(Copied from Facebook notes)
Postcard from Pattaya - No 2

Another rainy day, so we headed to our favourite place in Pattaya (Central Festival) and caught a movie in a swish Thai cinema this afternoon. We opted to pay the extra 20 baht (40p) and get VIP seats that reclined, whilst we watched Disney's new release "G-Force". Great way to spend a couple of hours whlist the thunderstorms passed by outside - and the price for this experience - 3 quid each! Bargain.... I think we'll be heading back there on Friday when we have to entertain ourselves for 8 hours after checking out of the hotel and before our taxi comes to pick us up.

We also got to experience the best of Thai patriotism when we all had to stand and pay respects to the King as they played the Thai national anthem before the film started. Oh, and their 'switch off your phone' clip features a cute panda - beats the Orange one hands down.

The storms were here yesterday too, but cleared up in time for us to go and accomplish one of our missions for this Pattaya trip - to go and check out the baby tigers at Sriracha Tiger Zoo. Okay, this place may have had some bad press about how they are treating their animals and we did see one or two elephants that were going a bit doolally and they do keep animals in cages, but on the whole there were many other animals that seemed to be quite comfortable and it is the only way that Joe Public can go and get close to these wild animals in some way. Ethics aside, Tony got to feed his baby tiger...



Hope the weather clears up tomorrow, we're going on a boat ride to Ko Lan (Coral Island) to go fish-spotting on a glass-bottomed boat...

Labels: holidays

(Copied over from Facebook notes)
Postcard from Pattaya - No 1

Arrived safely in Pattaya yesterday and checked into our hotel - The Siam Bayview on Pattaya Beach. It's a bit old and dated, but it's really handy because it has 2 pools, is across the road from the beach and most importantly, it is right next door to Pattaya's brand spanking new shopping complex Central Festival. Important for 2 reasons: aircon and places to eat.

I think we got a bit spoiled in Bangkok because we got a deluxe suite (with kitchen and huuuuge bathroom) to ourselves when we were there, so the typical sized hotel room here with diddy bathroom isn't so great in comparison. On the bright side though, we don't need to get skytrains or taxis to go anywhere and we got a fab nights sleep because the aircon temperature in the room is just right.

Started the Pattaya leg of our food journey with Burger King ('cos Tony wanted to know if it was any different from UK - the answer, UK BK is much better). Then in the evening, we went to Sukishi - a kind of fusion Korean BBQ / Japanese Sushi place. Tad pricey for Thai standards, but still bargain at UK standards and we don't get KBBQ in the UK, so didn't need any more justification than that really. Also, BBQ king gets to show off his cooking skills...


BBQ King shows off his skills at Sukishi...

(Yeah can put pics up on this computer!!)
The set included chicken, beef, pork, scallops, octopus and tiger prawns. We also got some teriyaki pork chops just in case it wasn't enough for us.

Then we picked up some fruit, water and other provisions at the food hall - I got some fresh pomelo.


Lovely fresh pomelo!!

Said last time I'd talk about the food a bit, so here goes - with pics as well....
The guidebooks say that the best food in Thailand is served on the streets on plastic tables and chairs, but with all the traffic fumes in Bangkok, we didn't opt for this for fear that our stomachs wouldn't last til the end of the trip. Instead, the closest we got to street food was the MBK foodcourt, where you'd buy coupons to exchange for food at their indoor street market (and of course we had aircon seating too). Here's what I got for 45 baht (90p) - crispy roast pork rice and soup:


My 90p lunch at MBK.

Then there's the fair share of chain restaurants such as Mos Burger... this was my chicken teriyaki burger meal.


Mos Burger (this one's for you Kin...)

We also got our fair share of high end stuff (well, we justify this by not spending money on alcohol), but unfortunately in these places, there is a strict 'no photo' policy, so you'll just have to take my word for it. On our last night in Bangkok, we decided to splash out at the 18 pound a head 'Oishi Grand Buffet'. Even though this is the equivalent of about 75 pounds to a normal Thai worker, it still gets really busy, so we went early at about 5pm and were surprised to be told that we could stay until 10pm if we wanted. We didn't, but did get our fair share of food in, starting with a tray each of teppanyaki, then bbq tiger prawns, sashimi, sushi, tempura and then desserts. Lovely...

Right... off to do some sunbathing now that my breakfast has gone down!

Labels: food, holidays

(Copied over from Facebook notes)
Postcard from Bangkok - No 2

It's a bit rainy today, so we decided to head back to the safety of the shopping centres and as there's only so much wandering around on hard marbled floors you can do before the feet start aching, we're back in one of our favourite haunts at the rooftop internet cafe above the Paragon foodcourt. Today there are a bunch of kids here also hiding from the rain and they are all playing online games. One of them is a little kid who looks about six years old playing some war game with his headphones on and Tony is in awe of how skillful he is at his "trade".

We took an excursion out of Bangkok yesterday on a river cruise down the Chao Phraya river to the old capital at Ayuthayya. It was perfect cruising weather in the morning, just a little cloud and not too sunny nor too rainy. The temperature was just right and it was so relaxing sitting on the top deck, enjoying the scenery and counting the temples on the riverside. The sun came out when we arrived and we started off our tans with a walk through the King's Summer Palace at Bang Pa In in glorious sunshine. Final stop of the day was the ancient ruins in Ayuthayya city, quite eerie seeing the skeletons of what has been reproduced in Bangkok.

The 85km journey from Ayuthayya back to Bangkok took about an hour. Then the 3km journey from the riverside back to the hotel took about an hour and a half..... such is the crazy Bangkok traffic. Thank goodness we are staying near a skytrain station!!

Off for a seafood buffet tonight.... next postcard will talk about the food I think!!

Labels: holidays

(Copied over from Facebook notes...)
Postcard from Bangkok - No 1

Sawasdee kaaa.....

Monday evening and accidentally located a rather posh internet cafe overlooking a food court in one of Bangkok's shopping malls, so have paid my pound to get myself an internet fix.

Journey was tiring, but the A380 leg from Dubai to Bangkok was great. Pretty amazing how that pot-bellied plane manages to get into the sky. Watched four films and barely got any sleep, so was glad to get to our hotel.

Had first massage yesterday morning, which was greatly welcome, even if it brought out a couple of sore muscles from the flight and completely knocked me out for a couple of hours. Then spent the afternoon and evening checking out the largest shopping centre in Bangkok at CentralWorld - 7 floors that puts the Trafford Centre to shame!!

