Will Work For Airline Miles

It's Fun To Stay at the Y.M.C.A...

2009-02-18T18:36:00.000-08:00

That's right everybody...with arm motions this time...It's Fun To Stay at the Y.M.C.A....

Well it is....if the one in question is The Salisbury YMCA in Kowloon! It is a beautiful hotel right on the harbor across from Hong Kong. Next door is The Peninsula and the Sheraton at triple and double the price we paid. I think we did just fine. It is actually a nice hotel, only 2 stars but clean and the harbor view makes up for no bellhop or room service. The picture above is the view from our room during the evening light show.
Kim and I were lucky enough to arrive on Valentines Day (our anniversary too) and even though the desk said the dining room was fully booked we stopped by and they had a table for us. The Valentines buffet dinner was delightful . Between the view and the fact that they took anyone who wanted to go, up on the roof to watch the nightly award winning harbor light show, we had a lovely evening. The light show is made up of lot of buildings on both sides of the harbor displaying colorful lights on their sides and lasers and white lights from their rooftops. The whole thing is set to music so you can tune your radio to a certain band and it is choreographed to match. We really lucked out that night as they don't take people up to the roof every night(although it was a nice roof garden) to watch and it had to be the best view anywhere to watch the show. We could see the massed crowds down on the harbor walk from up there and were grateful for the elbow room and vantage we had.

Although we both ended up working quite a bit from Hong Kong...me on the phone to shrimp customers and Kim putting out programming fires for his boss, we still managed to see some of the sights in the 5 days we had.

I think the best way I can describe Hong Kong is that it is like San Francisco TIMES TEN and Chinatown TIMES A THOUSAND!! The similarities are many with the foggy weather, cable cars, bridges, ferries, hills, harbor, shopping, crowds and great food!
We did a couple of the city-hikes around town, went up to "The Peak" on the funicular cable car tram thing, rode the Star Ferry across the harbor and took buses and the subway all over. We had High Tea at both the Conrad hotel (fabulous buffet tea) and at The Peninsula. Enjoyed dim sum and some of the best noodle dishes ever. I am afraid that even having spent a great deal of time in SF and Chinatown, Hong Kong's lowliest dim sum kicks butt over anything in SF.

And yes we did try foot massages there and although good (how can you not say that with someone rubbing your feet after a long day of walking/sightseeing?) they were not of the caliber to be found in Thailand.

Here are some pics of us hamming it up with the statue of Bruce Lee and the star for Jackie Chan on the Harbor Hollywood walk.

It feels weird to be heading home with everyone talking about all the snow on the ground. I am sure my thin blood is not going to like it. However, we already have plans for the next leg of our grand adventure and it is only 5 weeks away so I should be able to handle the cold for that long.

More details on that soon...

Did I forget to mention the Tigers?

2009-02-08T23:49:00.001-08:00

Well perhaps that is because I was too chicken to go in the cage with them at the Tiger Kingdom. Naww, just felt able to enjoy them from the other side of the fence is all. Besides I wasn't sure if they'd sense I'm a dog person and treat me accordingly. Sorry no pics.. I can't find any from that part of the day..my guess is I erased the chip prematurely.
On the day we went out to the Queen's gardens and temple one of our stops was at the Tiger Kingdom. If you ever make it over here to Thailand, every TukTuk driver, tour operator and taxi will be only too happy to tell you all about the Tiger Kingdom and take you there. Regardless as to if you just went there the day before AND are wearing a big Tiger Kingdom shirt to prove it! (as tested by our friend Mike) They can be rather persistent at times.
We spent Chinese New Year down in Chiang Mai's Chinatown. I didn't manage to get a good shot of the dragon-dancing but I did get a goofy shot of Kim, Alan and Marijke among the festivities.

In the last few weeks I have been working out, eating well and taking care of myself a bit. I've had my teeth cleaned (oh Mary how Kim and I missed your gentle touch!); Acupuncture (missing you too Linnie!); and had an appointment with a Podologist to work on my overwalked toes and feet.

Alan has taken on the task of teaching us Snooker....a far cry from the social pool I learned to play growing up. I am certain he is quite tired of hearing me say "You're kidding? Hit that one? It's acres and acres away!" The table feels twice the length of a normal pool table and there are twice the balls to hit, in a particular order of course. There are also young girls in skimpy hot pink outfits there to serve you drinks, keep score and hand you the bridge when you need it...all as part of your table rent.
Alan's girlfriend Marijke and I have gone out girly-shopping together and I managed to find a couple of new bras...slightly strange shaped cups but at least they had ones that fit me, a rarity here in Asia. We also hit the lovely jewelry shops along the Thapae Road and discovered we are a terrible influence on each other. Seven pairs of earrings and two rings later I had spent all the cash I had on me and half of what she had on her, lucky for me she'd spent the other half. We agreed those 3 shops are now off limits for the rest of this trip!

At the Wararot Market:
Yes that is a pork waffle right between the Strawberry and Chocolate....and we are talking salty pink hot dog type pork too!

So should I have bought the hat?

We met our alter egos from Seattle the other day. Richard and Stacy were enjoying Thailand as a rest spot to get ready to head off to India, Egypt and Turkey. We had two lovely breakfasts with them at our favorite, "The Blue Diamond". By the end of the second breakfast, where we again had to leave to make room for the lunch crowd arriving, we realized it was a bit spooky how parallel our lives were with these new friends. As Stacy put it "You said that and the hairs on my arms stood up!" To name a few coincidences, she can't eat bell peppers like myself and she also was so preoccupied with visa's for other countries along their journey that they did the same thing as we had. They had overlooked Thailand's visa rules until they were over the limit just as we had done.
They have started a blog called www.lyonsontheloose.com and their motto is "Live Like You're Leavin'"!
Not a far cry from our www.willworkforairlinemiles.com and "Live each day as though it might be your last!"

Highlights/Updates from Thailand

2009-01-21T03:06:00.000-08:00

Sorry it has been so long since I posted anything. Kim and I are doing very well here still. We are really enjoying ourselves and the weather has even warmed up some more . It was a teeny bit cool for a while there. Not enough to complain about, but enough to debate buying a blanket for sleeping. We settled for sleeping with the window closed on the chilly nights.

Let's see what have we been up to lately?

