Well, that day is finally here. It's is the last day of our trip. Last day to relax, last day to enjoy and then its back to the grind... So, we did it right. Slept in, had a nice leisurely breakfast, then got seats on the beach and only moved for food, bathroom breaks, and dips in the water. It was a lovely day, really. We had lunch at a place on the beach in the other direction than we have gone. It was actually this old boathouse that was built after the tsunami, based on donations, to rebuild boats for [View Full Entry]

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Today we took a trip on the Lady Sarojin - the hotel's boat - to the Similan Islands. The Similan Islands are a group of 9 islands off the coast of Thailand in the Andaman sea that is now a national park. There is lots of snorkling and diving in the area. After a nice and early wake up call, followed by breakfast, we boarded the boat for our day trip. Our guides were Jack and Au, and we were joined on the boat by 5 other couples (all from the UK & Australia - you meet very few Americans in [View Full Entry]

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Today’s activity - cooking! Last time we were in Thailand we took a cooking class that we loved, so we figured we would pick up some more tips to take home with us. We met our chef Chai nice and early at the front gate - first stop was the local market. Chai showed us around and pointed out all the major Thai ingredients. We learned about the rice, bottled sauces, fresh fish, local vegetables, local fruits, etc. They have so many things I know are going to be too hard to find at home. Went back to the hotel, and [View Full Entry]

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Not much to say about the perfect day on the beach in Thailand. Basically - slept in, had breakfast, made some arangements for the rest of our stay, then parked on the beach. Read a little, sunned a little, walked a little, ate a little more. We took the hotel arranged shuttle to town for the evening: souvenir shopped (bought nothing), ate dinner (thai food....duh), and got hour long foot massagesfor 10 bucks a pop. Instead of talking, just enjoy the scenic photos. [View Full Entry]

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Another travel day. This one started nice and leisurely in the hotel, had breakfast, packed up and took off about 11am. The Changi airport is huge, and really nice and has a ton of shopping! Like crazy shopping! Free internet everywhere, and even a Hi-Def area with huge plasma screens. Got on our Silk Air flight for our 1:20 departure and landed in Phuket about 2:15 local time. We were met by Nu at the airport and he took us on about a 1.5 hour drive up to Khao Lak. Khao Lak is North of Phuket Island (we drove over the [View Full Entry]

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Started the day a little relaxed - slept in, had a nice leisurely breakfast, checked some email and stuff, then eventually headed out about 11ish. Took the MRT (train) - it was really nice, clean, organized and easy. First stop - Little India. Walked down the long streets of stalls selling fruits and vegetables and flower things (not sure what they are used for - but they are pretty). Then we made our way to the Tekka Center, the big hawker center in Little India. A Hawker center is big building, or whatever, with lots of little stalls all selling food. [View Full Entry]

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*Dan made me. But what a plane! Travel Day! And the one that Danny has been anticipating all along - from Sydney to Singapore, on Singapore Airline’s A380, the first jumbo jet of its kind in service. And the flight didn’t disappoint. The plane is huge! We sat in business class on the top deck. They boarding gate, jet-ways and everything have all been set up and arranged specifically for this plane. The upper deck is business class in the front and economy in the back. The lower deck is suites in the front and economy in the back. And the [View Full Entry]

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Another great day. Our plan was to leave the city (since we had both been to Sydney before) and we chose Hunter Valley for wine tasting. But Instead of taking the $$$ tour with some random company who will probably take us to the wineries they have deals with, Dan made the executive decision to rent a car and drive ourselves. Which in the end, turned out amazing. So got an early wake up call (Hunter Valley is about 2 hours from Sydney), had breakfast and made our way to Avis to get our car. They had a nice Saab available, [View Full Entry]

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Well, woke up in the land down under...to a lot of rain! What a bummer. But, that wasn't going to keep us inside....all day. So up and at 'em we went. Breakfast at the hotel, then walked around town for a while. I think a mixture of the rain and a tuesday morning - it was pretty quiet around town. Walked through Circular Quay, up to the Botanical Gardens, and down to the Opera House. Got some rain pictures and all. Then caught the 11AM ferry to Manly Beach where we met a colleague that Dan knows from work - Dr. [View Full Entry]

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Another travel day. It was a long one too. First flight out of Nadi was at 10:25AM, so got to the airport nice and early like all good travelers should. We even got to meet the National Fiji Rugby team (the japanese tourists loved them) in the security line - heading to Melbourne to play. First flight was fine to get to Auckland - it was coach, Dan wasn't too thrilled about that since we used a business mileage reward but no seats were available. But still our Air New Zealand flight was nice and comfee, with a pretty tastey hot [View Full Entry]

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