Took a tour to the Royal Palace this morning and it's very grand and sparkly there. Went onto check out some more shopping malls again this afternoon - MBK, Siam Discovery, Siam Centre and Siam Paragon, where we are now....

Getting in some decent shopping, having loads of laughs with Tony and of course making the most of the vast array of food!!

Pics will come later - there is no SD card slot on this PC.

Laters!!

Labels: holidays, shopping

Birthday & Culinary Highlights In Hong Kong

A combination of the global financial crisis and the pound at a record low meant that the timing of my trip to Hong Kong this month couldn't have been worse, so with the prices of stuff in the shops almost double what we would expect, we decided to spend our money on getting some good food in instead.

We flew by Finnair for the first time because they were the cheapest option and my great-uncle won't fly by anyone else after he enjoyed his last flight with them so much. The flight into Helsinki was ok, but I was too mesmerised by the snowy fields on the approach to worry too much about the short plane journey. Unusually for a European flight, we were also fed with some hot food on the way - a portion of meatballs, gravy and mash - akin to the stuff you get in Ikea restaurant, but a bit sloppier. It tasted ok, but I didn't take to the rye bread very well.

Connection at Helsinki was smooth, but it's no Changi when it comes to shopping. The plane to Hong Kong was a brand spanking new Airbus A340, probably less than a year old and with the best entertainment system I've seen on a plane so far (dare I say, even better than Singapore Airlines!). The selection of films was pretty good and I finally got to watch Wall-E. Two more bog standard airline meals later (the Finns seem to like putting pumpkin in their food) and we finally arrived in HK.

After sorting out our hotel room (we stayed at the Royal Plaza in Mongkok) and grabbing a bit of rest, we wasted no time in heading over to Langham Place, where Tony completed our first mission and acquired a special birthday present for his sis (can't tell you what it is yet, as it's a secret until March). The first evening meal was in the Langham food court and although we took a look at Pepper Lunch (as strongly recommended by my sis and her bf) the smell of black pepper was a bit overwhelming, so I opted for the Hainan chicken rice instead and Tony went for a curry.

The next day was my birthday and we had originally planned for me to go present hunting in TST, but after a lot of wandering around, I didn't actually find anything, so we headed back to Mongkok and had an early evening meal at a place called Simply Thai in Grand Century Place, downstairs from the hotel. We'd noticed that the place seemed quite busy at night, so we dropped by before the evening rush and enjoyed a special lamb cutlet green curry, salt and pepper soft-shelled crab and made-to-order Thai roast chicken, all washed down with a cooling lychee, orange and cranberry fruitshake. For HK standards, it was a tad pricey, coming in at around $450, but for food of that standard, we were prepared to pay UK food prices.




The reason we ate early was because we had tickets (thanks to a helping hand from my cuz) to go and see Hacken Lee and Alan Tam in concert at the Coliseum. The venue had been closed for a few months for refurbishment and this was only the second performance since the re-opening. The concert was a bit different from other HK pop concerts that I'd been to because there was much more of a party atmosphere and everyone got up to dance and join in - normal for a Western gig, but highly unusual for the more reserved Chinese. The stars had been sponsored to work up some "muscles" for the show, but I think it was the men in the audience who were more excited when the female dancers came on in skimpy outfits to perform some pole-dancing routines. When it was time for Hacken and Alan to strip off and show us their bits, it just deteriotated into a bit of a comedy. When Chin Ka Lok dropped by to do his stand-up guest routine, then we knew it was time for a laugh. Oh, and the music wasn't bad either - a full 3 hours of old classics and new hits, with Hacken proving that his voice is just as good singing live. Making Alan try and sing all his 100 mph lyrics songs was pretty cruel, but it made me chuckle. Definitely a birthday to remember!



Although we spent the next few days wandering around a load of shopping centres, we still didn't actually buy very much. Instead, we did our usual rounds of all the tasty fast food places - Maxim's MX, Fairwood, Cafe de Coral (not so good) and then we also did our fair share of the good stuff too. One gem we picked out was a "Handmade Udon" restaurant on the top floor of apm (mall) in Kwun Tong, where they served up boneless chicken wings udon for me and crabmeat and scrambled egg udon for Tony - totally delicious and all for about a tenner. Tony then proceeded to go nuts at Muji and spend about $350 on freeze-dried soup, tandoori marinade, mango lassi powder and mango sauce. Looks like fans of our BBQs are in for a treat this year!

A trip to HK is not complete without a trip to Sai Kung for seafood. Okay, so it's a bit pricey, but when it's so fresh it's staring at you as you walk into the restaurant, then you really don't mind paying over the odds for it. Tony was ogling at all the tanks outside the restaurants that make the lobsters at Glamorous look like a fishpond. After checking out all the offers being thrusted in our direction by the promoters on the street, we opted for a 'Special meal for 2' that consisted of lobster e-noodles, salt and pepper squid, fresh steamed fish, flash-boiled prawnies and veg - all for $420. We then added a place of fleshy razor clams for $228 to top it all off.



We saved Disneyland for the second week, after all the kids had gone back to school and the workers had gone back to work. It was also $50 cheaper after the Chinese New Year holiday period. There were still plenty of mainlanders around, who annoyed Tony greatly by their sheer lack of manners and respect and inability to stand in a queue without shoving, but the waits weren't too bad and the weather was lovely. We got in photos with Goofy, Pluto, Stitch and Chip 'n' Dale and front row 'seats' for the parade. Most of the rides were really sedate, but Tony was pleasantly surprised by Space Mountain and came out really giddy. I thoroughly enjoyed my first Disneyland experience, but I'm not sure if I want to bother with the other parks - wonder what would be worse: queuing with mainlanders or queuing with Americans.



The last few days were spent visiting friends and family and that always means more great food. My uncles splashed out on a new year banquet that included roast meats, a whole roast goose and big fat fresh steamed prawnies, but Tony was a bit disappointed that they didn't opt for more lobster! My friend took us for some Taiwanese beef noodles, which were tasty and she also co-erced her Indonesian maid to make us some traditional fragrant soup-rice-noodles. Dim sum and sushi were disappointing - we can actually get better in the UK, now that is something I never imagined I'd say.