New Years Eve 2009 on the river in Chiang Mai
To celebrate the New Year in style we got dressed up and went to one of the finest buffets I have ever eaten at. It was at the Holiday Inn in Chiang Mai and in my opinion rivaled the Sheraton Palace Sunday Brunch for most amazing food and selection. I am certain that I ate enough at the cheese buffet to cover my entry ticket. It had been a while since I'd had any kind of cheese as there is not a lot of dairy in the Thai diet.

After the meal there were floating/flaming lanterns to set aloft out by the riverside as well as awful dancing in the bar before and after the countdown. The fireworks over the river were delightful, although the display in Bangkok back at the Loy Krathong festival was over the top by comparison.
Altogether a lovely and decadent evening.

On the 9th of January Kim and I, along with Linda and Mike hired a car to take us on an excursion out of town. First we went to the Queen Sirikit's Botanical Garden. This place covers an entire mountain. There are huge greenhouses of orchids, begonia's, cacti, rain-forest displays, lily's etc. etc. When we'd had enough of those we had a picnic lunch and then walked the rock garden, enjoying the lovely flowers and waterfalls there.
Check it out online at http://www.qsbg.org/index_E.asp

We have a slew of other photos of our adventures if you click on the link of the homepage or here:
http://willworkforairlinemiles.com/photos/

From there our driver took us to a large temple complex which was part old and part new. It housed a tremendous collection of artifacts and statues . I believe they were building new Wat's just to house all those extra items as it almost looked like a storeroom there were so many.

After the requisite stop at a fancy and expensive store very reminiscent of India, (no we didn't want to buy anything-it was just so the driver could get his free bottle of hooch for bringing us) we went to this gorgeous restaurant on the outskirts of town. No one was really hungry for dinner yet so we all had dessert and I had a coconut milk slushee! The whole place is designed to look like it is built into and out of trees (not wood but trees) and I was enthralled with the "waterfall" sinks in the Ladies' bathroom. We had done so much walking that Kim and I had the driver let us off at our end of town so we could get a foot massage before rejoining Linda and Mike for dinner that evening in the Night Bazaar area.

I did a massage trade with Tameer, friend of Noriko's. She does Cranio-Sacral and energy work which was lovely and I did some Neuro-Kinetic Restructuring on her shoulders in exchange. We are talking of getting together at least once more before I leave and she wants to try a Lymphatic session this time.
One of the nice things about our trade is that she lives a ways out. The second time I went to her house I rented a bike for the day and rode out there. The distances between things here are so small that I unknowingly crossed over the superhighway (just looked like every other intersection) and kept on riding. By the time it occurred to me to stop and call I was practically in the next town! I couldn't help but laugh when she said "Oh NO you have gone way too far! Are you going to be ok?" I told her I'd ride back to superhighway now that I knew where I was going from there and call here back in 10 minutes. With the overshot I got a lovely ride past the golf course and the sports complex and all in all I was actually only 10 minutes late to her house. I do have to say without my own "easy seat" saddle, after the hour and a half getting there and then the perhaps 40 minutes to get back afterwards my butt was sore for a day or so. But it felt good to ride after being off a bike for so long. Ever since riding the ALC, getting on a bike and only riding for 15-30 minutes doesn't feel like riding at all and people who haven't done that kind of long distance think you are crazy to go so far.

This last Friday the 16th we all went to the Alliance Francaise and saw a hilarious film called "Les Vacances de Mr. Hulot". This is a fabulous black and white..mostly dialog free from 1953 and I would recommend it to anyone who likes Charlie Chaplin or Mr. Bean. We are thinking of going again this Friday for "Trafic" as it is the continuing adventures of Mr. Hulot taking a motor caravan to Amsterdam.

On Saturday the 17th we all took a bus down to Hua Hin on the coast, south of Bangkok. The bus took all day 8am-8pm and for the full bizzaro details read Kim's blog as he chronicles the whole strange sugary experience.
The beach was delightful, however the water was too cold for us to want to swim. There was a lovely ocean breeze and we did spend some time in the pool as it was warmer down there as well. This was a nice seaside resort town and Kim and I imagined it was what Miami beach or Cancun had looked like decades and decades ago -with an Asian flair of course.
We had a look at Khao Takip "chopsticks mountain" and the giant standing Buddha there with the view down the beach to town.
Because Monday night was Linda and Mike's last night in Thailand, we went all out and had a seafood extravaganza at a beach-side restaurant. We had crab and prawns and Tom Ka Soup and topped the meal off with mango-sticky-rice and ice-cream. As decadent as it was the whole thing was just over $50!

After another long bus ride yesterday, we are now back in Chiang Mai at the Khumsiphia Grand Hotel and Residence. We paid for last month and are now onto our second one here. It is starting to feel very familiar.

Chinese New Year is this coming Monday so my work with shrimp sales will probably be pretty light to nonexistent for a while. I may take the time to take the courses that I haven't gotten to yet.

Overall I have to say, I am not missing the cold back home and I'm still having a great time. However, I am missing all of you and the swing dancing, so I am looking forward to February as well.

Christmas in the sun, Hot Springs, Lady-boy Beauty Contests and Sung Tou Adventures

2008-12-29T03:28:00.000-08:00

Christmas dinner at The Garden was a nice mellow social affair with a spread of food that resembled the attendees, a mix of Frarang and Thai. There was turkey and cranberry sauce with potatoes and gravy (neither of the last two resembling the kind we have back home) along side some interesting Thai dishes of rice noodles with green curry eggplant and other interesting dishes. During the midday dinner, the owner Tim had hired an Eastern Thai band to play and their authentic musical style was quite lovely. We had a lovely day as it was sunny and warm and we ate with our English friends Linda and Mike (they are from Hull). It felt a bit odd to be fanning myself and worrying about staying in the shade since we were outdoors for our Christmas dinner! It was a first for me. The owner of "The Garden" is British as well so there was a traditional fruitcake...I asked the Thai girl serving for "A small piece of cake and lots of ice cream". She didn't correct me so when I sat down Mike and Linda said "Wow you sure are going overboard there" and I just thought they were joshing me until I stuffed a whole mouthful in and almost gagged...felt like pure lard and tasted almost as gross. I promptly spit it into my napkin and said "That's not ice cream!!" which prompted the entire table to laugh at me and explain what "hard sauce" or "buttered rum" is.

