf.  (Luckily the traffic was nowhere near as bad as Dina had experienced in the morning.)

 The golf tournament sounds like it was GREAT fun.  The players were all dress in those godly awful outfits .... looking pretty dapper & easy to spot !?!?!

Red Mountain Golf Course was apparently gorgeous (photos don’t do it justice !)  but VERY challenging.  Cam enjoyed it immensely even though he wasn’t happy with his game (apparently Tiger Woods has no need to feel threatened.) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

January 24, 2014

January 24, 2014

After breakfast, Dina drove Ken to the first day of his golf tournament and Cam and I went to a presentation by the hotel ... short as it turned out, because we were not much interested into buying into their vacation properties !!   :-0

 

 

Lunch by the pool .....

 

 

We met Dina for lunch and then did a driving tour of the island, along the coastline and through Phuket Town.  Its an INSANE place to drive with scooters cutting lanes and weaving in and out of traffic .... and NO ONE wears helmets here ... none of the multiple passengers on these scooters (the record we’ve seen is 4 on one bike !!)  CRAZY !!!

 

Cam took a turn driving .... if you look through the windshield, you can see how narrow the streets are.  What's left between that car coming towards us, is ours to share with scooters !!

 

SERIOUSLY ......

 

 

 

Cam LOVED this .... how is that for " fancy wiring" !?!?

 

The coastline was picturesque and the more private beaches are quiet. 

 

 

 

The public beaches however, were PACKED – a sea of umbrellas and bodies (most of whom should NOT be in bikini’s or “budgie smugglers” as the men's suits are known.)

  YIKES is the only word for it. 

It makes for interesting people-watching, needless to say.

 

 

 

HEAT and CROWDS ... two of my least favorite things .... so  we came, we saw, we carried on....(quickly) ..... to meet up with Ken, who was at Blue Canyon golf course.

We met Ken at the BEAUTIFUL Blue Canyon golf course where his golf group (THE SLAGS ... Singapore Lager and Golf Society) was playing at. 

 

 

 

 Apparently the course they play at tomorrow (Red Mountain Golf Course -the one
Cam will be joining them on) is one of the most beautiful courses in the world !!) 

  Snack and drinks, and then back to the resort ... for more food and drink !!

Dinner was at Cuccina, a lovely Italian restaurant at the resort ... lamb chops, lamb ragu on fresh pasta and homemade pizza and calzones.  YUMMY !!!

January 23, 2014 .... slowly catching up with the blogging !!!

January 23, 2014

Now we get to see our resort in the day light and it really IS gorgeous. 

How cute is this ??  These little towel animals are everywhere in our room ....

 

Our BEAUTIFUL and very quiet beach .... it goes for miles !!!

 

This is Ken’s only “day off” from is "strenuous" golf tournament schedule, so we headed up island for a fabulous lunch right on the beach ....  Thai food is absolutely delicious ...SO fresh and flavorful.  We feasted on  chicken in coconut & lemongrass soup, breaded prawns, rice, stir fried greens and spring rolls.

 

 

 

 

After lunch, we took a long boat over to the beautiful rock formations of Ao Phang-Nga – an area made famous with the filming of James Bond’s “The Man With The Golden Gun”.  It’s SO famous, they actually named one of the rock formations James Bond Island and it is a very popular tourist spot !!  These long boats are interesting, especially the motors .... they are old & clunky things with a looooong drive shaft into the water, and a little prop on the end.  The boats themselves are long and skinny (hence the name) old & open but quite comfy.   Our driver was funny – racing some of the other boats and weaving his way in and around all the kayakers around James Bond Island.

Here's one of the long boats .... check out THAT rooster tail.

 

Cam was FASCINATED with these motors !!!

 

 The rock formations are magnificent and the small islands covered in mango groves are so scenic.  It’s a very different coast line to what Cam and I are familiar with !! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We stopped for a drink (non-alcoholic, as we were in a Muslim community) in a floating “village” .... very rustic.... then back to the dock and back home to get cleaned up for dinner.