We don't usually eat at hotels that we stay at in Hong Kong, but when we passed by the hotel restaurant on the way out every day, we couldn't help but notice the posters (and the food out) for the daily evening 'Lobster & Prawns' seafood buffet. After checking on the budget, we worked out we had enough to splash out on the $368 per head charge and the hotel was kind enough to offer a 10% discount for guests. With about 120 different things on offer to eat, we were like kids in a candy store when we arrived at 6:30pm and were shown to our seats. Among the selection was cold Boston lobster, barbecued lobster, lobster in sauce, baked tiger prawns, seared Kobe beef, lobster and shark fin bisque, sharks fin and mushroom soup, emperor prawns, sashimi and sushi made to order, crabs legs, tempura lobster balls (our favourite - we had about 6 sticks each!!), roast lamb shank, chilli garlic lobster claws, lamb chops in black pepper sauce, German sausages, cold meats, DIY hotpot and roast beef. Then there were the desserts - birds nest Portuguese tarts (YUMMY!!), creme brulee, blueberry cheesecake, mango sorbet, bread and butter pudding with vanilla sauce, birds nest coconut pudding, home-made cookies and chocolate, profiteroles and all the watermelon and pineapple you could ever wish for!
(Unfortunately, we were FAR too busy eating to take any pictures, so you'll just have to take my word for it how good it really was!!)

After an hour and a half, we had to be rolled out of the restaurant. Fortunately, it wasn't too far back to the hotel room!!

Also worth a mention was the Little Fat Sheep hotpot restaurant - we went to the branch in Mongkok. Unsure as to how big the portions were, we went for some squidballs, beefballs, lamb, prawnies and veg. The broth was a wholesome Chinese medicinal soup, which nicely brought out the subtle flavours of the food. You don't need to go for spicy when it comes to hotpot.

We checked the list of places we still had to eat at on the last day and the only one outstanding was Korean BBQ, so we decided to splash out on a lunch BBQ platter - beef, chicken and mini octopus, rice, soup and side dishes for $148, plus an extra dish of lamb for $98 to round off our 12 days of Hong Kong's culinary highlights.
Can't wait to go back again!!

Labels: birthday, food, hk celebs, holidays, hong kong

Holiday at home & Halloween



With the onset of the economic slowdown and other reasons, we decided not to go away on holiday this year and came up with an idea of a 'holiday at home'. Whilst trawling around on the net, I came across an offer for a 'two-for-one' offer on a one-day spa day at Rookery Hall in Nantwich. A full-hour massage and full use of the spa and gym facilities at the luxury hotel's leisure centre for what worked out as just £40 each - not bad eh? The place was quite tucked away and Tony had some fun whizzing down the country lanes and flying over the bumps getting there. It was well worth the trip though and after a couple of hours by the pool and relaxing in one of the best spa pools I have seen, featuring 3 different types of jets (a 'tap' jet for the shoulders, a back jet and a pebble jet where you lie down), then we were nicely tenderised by the therapists.

After we got back, we toyed with the idea of going to Jersey for a spa weekend, but when we checked that the offer at Rookery was still on, we decided to save some money and go back there for another day! And it was just as good as the first time....... aah! Thinking about it makes me want to go back again!!

Other things we got up to... we each spent a few days with our families, especially our sisters and we had a day trip to the Designer Outlet at York to start our Christmas shopping. Actually, we did a lot of shopping and eating out and I got a couple more bargain hoodies and a new Kipling bag for my collection for half price!

It looks a bit like this, but without the side pockets. Kipling bags don't go into the sales very often, so I was quite pleased with this find for £19!


Have also been whizzing through plenty of TVB series lately, although "Moonlight Resonance" was a bit poo. After sticking it out with "Your Class Or Mine", I finally have my hands on something decent. Currently enjoying the eye candy of a buffed-up Kevin Cheng and scheming Roger Kwok in "Last One Standing" that I've been looking forward to for ages. My neighbour dropped by this evening with some packages that our postie had dropped off and among them was my "The Four" DVD's. Yay! Finally some good series to while away the winter nights with. I'm also re-watching "Lethal Weapons of Love and Passion" because it's one of those series where I love every single character.



The build up to Halloween was quite fun this year, thanks to the many hours whiled away playing the trick or treat game on Facebook's (fluff)friends and some pumpkin decoration at work. However, we decided to be spoilsports and went out on Friday, after picking up some cheap Katie Melua tickets on ebay for just £6 each. It was a good concert and she has a beautiful voice, so I really enjoyed myself. The only thing that spoiled it a bit was that we were left waiting for her to get onto the stage. We had arrived at the MEN Arena at 6:45 pm, but with the support band and everything else, Katie didn't get onto the stage until 8:45 pm!! Maybe she was too busy carving her pumpkin...

Labels: holidays, shopping, TVB

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!



(Thanks lepra for taking us to get these tasty mooncakes!!)

Hope you have a great reunion with your loved ones!

Labels: holidays

Em & Tony's Excellent Adventure

It's been barely 8 hours since I touched down again on British soil, but I'm really eager to get all my thoughts and memories down in writing about what has been an incredible and sometimes surreal trip to Phuket. So after a couple of short naps and my head still wondering exactly what time it is, I'll recall and re-live the experiences from the last 12 days in what promises to be a pretty long entry!

Our journey began with a trip on what is currently our favourite airline - Singapore Airlines (SIA). They are currently heavily promoting the fact that they are the first airline to be flying with the mega-plane Airbus A380 and it does look pretty awesome. When we finally get to heading over to Australia, we will definitely have to take a trip.

The great thing is with SIA is that they feed and water you very well and their seats are about 20% more spacious than your average economy seat, with plenty of space under the seat in front for you to stash all your bits and pieces (or in the case of my hubby, stash his legs). Of course, you can't forget their excellent entertainment system, which meant that I didn't actually get round to even reading their in-flight magazine as I tuned into "Pirates III", some Ronald Cheng movie and the Japanese epic "Oh-Oku" to pass my time on the flight.

Talking of food (regular readers of this blog will know you can't get away from it!) - on the first morning of the flight, due to the eating arrangements on the flight into Singapore, the transfer time at Changi Airport and then the flight out of Singapore into Phuket, we actually had THREE breakfasts! So when we finally arrived at the hotel on Sunday morning, our bodies were wondering what was going on!



Seventeen hours (including the 1 hour transfer from Phuket airport) after leaving home, we finally arrived at our hotel - the Pacific Club and Spa in Karon.

After booking this hotel, I had spent hours and hours reading up the rave reviews about this hotel and it almost seemed I already knew what it was like and it did live up to our expectations, except for one or two rough edges. As it was the end of the low season, there were renovation works going on, which we had already been warned about, but they upgraded us to a bigger room for free and they held regular pool parties with free food and drink when they had noisy work going on. Hey, anything with a free lunch is always good!