Saturday, while collecting our laundry down the street, Kim and I were discussing what we should do after dinner when someone handed us a flyer for Miss Hua Puk 2008 Beauty Contest and Cabaret show. Problem solved. So after dinner we walked to the Thapae Gate area paid our 50baht ($1.45 per person) entrance fee and then watched the pagent, cabaret and comedy that was the show. So many of the contestants were so beautiful I had difficulty believing they weren't female-even when they made them take off the wigs! I used up every last photo on shots of the contestants and vegas style costumes worn by the cabaret acts. Check out more amazing photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/KimStJohnWoodward

Today we met Linda and Mike at their hotel early so we could join them for some rice porridge (Juk/Comgee) and then go on a Sung Tou adventure. We had heard that you could get to San Kampang by Sung Tou and so we took one out to the village. 15 baht later we found out that the hot springs labeled San Kampang Hot Springs is about a 30 minute drive outside of said village. After picking up a stray Aussie, nice young man named John, Linda managed to haggle another Sung Tou to take us for 20 baht each. We walked the floral laden grounds, boiled eggs in the hottest pool and then had a swim in a luke warm swimming pool with a light sulfur smell. It was a nice day and although it cost us 300 baht in a taxi to get back to town we all enjoyed the adventure of it all. We had the taxi drop us in BoSarn where the hand painted umbrella factory is. I had one of the artists paint an elephant on the back of my little daypack and now I am quite pleased with it. Before it was just a good deal being 50baht and slightly faded from spending years hanging in the night market but now it is nicely decorated for 50baht more and I like it even better.

Now however it is time to head out and have a little supper since the 2 boiled eggs and handful of banana chips I ate for lunch aren't holding me very well. Tough dilemma now...pizza or Thai food?

Anyone interested in reading more details about what Thailand is like...this writer's description is right on the money! http://mybt.budgettravel.com/_Thailand-The-Land-of-Smiles/BLOG/154630/21864.html

Tomorrow is New Years Eve and we are invited to a BBQ and then have booked in at the Holiday Inn for a Seafood Buffet/Music/Dance evening by the riverside. I expect it will be enjoyable and decadent . I will be thinking of all of you, my dear friends and family back home and around the world and wishing everyone a very Merry New Year!

A day in the life...Chiang Mai style!

2008-12-21T07:58:00.000-08:00

So my dear friend Donna mentioned how exotic and adventurous we've been and asked what our typical days are like. I thought I would share my response with all of you.
Since we've been in Chiang Mai, Thailand and Singapore our adventures haven't really been that exotic. They are both modern cities with all the conveniences and amenities. And the demonstrations didn't affect us at all, other than noticing that there are very few tourists around. Certainly not as many as there should be for this time of year.

As a snapshot of our lives here in the north of Thailand:

The other day I woke up early to make my calls to shrimp customers(yes I am still working selling shrimp...same as if I was in Colfax..maybe more as I don't have housework, errands or my massage practice to distract me) then we adventured out to find breakfast. Came back to the hotel and did some paperwork/emails on the computer while Kim worked at his programming. By 1pm we took off and met our friends Linda and Mike and went to a car show at the BigC (K-mart-esque)where we enjoyed puzzling over the Hydrogen kits for better fuel mileage and the fun little fiat 500's with snazzy paint jobs.
Then we came back to the center of town and went out to dinner at this little place next to their hotel. It is someone's front yard and there are several tables set up and one guy with a wok cooking dishes one by one. So eating there with 5 people was interesting as each dish came individually. But they were all lovely so we were happy. I think I had flat noodles with chicken and veggies and Kim had pineapple fried rice with pork. After wandering about the night market and catching a little bit of the puppet show and traditional Thai dancing in the Kalare food court Kim and I walked back across town to our hotel and then I stayed up late enough to call Barry and Skip and put in my shrimp orders.

Today was a Sunday relaxation day with a sleep in until nearly 9 and then a walk about town looking for a new breakfast place. Found one, but it was a disappointment. Luckily, it wasn't far from Starbucks and I got my chocolate fix (only place to get real dessert) of a double chocolate cupcake...warm!! Then we went to the Luck Fish Spa and had another one of the fish clean your feet sessions (see weird video) and a lovely full body Thai massage. The rest of the afternoon has been spent cleaning up my in-box and writing to May re shrimp stuff.
Now it is time to put on shoes walk back to Thapae Gate and listen to some live Jazz at that same Starbucks before we meet Linda and Mike again for dinner and more live music (blues this time I think) at "The Garden". I think that pretty much describes an ideal day for me. If we are feeling really decadent then on the way home tonight we may splurge and spend another $5 dollars each on another hour long foot massage before bed.
Well the music at Starbucks wasn't worth staying for so we went to Ratana's Kitchen on Thapae Road and had an awesome dinner (Khao Soi) one of my favorite dishes. After that we had a long, tedious, slow walk to "The Garden". To get ther we had to walk through the Sunday Walking Market where they close off most of the streets to traffic and everyone has stalls on the sides and middle of the roads. The music was fun...classic rock stuff Jimmy Hendrix, Dire Straights, Beatles etc. By the time we left it was late enough that we passed on getting another foot session and just came back to the hotel.
I am hoping to stay up late enough to make a few work calls but if not I will set an alarm and make the calls first thing when I get up.

So far no special plans for tomorrow, work in the morning and Fish and Chips day at Sunee's restaurant. Other than that I think we will just "wing it".

Emergency Visa Run to Singapore

2008-12-17T18:12:00.000-08:00

On the 10^th when we were taking the taxi to the University for the orchid show our friend Allen was bemoaning having to have his visa renewed and I made the nonchalant comment that I was glad as Americans we had 90 instead of only 30 days on our visa. He informed us of the recent changes in the Thai laws which are not so friendly to visitors for some reason. Sure enough we got back to the hotel that evening to find our visa had indeed expired that day! So in a flurry we researched where to go, got up really early, packed up all our stuff and went to the airport. We bought a ticket to Singapore as it made sense to go there and renew our visas in style. I was able to contact my cousin Daniel and voila, it is a return of what my father affectionately calls the “Grateful Dan Fan Club”! Back in 95, the last time we were gallivanting the globe ,we kept following him around from Paris, France to Majorca, Spain and Miami to the Florida Keys too.

