THANKS FOR TUNING IN!

If you are planning your trip to Thailand (Phuket specifically) we hope you found helpful hints and tips in this blog for your benefit. Feel free to share the web address with others heading to Phuket and don't hesitiate to contact us at ash@ashco.tv for questions! This was a Red Bull trip for us. All travel was packed into only 7 days (we left Texas on a Tuesday AM and returned the following Monday night). We spent 45 hours flying the total round trip of 20,600 miles and while in Singapore and Thailand slept very little, packing as many activities as we could into each day. Next trip: either Chiang Mai or we may want to see Africa! We will pass on on the hidden deals and can't miss experiences from these places as well! Live it up!

Sincerely,
Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Dumber (in no particular order)

A day at the Banyan Tree

You only live once! So live every day like it is your last and experience everything! We have pretty much lived up to that mantra this whole trip and are thankful for it. We are already curious to find other exciting places around the world that offer a similar opportunity to explore and relax as Thailand. If we don't find it, coming back here is okay by us! This photo is of one of many cottages provided to guests of Banyan Tree. After a foot bath, they take you to make you scream as they dig elbows into your body (we actually chose the Balinese which was more friendly).

If it has not been noticed in previous pics, both Christina and I have been seen as the Jolly Green Giants here in Thailand! (see Thai Guard pic below as well). This is one of the massage therapists who took care of us at Baan Yin Tree.

Our trip to Southeast Asia was slowly winding down so Christina decided to end it with a grand finale! This is a photo of Baan Yin Tree Spa Resort on the north end of Phuket Island ("Baan" means "Home").

As we are both spontaneous / adventurous, this trip did not call for a "resort experience" as we wanted to experience the culture of the locals and stay near the villages... BUT we did not mind getting a bit of the experience today! As previously mentioned, she has done 90% of the event planning for this trip and it has been phenomenal (I will take credit for seeing the Elephant dung this morning on a road and convincing her we needed to follow the piles to find the elephant so we could ride it). But kudos to Christina for all the planning.

She said we were going to get a massage, but this was like no other experience I have had when it came to a massage. The [spending] value one gets here in Thailand is unbelievable. Our bungalow, food, service second to none, raids of the in-room fridge, use of moped, mercedes car service and driver to and from the airport (40 minutes both ways), etc etc at Baan Yin Dee for THREE days was less than U.S. $400 (less than one night in New York). And the resort experience today for 3 hours at Baan Yin Tree was no different - beautiful architecture, scenery and service for great value... but that is only if you do the planning. Otherwise tourist agencies will try to stick you at the typical cookie cutter "family resorts"... so to be safe, call Christina and she will plan your trip ensuring you get bang for your buck and the culture!

A Thai Guard south of Patong Beach.

How can you not be happy here!

We had spent the majority of our time near Patong Beach but today ventured off to the various beach areas south of Patong.

I love riding this thing (scooter), but it is only truly practical in a place where it is the mode of transportation used by the majority (such as Asia). The mileage you get with a scooter is reason alone to immediately move to one for your main mode of transport, but it would not work out... in Texas, I would get mowed down by every other SUV. Here in Thailand, the drivers of both automobiles and scooters are so comfortable with it that there are rarely problems (also most of the roads come with a "scooter lane").

Christina had to remind me more than a few times, i.e. nice slap on the helmet ;-) to get back in the correct lane as Thailand drives as they do in Singapore and England... on the left side.

Here Christina took over the driver's seat as we headed down the trail. Yat pushed his ears back to help her stay on as she tucked her feet under his ears! The bouncing that comes with riding an elephant had us begging for our end of day spa treatment Christina had lined up. However first, we decided to buzz 'round the island one more time on the scooter!

We had another fun filled and packed day of exploring and adventuring here in Thailand (as well as pampering). But for now, we would like you to meet our new friend named "Yat" pronounced like "yacht." We rode him up the mountain overlooking the Andaman Sea (background) this morning. He is no moped in terms of speed but he gets the job done!

This morning Ash got up and took a dip in the pool but was mauled by mosquitos so jumped out. Meanwhile, Christina (who had been mauled the entire trip by bugs - she has about 6 pretty good size bites) tried to read the blog updates put up while she slept from the night before, but she did so from one inch away from the screen (too tired to put in her contacts!).