They had laid out the towels on the bed in the shape of a pair of swans and decorated them with the soaps and body lotions and stuff. This caused a funny moment when my husband went to freshen up and called out to me from the bathroom, "There's no soap!" It turned out that the soap was carefully balanced on the swan's back, so we quickly dismantled the structure, but not before taking a pic of it.

The weather was beautiful, but we were absolutely shattered and the full sized fridge provided for us to "stock up for ourselves" was empty, so we gave in to our post-flight nap attacks before taking our first excursion out to the exotic 7-11 at the bottom of the hill. Then we retired to the hotel roof to make the most of the sunshine before the precipitation stakes rose.

The first few days were spent just finding our feet and acclimatising. We figured that we had a fair amount of time, so we'd arrange all the activities to the second week. We ventured down to Karon beach on one occasion and it was nice there, but they charged to rent the sun-loungers there and sand got everywhere (well, it is a beach afterall), so we figured it was much nicer to spend the rest of our sunbathing sessions on the hotel roof instead, where they have a waterfall swimming pool, free sun loungers and a drinks service!



In the evenings, we took a rather extortionate taxi ride down to Patong in search of food and some shopping. The thing about Phuket is that there is no public transport infrastructure. If you know how and are patient enough, then a songtheaw (public truck bus) is only 20 baht (30p) but they are few and far between. All other times, especially if you are a tourist, then you are at the mercy of the taxis and tuk-tuk drivers who will charge you 250-300 baht (£4.20-£5) for the 10 minute trip from Karon to Patong. I kinda resented this for the first few days because it was something we hadn't budgeted for, but in the end, I just resigned to the fact that we were on holiday and the money had to be spent.

The other huge variable is in the price and quality of the food that you get. On our first venture to Patong beach in search of fresh seafood, we were fortunate to stumble upon a great deal by "Patong Bakery & Restaurant", where they did a seafood basket - containing 1 spiny lobster, 2 rock lobsters, 4 tiger prawns, 2 squid, 1 crab, 1 chilli fish and some shellfish - all for just 1500 baht (£22.50) including cooking and you get free salad and fried rice. That was beautiful, especially the garlic sauce that they braised the squid and prawns in. Tony really enjoyed the chilli fish, but that was a bit too hot for me.

When you find something as great as that, you fall into the illusion that everywhere is the same standard. Boy were we mistaken. The following day, we decided to try somewhere else and as the guidebook had mentioned about "Patong Seafood Village", we thought we'd give it a go. Unfortunately, this place charged by the gram and wasn't as nice as the first place, so coupled with a little over-zealous selection of tiger prawns, we ended up spending three times what we'd spent at the Bakery and getting less and worse quality food. We walked away from that one feeling a bit sore and vowed we would stick to the Bakery for any more fresh seafood.

We weren't really there for pubbing and clubbing, so we didn't stick around too long in the infamous Bangla Road, next to the Thai Boxing arena and the trucks that drive around promoting the fights blaring out "TOMORROW NIGHT TOMORROW NIGHT - MUAY THAI - THAI BOXING!" on a megaphone. It was really just a thoroughfare for us to get to one of our favourite air-conditioned haunts - Jungceylon. It's a shopping centre that only opened at the end of last year and comprises of a lot of western eateries, such as KFC and Haagen-Dasz, a huge Carrefour supermarket, a Robinson department store and a basement area the specialises in "traditional crafts" and includes a couple of massage places. We liked it because it had air-con, it was clean, there were security guards saluting you as you walked in and there was loads and loads of ice cream everywhere! There is also a small games arcade on the first floor, where you can shoot some zombies or drive a fast car for 10 baht (15p) a go!



The only bit of real sightseeing we did in the first week was going to Wat Chalong, which is billed as the most important Buddhist temple in Phuket. Maybe it is built to be functional, but when you compare it to the hugely impressive Kek Lok Si in Penang, it seemed like it wasn't very well run. I guess the customs must be a little different in Thailand, but there was something about allowing reckless tourists to set off firecrackers in what is supposed to be a quiet place of worship that just seemed wrong. Also, they were eager to dump your incense offerings pretty much as soon as you had put them in the ash pots - at least in Malaysia and Hong Kong they let them burn for a bit before they clear them out.

After that disappointment, we decided to make up for it by visiting the Tesco-Lotus hypermarket and go nuts on cheap Hershey's and fruit gummys. Well, we had to justify our 1100 baht (£15) taxi fare somehow!!

After four days of sunshine and just a few spots of rain in the evenings despite the weather forecasts being stuck on "scattered thunderstorms" throughout the trip, they finally rang true on Thursday afternoon, when it started to rain and the storm lasted for the rest of the weekend. So we headed to Central Festival shopping centre to avoid the rain - this is where we discovered two of our favourite places in Phuket - Oishi-Ramen and Fuji Japanese Restaurant. The disappointments of the first few days were washed away with the rain when we finally found somewhere that did tempura ramen for 70 baht (£1.10), sashimi set - that's 4 types of sashimi, miso soup, sticky rice and tofu - for 140 baht (£2.20) and mixed steak (fish and meat) set for 240 baht (£4.00). Well, we had to make up the losses from the £75 meal somehow and these were tasty. Fuji also did the best tasting watermelon juice (according to Tony).

As a shopping centre, Central was a bit more established and more upmarket than Jungceylon, so there was more to see and the prices were more reasonable. There was also some kind of mini-concert going on there, but we didn't have a clue about who they were. The band seemed quite popular though because all the usually highly attentive sales assistants were too busy standing outside to catch a glimpse to hound you into buying something.



Thanks to the friendly folk on Tripadvisor, we followed a recommendation to contact a chap called Richard to join in with his Friday night social for forum members. These take place every Friday night and to join in, you just have to contact Richard to book your space. We were a little apprehensive about spending the evening in the company of people we didn't really know, but as it was a barbecue (and Tony never says no to a barbecue) and it was something to do on the Friday evening, we threw caution to the wind and just had a good time. We met a few friendly Aussies and one fellow Brit who had been in Oz for a year, who was a great laugh.