Kim and I are in Singapore now and just made the conservative decision :( to go back to Thailand rather than take an 18 day cruise to Hong Kong. It was a tough call as that did sound like fun. It was on the Azamara line which I have been interested in checking out. But, it would have been completely out of budget so we are behaving.

We are also quite enjoying Singapore. It is a clean lovely city, manageable in size, easy to get around and lots to see. There is plenty of upscale stuff but we have found food is really reasonable and the taxi's are downright cheap! Dan has taken us around a bit and turned us on to some local specialties. My current favorite is the Sambal Stingray. Basically BBQ stingray smothered in a sweet and mildly spicy roasted chili paste very unlike the sambal I have had in the past. We have checked out Boat Quay, hiked in the big park up to the top of the small mountain behind his house, had a buffet brunch with him at the American Club and gone to some great hole in the wall eateries. He took us to see Quantum of Solace (ok fun but not spectacular) and we got to hang out at his house for a while. (Bless him for letting us mooch his internet and do some long overdue laundry too!)

The other night we explored Chinatown on our own and we have been taking advantage of the pool at our hotel almost every day. Although it is quite cool in the water we keep reminding ourselves that it is mid-December and really not that cold at all! We have had rain almost every day and it is quite humid and much warmer than the north of Thailand.

It is Monday night and as soon as Kim finishes his work for the day I'd like to go check out all the over-the-top Christmas lights on Orchard Street and find some dinner. Tuesday/tomorrow we pick up our passports and visas at the Thai Consulate office in preparation for our return to Chiang Mai the following morning on Wednesday. At that point we will have 36 more days in Thailand and 5 in Hong Kong before our return. Seems like it is going by super fast.

Life in Chiang Mai Thailand

2008-12-15T01:44:00.000-08:00

Kim and I have been in Chiang Mai, here in the north of Thailand since the 15th of November. Most of this time we have been keeping busy by doing some work, walking everywhere, eating delicious food, dancing and seeing the sights.

Kim has been working on his laptop and I have been keeping up with shrimp clients by phone and booking some travel for folks via the Internet. I have done a few hotel reservations, some research for a group going to Hawaii and may be putting together a group for a Panama Canal Cruise at the end of February or the middle of March. Anyone interested? So far I think we have 3 cabins already spoken for. Write me for the details if you want to come with!

What have we been keeping busy with you ask?
On the first two Sundays here at the Queen Vic, we've gone downstairs to the pub for the all you can eat “Carvery” buffet of roast meats, Yorkshire pudding,gravy potatoes etc. and it is almost $10each! So for the sake of our cheapness and our big bellies we've skipped it since.
Every Sunday evening we find ourselves hanging out at “The Garden” listening to the blues/folk music there...we even got up and danced to one 50's song last Sunday despite the fact that we were the only people dancing! We have made some great friends there and have had lots of fun with Linda and Mike from England since our first Sunday at the Garden.
We've gone to High Tea and dancing at the Shangri La hotel for the last few Saturday afternoons. It was fun despite the fact that there wasn't much food and the band stunk- we are talking “cringe” bad. At least we got to dance.
We had two Salsa lessons on Wednesday nights since we have been up here in Chiang Mai and have now switched to Monday night Argentinian Tango class. Only had one lesson so far but really liked it! Linnie and Ty, you would be proud of us!
On the 3rd of December I went with Linda and her friend Valerie to the Chiang Mai Thai Cookery School and learned to cook several more Thai dishes. The lesson was: cooked Pad Sey Yew (Wide noodles fried with sweet soy sauce), Steamed fish in Banana leaves, Yellow curry chicken, Chicken with Cashews and Spicy Prawn salad North-Eastern Style (in a chili jam sauce!) Everything was delicious and I brought my leftovers back for Kim. Unfortunately the dessert was a disappointment, it was cooked green bananas in Coconut Milk...not my thing!
On the 4th we went to the, get this...Ratchaphruek rumjaiphukrakporluang, (see Bobbie your name isn't really that long!) The Royal Flora Rachaphruek 2006 exhibit just outside of town. We are talking impressive gardens, with an orchid show going on and all sorts of events leading up to the King's birthday. The evening we chose to go, there was live Jazz and they were to play some of the King's compositions. I don't know if we heard any of his music but the band and singer were really pretty good. Linda caught us dancing on the way up towards the stage (see pics!) I don't know how she managed it but somehow she got us in the shot without anyone else, as if we had the place to ourselves, which was far from the case.
Monday we spent the morning working and then had a lunch date at Sunee's for her Panko battered fish & chips day, with Linda and Mike. After lunch we all went to the Holiday Inn to reserve our New Years Eve Buffet dinner and then to the massive Airport Plaza mall. They have this lame machine at the gym there which I was dying to check out until I saw it- I think it is called the Turbo-sonic back home but this seemed like a knockoff. Remember those goofy machines ages ago that had a vibrating belt you stood in and it was supposed to jiggle the fat away...same thing just a vibrating platform you stand on...no belt. Got back to the hotel with just enough time to grab our shoes and catch a taxi as we had a Tango Dance class that night.
The next day I worked for our dinner. I did an NMR/NKT session on Noriko, one of our Tango classmates. She has had neck stuff for a long time and I am hoping it helped her out. She certainly fed us well on an amazing organic peanut butter curry, which I will be struggling to replicate as soon as we get home!
On Wednesday the 10th we took a Green Sung Teow out to one of the big Universities and checked out the flower show there, orchids, bonsai, gourds, agriculture exhibits and a parade including parrots and a snake that I got to touch.(again see pics)
So we've gone from having very little on our plates to a busy schedule in no time at all! And you can see we are in no danger of getting bored with Thailand. The weather has been in the low 80's consistently and I hear there is snow at home so I am sending you all warm tropical mental hugs from here!

Lovely Chiang Mai

2008-12-06T05:14:00.000-08:00

After spending about 2 months total here over the last 5 years, both Kim and I feel pretty familiar and comfortable with the city of Chiang Mai. This time we decided to stay within the moated center of the city. After an extensive search online we ended up choosing "The Garden" due to the advertisement for live music every Sunday of Jump/Jive/Swing. We arrived and checked in to this 3 room guest house. Tim is an ex-pat from England and his lovely Thai wife Thong is a great cook.
To see where we were and where we hang out every Sunday night listening to blues/folk music(swing guitarist being out of commission) go to: http://www.thegardenchiangmai.com/

Well it turned out that because the King's sister had recently passed away there was no music or alcohol being served that week and then the main guitarist broke his wrist. So we had a very nice and quiet couple of days there pretty much having the place to ourselves after dark. During those first few days we spent much of our time walking around town and checking into "long-stay" rates at different hotels until we settled on the one we are in now.

