Chocolatemonkee

Looking at the fourteen day forecast only confirms that the decision Candace and I made to spend almost $6000.00 the other night wasn't such a bad idea after all. Of course this money could have been used to pay down our mortgage or invest in more RRSPs but who wants to do that? With four round trip tickets paid for, we finally put in motion "The Trip" we had promised our kids over two years ago. On our last adventure, much to their dismay, we opted to enjoy one more trip to the Land of Smiles by ourselves and left them to stay with their grandparents for a month while we lounged on the beach, rode elephants, visited Wats and did all those crazy things that "young" parents do when they are in tropical climes without ... read more

Wanting to experience more than just the azure rimmed beaches of Phuket, we decided to move into the town of Phuket. Once a tin mining hotbed, we hoped that Phuket Town would offer us a different look at the Thai way of life. Our ride into Phuket Town included a brief history of the area as recounted by Pineapple Guest House owner Steve along with a stop at his daughter's school. We were treated to a group of giggling school children in white dress shirts and either blue skirts or pants that peered into the car at us, noses pressed against the car windows. Large brown eyes stared us down and then disappeared in a fit of infectious laughter when the headmistress called them into the garden. Imagine our surprise when Steve admitted the guesthouse he ... read more

Up early. Have a cold. Damn air conditioning. I truly believe we should have a fan room even though it feels oooohhhh so good to walk into a nice cool room after being out in the heat all day. With the temperature hitting 33 degrees each day, a few minutes of bliss can change a great day to an even better day. The trade off though is the running nose and wicked cold I usually catch. If it weren't for mosquitoes, I would have the windows wide open. Ugh. If Candace finds out I'm using all of her precious toilet paper to blow my nose.... I hate having a cold. The plan today was to head east to Phuket town and then head north of there to check out a few temples and hopefully stumble on ... read more

Bangkok This morning we woke to the pre-arranged wake up call we had requested with the front desk at Thong Ta Resort. Being less than 10 minutes from the airport, we were able to enjoy the breakfast that was included down in the garden restaurant. Aside from the very firm, board like beds, we seemed to luck out in finding this place. If I hadn't fallen asleep so quickly, I would have liked to check out the Johnnie Walker Rock Bar at the end of the street last night. Breakfast was the typical "American" breakfast of ham loaf (no bacon or sausage available - I just want to mention that sausage in Thailand seems to be what we in North America would consider wieners. They are made even more fancy by having their ends quartered. I ... read more

With only hours to go before we leave "Friendly Manitoba", the weather has turned from the normal minus 20 to 30 degrees to plus 1 degrees and the usual snow fall has turned into a constant drizzle of rain. Well today it changed back to snow and our departure seems once again to be aptly timed. Of course we had the minus 40 degree weather to contend with in January but this foray into South East Asia during the slushy sleety changes in weather is still very welcome. The kids, teary eyed, left with their grandparents, our Chihuahuas in tow as well. Seems they're none to worried as they, the dogs, get spoiled while staying with Candace's Mom and Dad! We're less prepared than last time but it's as good as it's going to get. Candace ... read more