The barbecue is at a restaurant called Mammas and Pappas and for just 150 baht, you can eat as much as you like from the freshly cooked selection of chicken, sausages, burgers, pork and the infamous "asparagus wrapped in bacon" that Richard kept raving on about. The taxis that picked us up from the hotel then came back and took us onto the Sunshine Bar on Rawai beach, where you sit around a bar, order in a few drinks, watch the staff dance around a pole, which after a few drinks our fellow revellers went on to try and climb. The mamasan there is crazy (I think her name was Kimmy) and seemed to take a liking to Tony who made her laugh hysterically whenever he caught her eye. There is also a katoy (ladyboy) called Nancy who works there with a waist to die for! The place isn't sleazy and it's just good fun if you let your hair down and join in with the dancing. It may have been pouring with rain outside, but we were having far too much fun to notice and when 10pm came round and the taxis came back to pick us up, many people were reluctant to leave.

What do you do in Phuket when it's blowing a storm outside? Well, we went for a massage! We also decided to book in at the services floor at Central for the little pampering things we'd promised ourselves. I went back for a haircut, with a stylist that looked like a shorter Thai version of Eric Kot with Craig Charles dreads, and my husband had his teeth done by a dentist who was constantly on MSN.

It was at this time when we were safely inside, we didn't realise that the storm was so bad outside that it had caused a plane to crash at Phuket airport. As we were leaving Central that day, I received a text message from my bro asking if we were okay and it was only when we arrived back at the hotel that we realised what had happened and I got a little freaked out. The thought of those 88 people that had died, who should have been enjoying their holiday like we were - it really brought home how fragile life is and how we should enjoy each precious moment we have. It was very sad and I think it touched the hearts of everyone on the island.

We had arranged to go elephant trekking on the Monday morning following the crash, but out of respect for the incident and also the lingering damp weather, it was postponed. However, the skies cleared up by lunchtime, so we decided to make the most of our holiday and booked a taxi to the zoo.



The zoo in Phuket is not government-owned, so many of the controls that you would expect from a licenced zoo were non-existent. This made the whole experience a lot more exciting and also a lot more scary! As soon as we walked in, we were met with a big sign that said "Take picture with Tiger - 200 baht". Tony's a bit of a tiger nut, so he was straight in there, but when he came face to face with a fully grown tiger that looked decidedly peeved with the hot weather and the guys poking around at him with sticks, then even he became very nervous. I was totally chicken and wouldn't go near. It was even more unnerving that one of the tiger handlers only had one arm! They kept telling Tony to put his hand on the tiger's back, but the tiger showed that this was not a good idea by growling and thwacking him on the arm with its tail. Tony didn't need telling again to keep his distance.



The zoo also had quite a large crocodile population and after we visited their enclosure, we sat down to watch the scheduled "Crocodile Show", which sounded innocent enough, but turned out to be another incredible scene, when two guys wearing just a vest and shorts performed stunts like croc-wrestling and sticking their heads into the animals' mouths! Afterwards, for a small tip (I think we gave them 160 baht) they let you lean over and hold the croc's tail whilst they took your photo. We stayed for the elephant show, which was nothing spectacular, but Tony felt it was quite cruel. We didn't stick around for the monkey show after seeing the gibbons looking miserable in their cages. Also, our driver was eager to take us down to Promthrep Cape to take a look at the views of the bays - and what amazing views they turned out to be!!

Sunshine greeted us on Tuesday morning for our earlyish start to go elephant trekking. We'd arranged this through Richard and I'm really glad we did. He picked us up from the hotel and took us to a bar near the reserve, where he gave us a short briefing about the background of Kok Chang Safari and more importantly some tips on how to get the attention of the park's resident wild gibbons Charley and Lum Yai. It was a very informative talk and I felt that it gave you a much bigger picture of the backgrounds of the elephants and how they had been rescued from the cruelty of hard labour and mahouts with sharp hooks. He also told us the story of how Charley and Lum Yai were rescued from the streets of Bangkok where they were made to pose for photos with tourists, drink beer and smoke cigarettes. This is the reason why they were not afraid of human interaction, but also the reason why there are strict rules not to feed them.



We weren't sure whether our backsides would survive a one-hour trek, so we just took a short 20 minute ride. Unfortunately, our elephant met with a wild pig on the track and became very obsessive about hunting it down. As our mahout said: "It wants to have a boxing match with the pig!" This was not good when we were on its back and it decided it wanted to try and charge down the hill after the pig, which had already run away. Luckily for us, the mahout managed to keep it on track and we got to the end without too many bumps!

Our fellow tripmates had decided to go for the hour-long trek, so we had to hang around at the drinks shack (couldn't really call it a bar) for a while. Charley was hanging around and he soon came over and plonked himself on our table. The driver started playing with him and we followed Richard's advice to try and gain his trust by grooming him. It was like a monkey massage parlour, but they were extremely clean (Richard said they get shampooed once a week by the staff) and after about half an hour, we had Charley sprawled out on the table napping away contentedly. It was a truly amazing experience, especially for a city-girl like me who is not used to getting so close to nature. Lum Yai made an appearance just as we were leaving and when she saw Tony grooming Charley, she quickly pushed Charley out of the way and grabbed Tony's arm as if to say "Groom me!".

I had read numerous reports about the excellent sailing tours with Captain Mark on Tripadvisor and also on his website, so I made a last minute booking with him after we arrived. Originally we had tried to book for the first week, but it was a relief that we had booked for the second week, when we saw the weather.

The Wednesday morning was absolutely glorious and by the time we reached the pier, the sun was firmly wedged over the occasional white fluffy cloud in the sky. There was an Australian family with us on the trip, who were a little reserved at first, but when we got to know them a bit, their two little girls became very talkative. One of them wasn't very well, but still came along even though she was sick for most of the journey. Captain Mark lived up to his reputation as being a very friendly, very passionate and very caring guy.



Tony and I travelled on the top deck, soaking up the rays, salt water and sea air. The morning was kicked off with a snack of fried chicken, coconut sweets in banana leaves and fresh pomelo, bananas and a fruit that resembled an overgrown Longan.

The trip to Koh Phanak took about two hours and about half way there, Captain Noi stopped the engine, raised the sails and we just sailed by wind power. It was so relaxing! When we reached the island, Captain Mark took us over to the caves in his little dinghy and we went caving. Unlike some of the other tours, where Mark says they just dump you and leave you to wander, Mark provided us with torches and led us through the caves, which have not been "commercialised", up and down, in and out of the streams and into the Mangrove Hong. (A hong is an enclosed lagoon which is flooded in high tide and are often inaccessible.) It was quite breathtaking to suddenly see light at the end of the tunnel passage and find yourself in the midst of lush greenery and surrounded on all sides by a cliff face and forests. Looking up at the sky above you and the hundred foot high cliffs was incredibly humbling. Mark then showed us some of the wildlife around the little pools such as the miniature crabs and mudskippers and pointed out the dolphin rock.