This photo is Baan Yin Dee this morning where Ash swam. This bungalow (whole floor) is located diagonal from our bungalow and is only about U.S. $160 a day compared to our U.S. $96 a day. We are going to rent this one next time we pass through. We decided yesterday we HAVE to come back to Thailand this year or early next to go to Chiang Mai which is a place where we can have a bunch of large stuff we wanted to buy shipped back (furniture and other cool stuff). For example, Christina found a 9 foot by 9 foot hand carved wooden piece that is to be mounted on a wall as art. The detail of the scenery was amazing. In the U.S. it would sell for around U.S. $10,000... here it is about $80,000 Thai Bhat (which equates to U.S. $2,000 plus U.S. $270 to ship back on a boat). Ash found a five foot tall teak wood elephant that is also hand carved... Won't fit on the plane so obviously we "have" to come back to rescue him.

At breakfast this morning we met a young guy that had graduated from Pace University Law School (Westchester, New York), practiced law in NYC, had done well as an attorney for a internet company and took a trip over here a few years ago. Upon his return to NYC, he walked outside one morning, looked around and thought "what am I doing." He invited all of his friends over that night and said "come take what you want, I am moving to Thailand." He has been here for the past three years. No worries, we won't be doing that but it gives you an idea of how amazing this place is and how it can grab you! Cost of living in what would be expensive places in the U.S. is ridiculously low here (but that only works if you are getting your income or dividends in US dollars perpetually!).

And someone needs some Aloe Vera! It has been a great Saturday - the day was so long that it seemed like three. We have 2/3 of a day tomorrow (Sunday 29 May 2005) here in Phuket before flying Tiger Airways from Thailand to Singapore. We will then awake early Monday morning to grab Japan Airlines from Sinagpore to Japan and then American on back to the US. So, in summary... everyone get to Phuket. It is best to do so now to get amazing rates. Things have just started getting back to order. The people are some of the best, most friendliest you will ever meet and as you can see, the sights are hard to beat. If anyone has any questions, don't hesitate to ask through this blog! When you leave a comment (click the "# comments" below any of these photo entries), we are notified and will get right back to you. Now on to the Aloe Vera and much needed sleep as it is 1:30 AM Sunday morning here in Thailand! Adios!

Christina had the Yellow Chicken and curry rice. Ash being the spice wimp stuck to stirfry chicken. We thought about taking a plate as a souvenier, but then Ash had a distant recollection of the Windmill Restaurant in Aruba as a young boy and suddenly jail did not sound favorable. (only Sandy Huzenlaub will get this one).

Dinner was picked by Christina and again she did a great job. She selected Baan Yin Pa, A Thai Cuisine restaurant on the water. Here again, we were in little company of tourists and enjoyed a great meal. Anyone coming to Phuket has to put this place on their must do list.

Yes, had to get the cheesy couple sunset shot in as well. Nearly missed the sunset as we asked a man who did not speak English to take the shot. He pointed the back of the camera towards us thinking he was taking our picture. Luckily, a woman ran up to him to take it. Thirty seconds later the sun was gone. This is the beach that was most widely covered in the news when the Tsunami hit. It is perfect today and peaceful like nothing ever happened.

No, this is not a postcard. Nor is it touched up with Photoshop. Christina and I ended our swim and headed to the north end of the island for dinner and on the way caught this shot at Sunset Saturday night 28 May 2005 (Patong Beach, Thailand). Click the photo (or any other) to enlarge.

Hmmmm. No explanation whatsoever for this one.

Ahh to get back to the Bungalow at Baan Yin Dee. The stones you see in the water behind us are the only path to our bungalow. Every bungalow has its own semi private pool in front of your porch that cascades into the next bungalow's private pool over a water fall! Did we mention this was only $96 a day (including all taxes!) Come and enjoy it folks... these people in Phuket, Thailand need more tourists! Get over here while you can! In a year or so, these rates are bound to go up!

The road back to our Bungalow was long and hot as the afternoon sun just whipped us (driving the scooter from inland to the west). We passed through various small communities such as this one on the way back. Much of the western part of the island is utilizing makeshift phone lines that have been set up quickly to get services back to the people.

"Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Dumber!" ...Not sure it is a good idea to take self-photos as we zip down the road at 60 kmh, but hey - we had stylish helmets!