We are staying at The Queen Victoria Inn and Pub. We have a large room overlooking a temple (Watt) with French doors onto a small balcony. Having a really comfortable bed as well as our own bathroom en-suite and free wi-fi cinched the deal. So we booked in for 2 months. It does seem a little odd to be in Thailand staying in a British pub, this one run by an ex-pat from Geneva Switzerland. His name is Pascal and he speaks with a thick French accent.
For pictures and an idea of what our place is like go to http://www.queenvictoria-chiangmai.com/

As we scoured the center of town for our new digs we also went to every bike shop in the area looking for a few decent used bikes for the two of us. By the time we had walked to all of them and looked at the meager offerings we realized "this town is just too small to need bikes" and now we just walk everywhere. If we had bikes we'd spend more time unlocking and locking them to things than it would take to get anywhere.
It takes us less than 30 minutes to walk from one gate all the way across to the other, so nothing is very far.

Brilliant timing makes Bangkok a delightful place to Recover!

2008-11-30T04:01:00.000-08:00

Instead of staying in India to go to the Pushkar Camel Fair, Kim and I cut our losses and left India. Good thing too as the situation there has gotten less than desirable over the last while. We departed on the 10th rather than waiting until the tour was over on the 13th or staying in India on our own longer. I booked Pat and Jessica a room at the Royal Orchid Sheraton in Bangkok and then did the same for Kim and I.

This is an absolutely delightful luxury hotel with all the trimmings and amazing customer service. It is located right on the Chao Praya River and every room has a gorgeous view. The plush beds and 2 pools were delicious as well as the food and ambiance. It was just the sort of pampering for a couple of nights that we all needed to get over the bad feelings from our trip through India.

Upon arrival the girls took a nap and Kim and I took the water bus over to the Vieng Tai Hotel in the Khao San Rd area to retrieve our left luggage. It was there and intact so we were pleased. This meant not only that I had some clean clothes again but also that Kim would have his old laptop to be able to work from.

When we got back we ended up swimming and falling asleep by the pool for a few hours to make up for the red-eye flight from Delhi that night. The four of us got together for dinner and I can't remember now but there were definitely some foot massages in there somewhere.

If I haven't talked about them let me just say that getting Thai foot reflexology is one of the best things about being here. For an hour session they wash your feet, apply mentholated rub, massage and use a stick or knuckle to work the acupressure points. It is so relaxing and most of the time for the last few minutes they have you sit up and they rub your shoulders and neck to finish.

Our second day in Bangkok with Jessica and Pat we spent going around the Khao San Rd area looking at jewelery for Pat and then while Jessica got pampered by getting massages and foot rubs the three of us went on a longboat ride through the narrow canal passages in Bangkok. It was a part of the city I had never seen before and it was both interesting and beautiful.
Later that evening before the four of us went to dinner we sat in the lobby and watched a parade of beauty contestants from all over Thailand and a small dance/music performance. It turns out that this night was the Loy Krathong Festival and there would be big celebrations, floating and flying lights and fireworks everywhere in Thailand. We took Jessica and Pat to one of our favorite restaurants(Kim and I try and go there every trip to Bangkok) it is called Tongue Thai and it was even better this time than I remembered. At the end of our meal they presented us with the flower/candle arrangements that are meant to be good luck offerings. On our way back to the Sheraton we stopped at the pier and lit and launched ours into the river.
We then sat in Pat and Jessica's room in front of the huge picture window and watched the amazing fireworks display over the river. I have to say I haven't always been impressed by fireworks displays but this was by far the longest, most elaborate and largest I have ever witnessed.

We had such a great time with the two of them, we were sorry to see them off the next day as they headed to Hong Kong for a brief layover on their way home to Sacramento.

Kim and I checked out of the Sheraton and into the Win Long Place just a few blocks in from the river and a fraction of the cost as well. Two nights there and some laundry and catching up on rest and we decided to head for Chiang Mai.
On the last night before we left, Kim and I put on our fancy clothes and walked over to the Shangri La Hotel. I had found out online that they had a live jazz band. Turned out we were the only ones in the whole bar. So, when they played a suitable song we got up and danced. The bartender gals enjoyed it and the band was delighted and asked us what we wanted to hear. So we got to dance to several more songs before heading back to our hotel. It was a great night and Kim and I plan on going back there when we go through Bangkok on our way home.(Given that the airports re-open and we go out that way.)

Next stop: Chiang Mai in the north-west of Thailand

Staying safe and enjoying Thailand

2008-11-26T02:33:00.000-08:00

Let me just begin by assuring everyone that we are safe and staying out of harms way. I know some of you have seen the political protests on the news and I just want to let you all know, in case you were concerned. We are relaxing in a small and fairly touristy city, Chiang Mai, in the North of Thailand. Kim is staying on top of the news and making sure we are nowhere near any demonstrations/protests/marches or meetings for these political groups and activists. We are still doing just great and it is not very apparent that there is trouble afoot. Since our flight out is not for quite a while we are not very affected by the shut down of the airports at this time and I am certain that it will all have worked itself out by the time we are set to fly again. But regardless we are being careful.
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!!!
Dana

India/Swindlia a Grand Failure!

2008-11-20T03:09:00.000-08:00

I last blogged to say we were on our way to an overnight train to Varanasi and would give the trip a few more days before we passed judgement overall. I can now say that the India portion of this trip was a complete failure. We lasted until the 10th and left along with the three other travellers Pat, Jessica and Kim. (not counting our leader and her ex-boyfriend, who were going to travel further after we left anyhow) So we never made it to the Pushkar Camel Fair. I have to say even if we'd gone we wouldn't have had a good time because at that point we were "DONE" with India and our tour altogether.

Although we did get swindled a few times in minor ways from the $50 at the Kali Temple to any purchase we made at white people prices, the biggest swindle of all (hence my nickname India-Swindlia) was the tour itself. Our guide touted 1st class hotels, heritage sites and lovely pools in said resorts and then we were in what I would call 2 star hotels at best. They were dirty and no pools except one. So I would say overall our trip should have cost about $2500 at the most. We had paid $8k so the big swindle was unexpectedly from our trip leader from Sacramento who put on the trip.