The second spot we visited was the Fairy Cave, which had many stalactite and stalagmite formations that resembled everything from an ice cream sundae to a cascading waterfall, shimmering as the torchlight hit the mineral deposits within. This cave ended with two "windows" from which you peered out into a permanently flooded Ancient Hong. It was like something out of an old Chinese fairy story and definitely looked like an ideal spot for immortals to hang out.

As lunchtime approached, we jumped back into the dinghy and sped over to a secluded beach, which we had all to ourselves. Captain Mark's cook Yah had bought some fresh prawns, caught that morning, from a passing fisherman and we had a picnic lunch, consisting of barbecued prawns, chicken curry, tom yum goong, vegetables and rice. Delicious and beautiful!

A short rest after lunch, making the most of our private beach and Mark was back to take us onto the next place. This was the Pirate Cave and this was the only time in the entire trip that we met other tourists. Mark had done an exceeding good job of avoiding the crowds. There was a bit of chaos as we docked at the Pirate Cave because a group of mad canoe guides and their naive charges had just arrived and some ended up capsizing as they tried to bump us or push us out of the way. Erm... hello - canoe vs dinghy?? Anyway, we headed towards the haunted inside of the cave with Mark's torches and saw the grand platform, where the pirates of old used to gather and meet (and hand out their punishments - hence the ghost!). Mark showed what a kind bloke he is by making sure that some of the other tourists were ok when they were trying to negotiate the darkness of the caves with the light from a mobile phone and camera flash.

Our final trip was around to the other side of the island to the Bat Cave. Mark and the Aussie dad paddled the dinghy into the cave and the rest of us shone the torches upwards to look for the bats. You could certainly smell them! Sure enough, we found some colonies and again, being able to see something like this first hand is such a fantastic experience. There was another hong at the end of the batcave, but unfortunately the tide was too high for us to get through in the dinghy.



The day out sailing was definitely the highlight of our holiday! We were muddy, soaked through and definitely salty by the end of the day, but we were still totally up for it and it was such a great feeling. Being in a small group made it all the more personal and there is no better guide that you can have than Mark! He served us up with watermelon on the way back and there it felt strangely liberating to eat your watermelon, spit the seeds over the side of the boat into the sea and then chuck the skins overboard! I didn't care that my shirt and face got covered in juice, I was having a great time and loving every minute!

As the holiday drew to a close, we decided to go for a long massage on the last day and then head back to Patong Bakery once again to make the most of what we couldn't get for those prices back home. A 2-hour massage at Jungceylon cost 650 baht (£10), which isn't the cheapest, but we liked the environment and the service. We thought it would be quite relaxing, but after a long hard day at sea the day before, the massage actually drew out all the aches and pains we had picked up like a proper Thai massage is designed to do. It was good, so good that when we walked out of the spa afterwards, we were like robots and had to take things really easily for a while for fear of just collapsing into a little heap on the floor.




The folks at Patong Bakery recognised us and welcomed us back in the ever-friendly Thai way, anticipating we had come back for the seafood basket. As before, it was beautiful - my favourite was the squid - I have never eaten a squid with a steak knife before and give me this rather than a steak any day!

If you had asked me in the first few days of the holiday whether or not I'd miss Phuket, I would've definitely said no. However, when the time came to leave, we both really wanted the holiday to last longer. The second half of the trip had really stepped up and we ended up having a really fantastic time. Everyone in Thailand, from the hotel staff to the people in the restaurants and shops had been ultra-friendly and helpful (with the exception of one stroppy taxi driver who drove a beamer and didn't like hills). Everyone and everything were just so chilled out!

Still we had to go and after dropping off my 22,000 baht for the hotel bill (bargain!) we headed back to the airport to begin the final adventure - the flight home with a 5-hour stopover in Singapore, where we had a brief meeting with a friend and picked up some mooncakes disguised as spacetoys!

As this is likely to be my last long trip for a while, I'm glad that it turned out so well in the end. I think if I was to visit Phuket again in the future, I wouldn't spend so long there, but I'd definitely go back to see Charley and Lum Yai and take another sailing trip with Mark. Of course, there's the seafood and massage now that we know where to get it!

Some classic highlights to remember:

- the 15 year old tuk-tuk driver who didn't know where he was going and then when he finally reached the hill that the hotel was on insisted on getting his tuk-tuk up and ended up scraping the bottom of it along the ground with a horrible grinding noise

- the taxi driver who we nicknamed "Jimmy" every time he asked us "where you go tomorrow"

- Tony identifying candidates for Wife Nos 2, 3 and 4

- Tony telling me to be careful when I slipped at the zoo and then nearly falling flat on his backside himself

- the tailors trying to guess Tony's nationality and failing miserably... Japan? Malaysia? China? Indonesia?

- going into the herbal sauna at the hotel and rushing straight out because I couldn't breathe!

- the driver nearly knocking over a 70-year old bloke on Bangla Road because he was too busy pointing out the sights to us

Resources:
Singapore Airlines: http://www.singaporeair.com/saa/index.jsp
Pacific Club Resort & Spa: http://www.pacific-club-phuket.com/
Tripadvisor Phuket Forum: http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowForum-g293920-i5037-Phuket.html
Cathy & Gary's Travel Pages: http://www.cathyandgarystravelpages.com/friday_night_bbq.htm
Phuket Zoo: http://www.phuketzoo.com/
Sailing with Captain Mark: http://www.phuketsailtours.com/

Labels: food, holidays

Making the Most of Summer - Part 2
(and how to make Em swear uncontrollably...)


As you can see from the cloudless blue sky in the pictures above, Uncle Sunshine was out and about again yesterday and as we'd booked our tickets in advance, we made our second trip of the summer to a theme park. This time it was Alton Towers (where the magic never ends - except it does at the end of the season on 11th Nov - but hey, marketing is allowed a little flexibility).

Once again, I was testing my theory that it is always quiet on a bank holiday weekend because everyone thinks it will be busy and once again, I was right. It was the quietest that I had seen Alton Towers in the last few visits and we hardly had to queue for the rides we decided to go on. Even for Rita (which I will come to later), the queue was not the hour and a half that we saw on our last visit.

As it was just hubby and me (bro and sis decided not to join us because of partner disapproval), we skipped the nasty scary rides (Kumali was quite enough - see last post). The only big ride that we wanted to go on was Rita-Queen of Speed and what an experience that turned out to be!