This is the guy that offered to be our shopping assistant for U.S. 12.5 cents! Great guy and showed us all the shops off the beaten path. We came home with a treasure chest of neat momentos to take back to the U.S.A. including fish bone statuettes and large teakwood elephants. This "taxi" is run on nothing more than a lawn mower engine and a battery. It was as fun as the scooter and allowed us to haul all our loot which he kindly delivered to our hotel for us. He also acted as our tour cameraman shooting photos of us from the driver's seat as we led him back to our hotel on the scooter.

It took about 40 minutes to get from Patong to Phuket Town on the scooter. About 2/3 of the local population utilizes scooters.

As Ash drove, Christina's job was to take photos from the back of the scooter. Here she got this shot of a Temple on the road into Phuket Town.

No worries mom... we wore helmets. And oh so stylish were they! As we have apparently earned the affectionate titles of "Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Dumber," it was no help that these helmets cut off a supply of oxygen to the brain they are so tight!!! :-) At one point today we were traversing a very steep grade down a mountain road and Ash's helmet just popped off and bounced down the mountain road in traffic.

After our exciting "flights over Patong" we thanked our Parasailing hosts and headed into Phuket Town for shopping.

Ash comes in for his safe landing!

The Thai guy standing on Christina's Shoulders way up high in the sky is steering the parachute. He is not harnessed in any way, so if he slips, then adios. Here they are about 250 feet up over the Andaman Sea.

Up, Up and Away!

Lets review the situation... Speedboat. Christina on Beach. Rope bolted to Speed Boat with the other end bolted to a harness on Christina. Hope she can run fast!

She is about to FLY!!!!!!

Had to do it... We both love to JetSki, Christina had never done so in the ocean and it was only U.S. $30 for both of us... that would have cost U.S. $100 or more in Florida or the Caribbean. We zipped around this beach off the Andaman Sea and surveyed the coastline and were amazed at the height of what the wave must have been. Homes and resorts up on cliffs 70 feet or more off the shoreline were destroyed and under reconstruction. But within all the destruction, the people of Phuket seem happy and are working hard to revive the tourist business that made Patong Beach a hotspot up until last December.

This is the view from Patong Beach up to our bungalow (see the bungalows in the middle of the hillside).

This hotel is on the main road that lines Patong Beach and also the Baan Yin Dee (though we are at higher ground).

Many of the locals are still cleaning up the trees and village areas that were leveled when the tsunami rushed in so it was common to find brush fires as we explored the island.

We opted out of the everyday tourist things such as the "Speed Boat to snorkel for 4 hours" and instead rented a scooter. This allowed us to zip around the whole island and get lost on our own time. Anyone coming here should do the same. Group tours keep you tied to a schedule you cannot get out of as you are in a bus. With a scooter, you will find yourself in great spots that the tourist guides would not lead you.... and maybe in a place or two that you yourself would like to get out of quickly! (We ran into some locals in an off the path village that while likely harmeless had us trying to eroneously find the reverse button on the scooter!)

This is the view down the mountain from our bungalow. The main road winds down the hill to go alongside the beach where the Tsunami hit hardest.

And we awoke this morning at the Baan Yin Dee to a great breakfast! Last night our time I posted that this place is $150 a night. I stand corrected, it is $96 US dollars a night (and just revised yesterday's post). This is a four star bungalow boutique hotel. Come one, come all! There are only 14 people in this entire place (less than 1/5 of the rooms are occupied). The service is amazing. While it takes 26 hours of flying to get here from Texas, once you are here, you won't want to leave. We cannot determine as yet if this is year round pricing or if this is just what they are charging to get tourism picked back up after the tsunami. As you will see in following posts, today alone we rode a jet ski in the Andaman Sea, both parasailed individually, rented a scooter for 2 days use, ate at a 4 star restaurant over the water, hired a personal driver and shopper, went shopping (and got 4 large bags of stuff to bring home) all for less than $400! And in every stuation service is unbelievable. One man offered to be our shopping assistant for the day 5 Bhat.... that equates to 12.5 US cents. Christina and I took him up on his offer and at the end of the day gave him $1,500 Bhat as a tip. We have never seen someone so happy.