Everyone else I know who has gone to India in the last few years has gone with a group trip and had an excellent time. They all said..."you have to go first class so that you have a refuge from the filth and overwhelming crowds you will experience there." I thought that is what we had signed up for. Instead it was more like a group of backpackers mooking along not quite sure what there was to see. Our leader's travel book was 3 years old and she hadn't been to India for 28 years, both things we didn't know before embarking on this adventure.

A few days into the trip, I had to have a sit down with our leader and tell her it was unacceptable for us not to have local/informed guides with us to show us the sights, look out for swindlers, and that meals needed to be included for the price we paid for the trip(as we found out when we arrived that they weren't going to be!)

The 2 overnight trains were a nightmare of cockaroaches and disgusting toilets that I would rather not go into detail about as I would rather block them out of my mind. I can say with certainty that none of the other members of our group were pleased with the train and accomodations either.

The final straw for me was after an overnight, miserable train to Delhi we checked into another dark dank cold showered dirty hotel room with sheets that were so filthy we had to use our hostel sleepsheets. Thank goodness we brought them! As Kim had his cold rinse I sat there ready to cry and thinking "This was supposed to be my "Orient Express" trip as it was just as expensive and was supposed to be posh. We had never spent so much on a trip in our lives, including the 65 day trip Kim and I did in Europe back in '95. I had packed a cocktail dress and my dance shoes in case there were any live musicians at the "heritage hotels". We never needed any nice clothes and the clothes we did wear got filthy within minutes.

Ok enough griping...it was a bust...so we left. The five of us got a car (at our own expense mind you) to drive us from Jaipur to Delhi. We hired him to take us into Delhi so we could have dinner and then to the airport. We had him take us to the Imperial Hotel which was of the caliber we had all hoped to experience throughout the trip. That was where I could have pulled out my heels and dress but since no one else dressed up I just wore my nice silk shirt and Kim wore his sports coat. After the best meal of the trip we went to the airport and made our escape to Bangkok. How do you make Bangkok feel as clean as Europe? Go to India on the cheap first!

I am sorry it has taken me so long to post but I had to wait until the sting of it had passed enough to write about it.

One positive thing I will say is that the Taj Mahal was as lovely and impressive a piece of art as it is touted to be. I expected to be dissapointed and I was not! It was the one bright gem in an otherwise depressing trip.

If you want even more gory details of the day to day along with the sights we did see check out Kim's blog. http://wwfam-kstj.blogspot.com/2008/11/my-india-review.html

Coming soon....Thailand makes it all better!

2008-10-31T04:13:00.000-07:00

Kim and I are in India right now...it is....well... different, dirty and difficult, and we spent a ton of hard earned money to come with a guide who turns out to not know much about it or how to get around without us getting ripped off :( we are going to give it a few more days and do our best to see the bright side of things and enjoy it as much as possible. I think that says something about this place that "we" are having to work so hard to enjoy it a little.(Jimmy I can hear you saying 'I told you so') Bangkok foot rubs, Thai street food and swing dancing is sounding awfully good to us about now! Instead we leave Calcutta in a few hours and take an overnight train to Varnasi. Wish us luck in sticking it out!

Dance Camp Was Awesome!

2008-10-28T04:39:00.000-07:00

After a late night packing Kim and I didn't get the earliest start on Friday. But we made it to Mendocino in time for Intermediate Lindy Hop class and dinner. Stompy Jones was awesome as usual and there was quite a large contingent of Foothill dancers that we knew. We danced until the wee hours and then made it up for Blues Dance class at 9:30 Saturday morning. After that we took Hand VooDoo Lindy (no idea why it was called that) and after lunch took Balboa Variations for the Not So Faint of Heart as well as Intermediate Balboa Moves. Another even later night of dancing to Stompy Jones after the fun and interesting Variety Show. Some amazing dancing going on in that rec hall in the middle of the Redwoods.

Camp Swing is so much fun that we are already looking forward to next year! And this time the food was amazing so that made it even better.

We cut out a little early Sunday morning to head for San Francisco where we parked the camper on Geary Boulevard and went to Wonderfoot for much needed foot massages and then had dinner with my folks at the Pacific Cafe.

After dinner we drove to the airport and spent the next 24 hours in transit.

I am now sitting in Bangkok catching up on e-mails and I am happy to report we are well and arrived safely. It feels good to be back here. Although I am feeling rather jetlagged the afternoon nap and shower have gone a long way towards making me feel more human. I am sure that as soon as I eat something I will be ready to go back to bed though.

We have all day tomorrow here and then leave for India Friday morning. I am not certain how often I will be posting from India but I will try and remember to take pictures and post as soon as we return to Thailand.

Two days to Dance Camp!

2008-10-22T14:48:00.000-07:00

As a kid I got to go to summer camp when I was 11 or 12. I remember being nervous and excited before leaving. I remember worrying about getting along with the other kids and making friends. Well I guess I have grown up a bit because I am not nervous now just excited and glad to have this opportunity to go to camp as a grown-up. Of course this time I won't be making corn-husk dolls or lanyard keychains or hiking for 2-5 days at a time in the Smokey Mountains of North Carolina. I was lucky enough to go to Quaker summer camp. The food was amazing and I learned to love homemade honey-butter and apple-butter. I got to go hiking in Blue Ridge and learned that I am wickedly prone to blisters on my feet, which reminds me....

Travel Tip of all travel tips....take shoes you've already broken in...and real socks (thorlo, ultimax, smartwool) there is nothing like huge blisters to spoil a good time!

This time round, I am going with Kim and other friends to the Mendicino Redwood Camp, several miles inland from the coast. There will be classes all afternoon Friday, all day Saturday and in the morning on Sunday. On Friday night and Saturday night there will be dances with live band "Stompy Jones" and costume contests for Halloween as well as a talent exhibition with some amazing talent. I plan on working on my Lindy Hop and Balboa Swing technique as well as perhaps learning some new Charleston and perhaps even some Shag.