After a good 40 minutes in the queue, we were just about to reach the steps to the ride when the music stopped and everything just seemed to grind to a halt. We heard a few muffled announcements that the ride needed resetting and thanking everyone for their patience, so we just hung around and waited.... and waited... and waited... about half an hour later, they finally reset the ride and there was a big cheer when they finally heard that everything was done and checked and safe and ready to go again. By that time, any feelings of fear or trepidation had disappeared and I was ready for anything.

So we waited our turn and climbed onto the ride, 0-100 kph in 2.5 seconds, 4.6 g - it didn't sound that bad, so why were people screaming so much? The red lights turned to green lights and then......

(My husband found this so funny that we bought the picture. That and his pic made him look really tanned and 'ripped'.)

90 seconds later, it was all over. It was like nothing I'd ever experienced before! I was really light headed, like I'd just had an introvenous vodka shot and when I stepped off the ride, I just could not stop swearing. My hubby had to tell me off because there were so many kids around, but I couldn't help it. I don't think I have said the F-word so many times in public before! It was mad.... but I really loved it. If it wasn't for the hour queue and my growling stomach, I'd have gone on it again. Even at the risk of having another swearing fit! Amazing!!

If you ever go to Alton Towers, you have to try this!!

The rest of the day was relatively sane and the lack of queues meant that we managed to fit in The Flume, Runaway Mine Train, Duel and Hex in without hanging around too long. It was a shame that the River Rapids were closed, but I still managed to get a soaking going down the log flume. Fortunately, it was the first ride we went on and I dried off quite quickly!

The next adventure of the day came when we were driving home and TomTom decided to send us down a narrow country road on the way down the hill where the park sits. Luckily for me, my husband is quite an experienced driver and negotiated it very well, but I couldn't help wondering what would have happened if a car came in the opposite direction down this single file track!

The final adventure was when we got back to the motorway, an accident had closed off our junction and we were sent on a 20 mile diversion in the opposite direction towards Stafford. Thanks to my husband at the wheel, TomTom with some reassuring instructions, an AA roadmap and my (often questioned) map-reading skills, we managed to work out our own diversion and avoid joining the 7-mile tailbacks, getting home before it got dark!

I think that's enough theme parks for one year (okay, there's Phuket Fantasea to go - but I can't see that being too white-knuckle). Next trip will be to something a bit more sedate - maybe a musical or concert... or even a ballet? Okay... maybe not!

Labels: holidays

Making the Most of Summer...



The sun came out on Saturday! Great timing for a day out to Flamingoland. In case you're wondering it's not a new member state of the EU, it's actually a small scale theme park tucked away in the North Yorkshire countryside, somewhere between York and Scarborough.

I don't usually do rollercoasters and the like, but pretty much as soon as we'd arrived, my hubby decided it would be a great idea to go on this:


If you squint, you might just see me on there. My friend who took this clip was wise and decided against being chucked around against the resilient forces of gravity. We on the other hand were left a little worse for wear. That's why there should be warning signs on these rides: "NOT SUITABLE FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE PREGNANT, HAVE HEART CONDITIONS AND BACK PROBLEMS, OVER THIRTIES OR THOSE WHO VALUE THEIR BRAIN CELLS."



After lunch we went on the other big ride of the day, that was a water ride with a huge wide berth slide at the end. In the queue, we watched everyone who emerged at the other end coming out totally soaked to the bone. The splash into the pool at the end is such that you may as well jump in and swim around. Stil we went on and yes, we all got soaked. Fortunately, Mr Sunshine was out and about and we quickly dried off. I even managed to get myself a bit of a Yorkshire tan! Not bad considering the appalling weather we've had this summer.

Oh, and before you ask... yes, there are flamingoes at Flamingoland!

Labels: holidays

What I love about Portugal....



Sizzling steak at the "Sizzling Stone" restaurant - cook your own steak on a hot granite stone just the way you want it. Perfect opportunity for Tony to show off his steak grilling skills!



18 oz Portuguese T-bone and mixed Espetada (that's a giant skewer kebab to you and me) at an Australian-themed restaurant "Koala Garden" tucked away off the beaten track among the luxury villas of Albufeira.



Okay, not very Portuguese, but a great way to taste the best of the fresh local seafood as sashimi and sushi. Also got another beef fix with the sirloin steak teriyaki and satisfied Tony's yearning for tempura.

We didn't get round to trying the local speciality Cataplana - fish and shellfish steamed with herbs in a tall pan, but there's only so many meals that you can have in a long weekend.

Labels: food, holidays

Six Months and Counting...



Had more shit this week from my boss, but my senior manager has been very supportive and has kept me from going insane. It's such a relief to know that there is actually someone at work who appears to care for how you feel.

Anyway, have booked my next big holiday... sun, sea, sand, jungle, fresh seafood, massage...... mmmmmmmmmm........ six months to go!!

My horoscope for the year says I won't be able to save much, so I might as well enjoy myself if my money is destined to be frittered away this year somehow. Better than investing it in stocks and shares to see it all being wiped out in one day's stock market crash! At least this way I get a great tan, stretched muscles and plenty of stuff to blog about. If I can stand the smell, I might even go for an elephant ride!

Okay, need to get back to the present and enjoy my Portuguese adventure this weekend!! It's not quite as hot, but at least it's not snowing there!

Labels: holidays

Birthday Weekend in Prague



I usually spend my birthday with my friend Su because her birthday is a couple of days after mine and this year was no exception. We decided to do something a little different this year and rather than visiting each other either in Manchester or London, we thought it would be fun to go and do a girly weekend in Prague instead. A couple of other friends tagged along and on my birthday (Friday), we headed out.

My journey started earlier than the others as I had to fly down to Gatwick to meet the others, so I had to trouble my hubby to take me to the airport at 5am to get the first plane down. One good thing about getting a flight so early in the morning - you get a decent hot breakfast instead of a sweaty sandwich on the plane!

Met up with the girls in London and took the swift flight over to Prague. My first impressions of the city as our shuttle left the airport was that it was still very rural and kind of stuck in a 1970's timewarp with the grey houses and grafitti everywhere, but as soon as we crossed the little tunnel into Prague city, then everything was very different and so much more modern than I had expected. We'd booked a pretty posh hotel, so our room was very nice and a cheeky email got us a birthday cake and a bottle of champagne upon arrival, which was a lovely way to start the holiday! After our afternoon snack of champers and chocolate mousse cake, we went out for a wander and just 2 minutes away was Prague's main shopping area in Wenceslas Square with all the shops having their winter sales. As this was a girly trip, we dived into shopping heaven and must have checked out about 20 different stores in the space of two hours. Dinner was at a restaurant called 'Coloseum' which came recommended by the taxi driver, but took about an hour to serve our food. Their home made ice cream was delicious though.