Christina can handle travel details any day of the year! She did a great deal of research prior to coming on every detail from dining to lodging and located this bungalow on a high hill on Patong Beach in Phuket. She found every coupon known to man and beat every hotel manager over the head for low rates (this place in the picture above is ours for $96 a night!). This is Baan Yin Dee... it was one of the few places not hit by the Tsunami. It is unbelievable. Tourism has been hit extremely hard here so excellent bungalows such as this with a mote around your room (semi private pools for each bungalow) are currently going for very low rates. We walk on stone blocks emerging from the pool to get to this place. Check out the website in the right side of this page to link to the Baan Yin Dee.

We have just arrived in Thailand in the Southwest part of the country known as Phuket... where the Tsunami hit at Christmas 2004, just 5 months ago. It was clearly evident as our driver brought us from the airport to our hotel, that much destruction remains. It is night now here as we have just entered Saturday, but we can still see much damage. But the community seems to be pulling together. Looking forward to sunrise.

Ha... see what happens when one goes to the loo before they serve snacks!

As we left Singapore for Thailand this evening, Christina caught this great shot of the small little mini-islands that surround Singapore.

Tiger Airways began ops in late Q3 of 2004. They are the first low cost carrier of Singapore. Great team led by Tony Davis, formerly of bmi baby in the UK. This is one of four new Airbus A320's the startup has launched. The airline is growing rapidly expanding throughout Southeast Asia. Check them out TODAY!

We left for Thailand at 6:35 PM Singapore time (13 hours ahead of Texas and 15 hours ahead of Seattle where the Hussong's live).

We walked most of Sentosa Island... here in the jungle we saw more insects (that we had never seen before in the US). Monkeys were also in the trees according to the Lagoon staff, but we were not so fortunate to run into one of them.

Between Jumbo the Dolphin (see below) and this ugly fish, Ash was feeling a little jealous about these fishies. Pucker up!

Yeah, he can stay on his side of the glass and we will stay on ours... being within the tank with these guys, Christina and I felt like bait.

...But before we jetted off to the Airport, we stopped into Underwater World. We were pleasantly surprised that it was not a low grade fish tank, but one of the biggest salt water aquariums in the world. Here we are in a tube within the aquarium and enjoying the sharks!

We made it ...to the Southern most point of Continental Asia! We are now racing for the airport to fly to Thailand. More later!

After returning or equipment and booties, we prepped for an island hike to the Southern most point of continental Asia.

We played with Hon and Young (the two small female dolphins at the lagoon) for about an hour. We were trained to instruct them to jump, dance, sing and even paint us a picture with paint brushes in their mouths!

Our Dolphin Swim Team included our two trainer instructors and new friends Michelle and Brad from Sydney, Australia.

Jumbo has a crush on Miss Goldman.

This is our new friend JUMBO!

Littering in Singapore carries a $500 fine and having to sweep for one hour. Oops. Oh and Cain, thanks again for these flip flops you threw into the dumpster back in college ('97) that I rescued. They are perfect.

Highest Bidder!!!

Such a good girl!

We arrive at Sentosa Island early for the Dolphin Swim.

Singapore's National Symbol is the Lion. Here, a giant concrete Lion "protects" the country at its southernmost tip.

Our cable car ride comes to an end as we prepare to swim with the dolphins!

Here we pass over an old military fort that had been abandoned on Sentosa Island. Sentosa Island has become the "Resort Island of Singapore." If you are considering coming to Southeast Asia, Sentosa is a must. It has everything for families and non families. Dolphin Lagoons, Resort Hotels, Museums, Zoos, Massive Underwater Shark Aquariums, great running (though it is blacktop not soft dirt). Also has great beaches where you can just do nothing at all.

Our journey to the island consisted of glass bottom cable car ride from Singapore Mainland to Sentosa.

On our way to Sentosa Island, we caught a nice glimpse of the coast.

The subway does not give you disposable tickets (whereby people might throw them to the ground). Instead everyone is issued a smartcard with a chip in it. You get a refund for returning it. Here Christina says it tastes like Green Tea. hmmmm. (She is chomping at the bit because we actually did not get that Starbucks she was promised... hey they were closed!)

Singapore Subways are unbelievable. Descritptions can not do justice when we talk about "clean." The culture here is something completely different. People do not litter, they do not graffiti, they do not walk away from a spilled mess (for example a woman dropped a drink in the subway and went to clean it up). I am not sure how they are successful in getting people to take so much pride in their city.

This is the view out of our hotel at the Hilton Singapore. It overlooks Orchard Road, the main shopping district.