Camp ends Sunday mid-day and we will head directly to the airport as our flight to Asia leaves that night. A mere twenty some odd hours later we will arrive in Bangkok to begin the next leg of our big adventure. I am excited about that too, but first things first...Let's Dance!!

Check out the camp band at www.stompyjones.com

or check out the camp at www.campswing.com

Maui No Ka Oi!

2008-10-05T15:48:00.000-07:00

Yes Maui is the best! Kim and I are just having the most wonderful time here.

We decided that we didn't want to rent a car and have to deal with the expense, parking, theft issues, fuel costs etc. So instead we got off the airplane and took the bus. Someone else drove, it was nice and air-conditioned and we met some fun people on the way. I even traded e-mails with a gal from Australia. She said we could come stay with her in Sydney and I said she could stay with us in California when she visits. Only catch with the bus is, they don't like you to have too much luggage. They looked at us a little sideways because of the size of my bag but because I held it on my lap I think they let it slide.

We checked into the Napili Surf Monday afternoon with just enough time to take a dip in the ocean shower off and catch our rideshare to the Maui Lindyhopper's monthly dance. (SwingMaui.org) We lucked out and it happened to be their annual Luau potluck so we got dinner too! I can't imagine there is anywhere you can get a fabulous Luau dinner complete with purple sweet potatoes, shredded pork and fried rice along with a whole evening of music and dancing for only $10 per person!

We danced until 10pm, which felt like 1am to our bodies and were staggeringly tired but happy by the end.

The first full day here got off to a fabulous start with a 7am dip in the ocean. We had the beach to ourselves and enjoyed the cool, wet, wake-up swim. Then we went next door to the Gazebo where they make the most evil of delicious pineapple pancakes with coconut syrup!

To make up for not having a car, we took the bus to Lahaina and bought some cheap, used, beater, cruiser bikes for getting around. Mine is ugly, only has one working speed, and is perfect...I can lock it to a railing and not even worry if it gets stolen or rained on.

Since then we have made a point of swimming at least 2 to 3 times a day in the ocean. We ride to the market or into Lahaina and we are eating really well from the Honokawai Farmer's Market and fresh fish from Napili Market.

So Todd picked us up as well as two other friends to take to the dance. One of whom was Linley, a soon to graduate massage therapist. Yesterday she came over with her table and I gave her a massage in exchange for one sometime next week. It felt good to cut the nails off and stretch my arms and hands after a week off. She was nice enough to leave her table with us so I will try and work on Kim later. What, the massage therapist's husband getting a massage??? You must be joking!

I think everyone should get over here to Maui as I can't rave about it enough. You have to experience it yourselves!

Gotta go swim the ocean is calling...

Hugs to all,

Dana

(Da Happy LeiLei)

Grand Adventure Part 1 Under Way!

2008-09-30T14:14:00.001-07:00

So the whirlwind of the last few weeks has finally come to a blissful halt. My schedule was quite full and my lists of things to do kept spinning in my head. I had a lovely day Saturday working the Railroad Days fair in Colfax with Beth and Audrey. We handed out brochures and got people to sign up for a free massage drawing. I had the opportunity to help set up books for a little while with the Friends of the Library and of course ended up leaving with almost as many books as I dropped off. A little last minute packing and then it was time to go dancing!

Balboa Junction was a ton of fun with all the friends we have made wishing us a good time in Hawaii. The theme was "Back to School" so I dressed in a plaid skirt and white shirt with knee high white socks and patent leather Mary Janes. Kim went in full "geek" regalia with his plaid shirt buttoned all the way up, a pocket protector and the big thick black glasses complete with band-aid around the bridge. He looked adorable! I was smitten all over like the schoolgirl I was dressing up as. We danced until 11 and then drove to Marin where we slept a few hours at my folks.

Sunday they drove us into the city and we were able to re-live the bliss that is "Wonderfoot". After that we had a delicious Chinese dinner at Eliza's on California (thanks Akiko!) with Mom, Dad and Lydia and Tim.

After a nice night at the Burlingame Marriott we headed for the Airport and a mere 12 hours later we arrived at the Napili Surf Condos. I wish Kim and I had brought the camera cable but let's just say it is without a doubt paradise here!

2 weeks to Maui!

2008-09-16T00:28:00.000-07:00

I am so looking forward to this first leg of our big journey! We are off to Maui on the 29th of this month. I had originally tried to get the family timeshare condo for early September. But lucky us there was time for us in early October instead. That puts us back to back with Camp

Swing and India so we will be covering some serious miles in October!

After all the preparations for this extended journey I am so grateful that I will have a little time to catch up on sleep, read a little, swim, sun and cycle. If I tried to keep up this busy pace, and then immediately go off on our 3 week whirlwind tour of India, it would have been tough to really enjoy the sights through the sleep deprived as well as jet lagged brain.

I am so pleased with my frugal trip as I think it is going to be the cheapest trip to Hawaii ever. We used miles to fly. Staying at the family condos. We can take the bus when we get off the plane and avoid having to get a rental car and buy gas altogether! Safeway is just a few minutes walk and the farmer's market is also just down the road. And best of all is this guy I found on craigslist-Lahaina who fixes and sells bikes. Turns out his most expensive one is $85 dollars so our transportation needs will be covered!

If I close my eyes and think real hard I can almost imagine the sounds of the waves and the salty humid breeze from the ocean. Sigh....I think I will go pack!

To Jab or not to Jab

2008-09-15T23:39:00.000-07:00

One of the least pleasant parts of getting ready to go to India is all the shots. Turns out this is a big deterrents to travel in that part of the world for many of the people I've talked to.

Our tour guide did not make it mandatory for us to get them but even my holistic acupuncturist said "do the Typhoid one!" I was on the fence for a while and then I decided it was all or nothing. After talking to the Travel Doc and a few others I decided to just go ahead and get it over with. Yes, hearing about a friend's Aunt coming back with Polio did light a little fire under me. Most of them are good for life and the ones that are only good for a few years are for the super nasty bugs you really want to be protected from.

Turns out I haven't had a valid Tetanus, Polio or Measles Mumps Rubella. I remember drinking some green potion as a child and I guess that wasn't really as good as it should be. The one I was dreading was the Tetanus. I actually remember the size/bore and pain of the shot I got years ago. I also remember not being able to use my arm for a day or two. Thinking that wouldn't be good for my massage abilities I was leery. Turns out they have improved the whole thing with a smaller needle, less vaccine and yes you are sore but not like it used to be.