We decided to do the sights on Saturday, so we had an early start and wandered around looking for some breakfast. We ended up in the wrong direction, but ended up in a small local bakery, where we managed to get a hot drink and dry baked bread/cake for around 50p each. It wasn't the best breakfast ever, but it was certainly the cheapest we have ever had. My friend enjoyed her espresso. Then we followed our plan to get a tram up the hill to see the castle, which was very pretty and a snap decision from Su meant that we hiked up the 287 steps of the South Tower of St Vitus Cathedral to get some superb views of the city. We then rushed back down again making ourselves very dizzy as we counted the steps down the spiral stone staircase again in time to watch the changing of the guard in the courtyard, which I am glad we managed to see. Our descent down to the bridge took us down the castle steps and at the bottom, we decided to grab a quick coffee from the row of quaint coffee shops.

More shopping was in order as we strolled gently past St Nicholas Cathedral and found a row of craft and souvenir shops along the road towards Charles Bridge. The views from the bridge were very pretty and the sun actually came out for us as we crossed another of Prague's main sights. Feeling rather peckish, we went off in search of the traditional Czech meal of Roast Pork and dumplings and we found this in the Old Town Square, where we each had a main course, dessert and drinks for £5 a head. Then we wandered back towards Wenceslas Square again, stopping off at the hotel to drop off our things before heading to our cultural encounter at a concert held on the staircase of the National Museum. They put down a load of cushions on the stairs and the musicians stook on the middle section between the staircases. It was certainly an unusual set up, but the venue was stunning. Music was pretty good too as they played some Vivaldi, some Dvorak, some Mozart and some Brahms. After the concert, we decided to do a bit more shopping (all the shops open til 8pm) and then try the street sausages that had caught our noses on the first night. For about a pound, you get a foot-long meaty sausage in a soft bun and all the sauce you can eat. The sausage is super-stodgy though, so needless to say none of us managed to finish it, but it was an experience! We rounded off the evening ordering some honey and lemon and fruit teas from room service and playing cards until 4am.



Sunday morning was spend sleeping in and recovering from the night before, then we decided to go off in search of a decent brunch and we decided to check out the recommendations for Bohemian Bagel. It was a good 20 minute trek over to the old town and it was well tucked away, but it was all worth it as we tucked into our big breakfasts of eggs, bacon, sausages, pancakes, tomatoes, beans.... mmmmm!!! Then after another stroll (and yup, you guessed it ... more shopping) we headed over to the Mystic Buddha spa, where we had booked in for some indulgence in the form of Thai massage! It was so nice and we were totally zonked. It also brought out my cold though, so I had to get a quick nap before dinner - another traditional Czech meal. I had the roast duck, which was quite nice, but the super stodgy dumplings were starting to become too much. The evening was spent chilling as we were all pretty spaced after the massage and a long day on Saturday.

We finally found a decent breakfast place on Monday morning in the form of a French bageterie. Okay, so it was about five times the price of the one we had on Saturday, but the cheese and ham croissant was delicious and so light. All washed down by the richest hot chocolate ever. Some last minute shopping and sightseeing later, it was time to go home.



My trip was especially enjoyable for a number of reasons. Firstly, I have never been on holiday with Su before despite knowing her for so many years and it was great for us to do this and spend our birthdays together. Secondly, it surprised me as to how modern the city actually is. I was imagining it to be quite retro and in some respects it is with the old-fashioned tram system and some of the remnants from the old days, but in the same way that the big cities in China have opened up, Prague has really taken a big leap into the 21st century. Then there was the shopping, I never would have imagined Prague to be somewhere that I would go for shopping, but I was pleasantly surprised at what was available there and despite the 19% VAT, which is higher than the UK, when you hit the sales, there are some great bargains to be had! Finally, the people there are very welcoming and friendly. They love the fact that you are visiting their country and even if they do not speak English at all, they do not shun you like they do in some other countries like Spain. Instead, you manage to communicate by body language and persistance, which is great! I'll definitely be back to check out the sights that I didn't have time for this time, but will make sure I time my trip to coincide with the sales again!!

Labels: birthday, food, holidays

Prague... here we come!



Bags are packed, flights all checked in... wuhoo!
All set for girly weekend in Prague!

Labels: holidays

Five Fab Things about Madeira



Sunny blue skies and even bluer sea.
We didn't have a drop of rain all week, temperatures were a warm, but comfortable 25 to 18 degrees C and it is nicely cool at night to make for a good sleeping temperature. This is a view of the cliffs on the far side of the island from our trip on the Catamaran.



Stunning sunsets and total tranquility.
No rowdy Brits or noisy nightclubs here, just sitting on the balcony in the evenings or taking a walk around the hotel gardens and watching the amazing sunset scenes.



Fantastically fresh and reasonably priced food.
49p for a third of the sweetest, tastiest, most refreshing watermelon I have ever had and the spread you see in the picture came to just £20! Tuna tastes like tuna and not some bland reconstituted dolphin meat you get in tins in the UK. The tomatoes are large, juicy and beefy and the cucumbers contain about half the water of the British ones, so they are packed with taste. Oh and their steaks are always cooked to perfection!



Dolphin watching.
For around £18 for three hours, you can take a trip out to the Atlantic and go dolphin and whale watching. Okay, the pic isn't that great, but we did get to see plenty of dolphins and whales on our trip. Not for those who get seasick though as the waves can get a bit choppy.



Beautiful flowers and parks and NO BUGS!
For a warm place, there are relatively few bugs and insects in Madeira, so for an anti-bug activist like me, this was ideal! The ones you will see are some butterflies and moths and some wasps that are more interested in the lovely blooms than your arm. So I rested easily without worrying about being eaten alive by stupid mozzies. There were some little lizards running around in the rocks, but they seemed relatively harmless and couldn't make the climb up to the hotel balcony, so that was okay.

The holiday was fab and so relaxing - plus our hotel had FIVE pools, so there was never any crowds. Everywhere was so quiet and we never had to queue for much. Would definitely recommend the island if you fancy somewhere to totally chill out!

Labels: food, holidays