Singapore HBO! as we prepared to head to the Dolphin Lagoon on Sentosa Island! XTINA WAKE UP!!! (she is still sleeping).... Promise her a Starbucks and she is out the door in 5 seconds. Off to swim in the lagoon now!

From Equinox we headed to Raffles of Singapore where Xtina met up with the famous Doorman.

There was so much food (5 courses) that we could only eat a little bit of each course. This was unfortuanately taken by the manager and chef as though we did not like the food. We loved it, but with our clocks so out of whack, being so tired (Ash fell asleep in the cab on the way!!!) and it just being so much food, we could not eat it all! Ash's favorite was the ice cream (he wanted it served first but behaved himself this time). Christina's favorite was the Filet Mignon and Rack of Lamb!

Equinox Singapore

The Dining Room!

Christina made all the arrangements from Texas for us to have dinner at Equinox on the 70th Floor of the Swissotel. The restaurant has few tables... but all line floor to ceiling glass overlooking Singapore.

Orchard Road is nothing but 5 story mall after 5 story mall... many open 24 hours.

Christina in the Singapore community of Little India on Thursday afternoon. Hot, humid, and the spices filled the air!

Ash finished with his aviation meeting and now we are off to Little India, then to the World's Largest Fountain ("Fountain of Wealth"). Then dinner at Equinox!

This morning I (Christina) met with the Singapore Golman Sachs PWM Division. I had a GREAT time with Pho-Choo, a VP. She was able to give me a tour of the office and introduce me to a few FA's as well as the regional director. They reach entire Southeast Asia. I am nearly complete with the book, "The Culture of Success" about Goldman and highly recommend it. If you want to know everything about Goldman and how they got to where they are today, you should read it - go to Amazon!

This morning we awoke at about 6:45 AM (giving us about 4 hours good sleep!) Christina's internal "Starbucks Homing Device" was working perfectly! Extremely humid here as we are not too far from the Equator. On our walk this place was extremely clean... have never seen a place so clean (streets, no grafiti, and of course no gum on the sidewalks). The stores in the common areas made one feel like it was Beverly Hills. Seems to be as many Americans / British here ... or at least in the Orchard Road area. After speaking with various people, business is big here. The people we spoke with use Singapore as their launch pad for Asia.

ALMOST TO SINGAPORE. This is the screen in front of our seat that tracked our flight. We are well into Season Two of "24" by this point. Hopefully Jack Bauer will again save the day! We landed in Singapore at 23:50 Hours Wednesday May 25 and it was 85 degrees F. The cab to the Hilton showed the cleanest streets we have ever seen. Tomorrow: Chrisitna meets with her Goldman contact at the Singapore office at 9:00 AM and Ash has his bizmeetings at 10:30 AM! Good night! I think it is 2:00 PM on Wednesday May 25 in Texas as I write this!

On the jetbridge boarding for Singapore! We had been spoiled with free upgrades for the previous 16 hours of flights but now would be in economy class for the final 7 hours!

We arrive in Japan! Ash and I just before we race for the next plane (transfer from American to All Nippon / United). While the Airport says Tokyo, it is actually 1.5 hours by express train from Tokyo. Hopefully we will come back here and experience Japan... but for now, onto the back of the plane for 7 more hours to Singapore!

The flight screen monitor just before we cross over the Bering Sea. Our Los Angeles to Tokyo flight was 11.5 hours.

At LAX Admirals Club, Miss Goldman tries to master the Bloomberg in the brief 20 mins we have before our flight to Tokyo! (Hopefully she will teach it to me once she gets it).

Hmmmm.... thats not a good sign. We left Tues morning after some delays (as is common with American Airlines!) and enroute finally got to see what those oxygen things really look like!

Next Stop: Southeast Asia!

London, Miami, then the enormous metropolis of Tyler... next stop Asia. We leave May 24, 2005 for our 20,600 mile trip (total flight time of 44.5 hours). In only six days (Ash has to get back to work at Emergisoft and Christina has to get to work at Goldman), we will go from Dallas to LA, LA to Tokyo, Tokyo to Singapore, Singapore to Phuket, back to Singapore, then back to Tokyo for an 11 and a half hour flight to Dallas!

Tsunami Videos

Christina and I went to the Tsunami affected areas of Thailand, principally Patong Beach in Phuket. Watch these videos that give a clear view of the tragedy that occurred.