 

 

 

 

We had dinner at a GREAT seafood restaurant  off that Ken and Dina had been to last time they were here ..... off in the trees ..... and enjoyed a fabulous meal of crab and corn cakes, a delicious fish dish (specialty of the restaurant), prawns, greens.  Again ... very fresh and flavorful.  Did I mention how fabulous Thai food is??   J

January 22, 2014 - Last day in Singapore and off to Phuket

January 22, 2014 – Last day in Singapore and off to Phuket

Today was a hang out & pack day, although we did manage to head out for a fabulous lunch at Jamie’s Italian – Jamie Oliver’s new Italian restaurant nearby the apartment.  It was absolutely delicious ... and a very beautiful spot.

 

Crab and avocado bruschetta

 

 

Homemade tagliatelle pasta and a pear, prosciutto & Parmesan salad .... gorgeous !!!

 

 

 

CHEERS !!!

 

Hayden, I took this next photo for you !!  THIS was at the entrance to a toy store.  The whole lion is made out of Lego (your favorite) and it is TALLER than Grandpa.... pretty impressive display !!! 

Loveyoumissyou and Bentley too ....

 oxoxoxoxoxoxo

 

Then it was back home to pack and get organised to leave.  Ken and Dina will be heading  back to Singapore after we part ways in Phuket, and then they head off for three weeks of travelling the islands west of Bali, and north to Sulawesi !!  Meanwhile, their apartment is being packed up and moved back to Melbourne !!  They need to be very organised because at that point they won’t have access to their things for another 6 weeks or so !!!  Such world travellers .....  :-)

The evening flight to Phuket was a quick hop ... we actually spent more time in the Quantas lounge (thank you Ken !!)  than we did in the air.  THAT makes travelling SO MUCH MORE pleasant .... nice dinner,  wine, beer, champagne .... “the only way to fly” .....  I could get very used to that !!!

After our quick flight, we arrived at the Marriott Mai Khao Beach Resort, to a gorgeous 2 bedroom apartment, complete with our own private pool and beautiful public pools and lush gardens just beyond our gate.  We took a walk around the grounds out to the beach and to the other Marriott complex next door.  They are both, absolutely beautiful spots .... we are in for a TREAT !!!!

 

January 21, 2014 - lunch (a little taste of home !! ) and then the River & Night Safaris

January 21, 2014

Breakfast & cappuccinos and a little face timing with David and Bob &
Betty, then we headed on the MRT to yet another very cool building .....

where we enjoyed lunch at ..... (wait for it) ..... THE WHITE SPOT !! 

 

. ..complete with photos of the original building on Granville Street, and the story of the “car hop”.  The server was suitably impressed that we lived in Vancouver and had actually BEEN to the original restaurant.  Well, OK .... he was maybe 15 years old and didn’t understand a word of what I was saying, but he DID understand that we wanted our photo taken !!  A White Spot in Singapore .... who knew ????

 

 

After lunch we met up with Ken and headed out to the River Safari and Night Safari Wildlife Parks .... two amazing conservation parks.  River Safari Park educates about the amazing wildlife around the world’s freshwater (river) systems complete with fish and animals from all over the world (in their “natural” enclaves), including Kai Kai and Jia Jia, Singapore’s two giant pandas, and a red panda (which looks more like a fox).

 

 

 

 

Kai Kai (the male) is having a little nap ....

Jai Jai (the female) is very shy and was NOT coming out of her den.

 

I LOVE these little macaques

 

 

The Night Safari is an evening-time drive around the grounds of an adjacent park, to see wild, nocturnal animals.  Many of the animals in these parks are endangered and the parks run a conservation and re-population program .....

 

January 20, 2014 - touring Singapore

January 20, 2014

Cam, Dina and I went to the Asian Civilisations Museum (where Dina is a docent) for a lecture on Gillgamesh , then lunch on the river followed by a private tour by Dina, of the museum.  Asian history is fascinating and its Dina's specialty ....

 

 

 

A walk along the river .....

 

 

 

 

 The Marina Bay Sands Hotel is in the background, and of course, a LION - the symbol of Singapore !!

 

Cam and I on a very cool pedestrian bridge in front of the old Post Office.

 

A fun bronze statue of boys jumping into the river ....

 

We walked along the river around to the Long Bar in the famous Raffle’s Hotel for a (very expensive) Singapore Sling .... a drink invented there (and also the first drink I had with Cam on our first date !!  Awww......)  J

 

 

 

How beautiful is this hotel ????

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back home to meet up with Ken and we all headed to the restaurant,  JUMBO, for their renowned “Pepper Crab” .... SO DELICIOUS !!