Week one we did Polio, Hep A&B combo shot, and Tetanus. Took the Typhoid pills every other day for a week (pills last 5 years vs the shot which lasts 3 at the same cost)

Week two we did HepA&B combo shot #2 and Measles-Mumps-Rubella

And now we are coming up on week 4 so we go back for our last HepA/B and if our travel doc has been lucky we will get the first in a 3 shot series for Japanese Encephalitis. We almost got away with not having to do this one but the Doc said "You don't need this one really...unless you are going to be in the very north of India near the Himalayas." Great, since all our travel is in the north and we are doing a Fishing/Camping trip at the foot of the Himalayas I guess it is more shots for us, yippee!

Ironically we are doing all this prevention and not taking Malarial meds. Turns out the best way to deal with Malaria is to take a particular anti-biotic for a month before, during and for at least 3 weeks after a trip to an area with Malaria. Since I happen to be extremely allergic to the particular recommended anti-biotic, this tactic is right out! I will "dip" some clothes, wear deet and keep covered as much as possible.

I truly feel that in this case ignorance was bliss. I traveled through Asia 3 times before without even knowing this was recommended and of course never had a problem. But now that I know what's out there I guess it would have been tempting fate not to do what I could to avoid contracting any of these diseases.

Until we decide to journey to Africa, where the yellow fever monster lives, I think I am just about all jabbed up.

How to make Getting Visa's Fun!

2008-09-07T23:10:00.000-07:00

Turns out in order to travel to India, you must get a visa to enter the country. There are only two ways to do this. The first way is to go online and fill out the forms and then send them, along with your passports, photographs and around $75 to the visa outsourcing office in San Francisco (or the city nearest you with an Indian Consulate.) This seemed like a possibility and I imagine if I didn't live so close to the consulate I would have to do this. But, the idea of trusting my passport to the mail so close to when I depart was a bit too scary for me. I chose option 2. I took the day off work and went in person.

Luckily Kim and I were already down in the Bay Area. As the visa place was closed Monday we went in Tuesday morning. Getting everything together was a little hectic as we hadn't done the "passport" sized photos or gotten a money order until we were on our way in to the city. A stop at Longs for the money order and a stop at Kinkos for the photos and we were just barely able to make it into the office for our appointment time. Turns out we could have paid in any form visa, cash etc. and hadn't needed the extra stop. Once we got there the line was out the door. All the signs said "You must turn in all your paperwork by 11am to receive your passport and visa back the same day!" They were nice enough to let us slide as by the time we got to the counter it was after 11:30.

With the hectic part of the procedure done it was time for some serious breakfast. The mini bear claw I'd eaten hours before had worn off and Kim had the brilliant idea to go get Dim Sum. So up Geary we went into the outer avenues. Ton Kiang never disappoints and is without a doubt my favorite spot for asian food...Dim Sum in particular. If you ever go it is on Geary Boulevard at 24th Ave and I highly recommend the rice porridge and fruit salad for breakfast-like fare and the egg custard tarts, mango pudding and soybean "pancakes" for dessert. I won't even go on about all the varieties of steamed, fried, baked, stuffed items to have as a middle course as there isn't enough room in this post for all that.

After successfully eating enough for all meals of the day we drove a few blocks further on into the Outer Richmond. I was able to reminisce about my high school days by spending a few hours at Simple Pleasures Cafe on Balboa. This is the spot where I spent most of my years of high school wasting time. Granted this time I didn't sit around drinking tall hot chocolates getting jacked up on caffeine while playing backgammon and smoking too many cigarettes. In those days I was part delinquent loser and yet still on honor roll and 16th in my class of 800. I think back now and realize if I hadn't been so keen on goofing off and partying I could have been valedictorian or something.

It wasn't quite the same without all the smoke and "too cool-leather clad-vespa riding" boys. Then again I don't think I would be all that impressed by them now ;)

After a few hours of free internet surfing, where I tried to get some logistics of our India trip nailed down, it was time to either feed the parking meter or move on.

With still several hours to kill Kim and I tried to go to my old place of employment. The first job I had as a massage therapist was at Sunset Sauna and Massage. Well it is no longer, which is a sad passing of an era for me. And sad for us as we really were hoping to get massages.

Google search to the rescue....I put in "foot massage san francisco" and the first listing was for "WonderFoot" a foot reflexology/massage spot just a few blocks from the Ton Kiang restaurant. So back across the park we went to 27th and Geary/Anza.

The nice British/Chinese lady running the place set us up in the "Family Room" where there were 3 large reclining chairs with ottomans. They soaked our feet and then gave us head/scalp/arm/hand/ massages for about 10 minutes and then nearly 40 minutes on our feet! Just when I thought they were finished they had us turn over and massaged our shoulders and backs through our clothes (the recliners went fully horizontal). I was blown away! I could learn more than a thing or two from the guy who gave me a session. Steven was really good at his job and from the occasional snork next to me I think Kevin was putting Kim in blissland.

We floated out of there and at $35 dollars each I am trying to think of excuses to go back in the city. We just had time to go back downtown before 6pm and I let Kim run in to get our passports back while I circled the block.

Overall I would say that I went from dreading the chore of getting a travel visa to wishing everywhere we went needed one just so I could repeat this fabulous day!

Getting Ready to Go-What it Takes!

2008-09-04T11:53:00.000-07:00

I never thought getting ready to go away on vacation was so much work. I guess I'd never planned a trip quite this extensive. I am becoming the queen of "lists". Mostly because if I don't write it down, in the chaos I keep forgetting to do things.

Luckily I am still working too, so for each session of massage I get a reprieve from the overwhelmed feeling and get an hour of grounded focus on someone else. Thank goodness for that or I would be a wreck!

What does it take to get ready to go on a Sabbatical that begins with a vacation to Hawaii, Thailand, India and Hong Kong?

Well, first of all you have to be ready for your whole life to change. At the moment the nervous anticipation of that is stronger than the excitement over the trip of a lifetime. I am hoping that once the plane takes off the excitement and giddy enjoyment will prevail.

Some of the big things on the to-do list....plane tickets, country entry visas, winterizing the house, setting bills up in advance and figuring out what to do with your plants/pets/mail while you are gone.

Next installment: How to make getting a visa an awesome experience!