After Bangkok, we stopped over for another 2 nights in Phuket, this time at the Katathani. While the hotel itself is superb, the main reason being right on the beach, the food was extremely disappointing. The Thai food for a buffet was well below my expectations. The cultural/dance show that went with it was very enjoyable. On other nights, entertainment featured Filipino bands. The breakfast that was included in our package was uninspiring and uninspired. About the only thing going for the whole set up at the restaurant (the Chom Talay) was the fruit carvings.
The hotel was not too busy when we were there and the kids got to enjoy the various pools as well as the beach. We picked up quite a lot of trash that washed ashore – mainly plastic bags, although we also fished out a 12in flower pot. The beach is a public beach and umbrella/seating rentals at the beach ran at 200Thb per person for the two hours we were there. (We paid for two.)
We stayed at the junior ocean front suite which was very pleasant with good view although not as breezy as I had expected. The room looked like it had recently been upgraded (perhaps as recent as 2-3 years ago, based on the flat panel TV). Internet was not included and was at an exorbitant 500Thb per 24 hours (or 200 Thb for 1 hour).
All in all we will come back here if possible although we will probably try to eat in town or across the street.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Friday, September 10, 2010
Chipped credit cards
We encountered another problem with 'regular' credit cards again this trip – this time in Bangkok. (In our last trip we also had problems using our credit cards at Tesco, a superstore. There they kept having to call a manager which was a hassle since it held up the check out line and us(!) and we pretty much went there daily for supplies.) The hotel we were staying would not accept the card when we checked in and since it was a Sunday there was no manager available whom we could speak to. Fortunately, my brother-in-law offered to use his card since he lived in Bangkok. He paid for our deposit for our stay.
Visa and Mastercard really have not dealt with this problem adequately – they need to force the US banks to switch over. As the use of chipped cards expands the capacity to deal with unchipped cards is going to shrink proportionately – mom and pop operations in Asia and Europe that accept chipped credit cards may not have the know-how to bypass the use of a chipped card. Fortunately for us the hotel's IT folks came in later that week and 'fixed' their card reader so that we could pay our balance with our crappy US based credit cards.
Canceling credit cards is now on my to-do list. I am also exploring the possibility of moving our money off-shore to a country that does offer chipped cards.
Penang as a tourist destination
I've been pondering why Penang remains a tourist destination – it used to be the beaches and it certainly isn't that any more. For a while now (apparently unknown to me), it has been street food and staying at Gurney Drive made me aware of this. Every evening tour buses would disgorge hordes of tourists to the end of Gurney Drive at the roundabout to Tanjung Tokong and they would descend upon the food stalls near our apartment.
We tried the food there one night – it wasn't all good – mostly miss than hit and the stalls didn't look particularly appetizing.
What used to be knowledge by word of mouth – where the best char koay teow was, etc. has now been formalized into guide books for foods as well as top ten lists in newspapers. I discovered all this on this particular trip and was slightly overwhelmed at how much things have changed. Of course, the Internet has been playing a big role as well. Try googling 'penang street food' and all kinds of web sites and blogs complete with mouth watering pictures of dishes appear.
Penangites (and its tourists) are apparently undeterred by the effect of emissions on the environment where food is concerned. They are willing to drive miles out of the way in search of the best hokkien mee or whatever seems to be on their mind.
We tried the food there one night – it wasn't all good – mostly miss than hit and the stalls didn't look particularly appetizing.
What used to be knowledge by word of mouth – where the best char koay teow was, etc. has now been formalized into guide books for foods as well as top ten lists in newspapers. I discovered all this on this particular trip and was slightly overwhelmed at how much things have changed. Of course, the Internet has been playing a big role as well. Try googling 'penang street food' and all kinds of web sites and blogs complete with mouth watering pictures of dishes appear.
Penangites (and its tourists) are apparently undeterred by the effect of emissions on the environment where food is concerned. They are willing to drive miles out of the way in search of the best hokkien mee or whatever seems to be on their mind.
Wireless access frustration
Why is it that when I try to log onto an unsecured wireless network, all the internet adapter does is cycle through the channels without connecting to the Internet? Having Googled this problem it is clear that I am not the only one with the problem (and none of the proposed solutions that I could affect worked). The network shows up as an available network. The adapter is a Netgear external card. When I try it with the internal Broadcom adapter, the network doesn't even show up. What is even more interesting is that M's laptop running Windows Vista has no problem connecting to the network. (I'm running XP and we're connecting to the hotel's wireless network.) Tried updating the firmware and drivers but that didn't produce the desired effect.
This happened to me in Bangkok and I ended up buying another network adapter which worked fine.
Update: When I got back to the US I tried the Netgear adapter and it worked fine as well so I have no idea what the problem could have been.
Bangkok
We were in Bangkok August 7 – August 16 and stayed at the Sathorn Gallery. This was a spacious 3-bedroom apartment but unfortunately was not quite what we had expected. In the past we had stayed at serviced apartments and this is not a serviced apartment. For instance, there were no laundry facilities and while there was a 6-place dining set provided, there were no cooking utensils.
The location however is excellent – near the Taling Pling restaurant where we got food almost daily and close enough to the Surasak Skytrain station. It was also walkable to Silom near Silom Village where we also at. The sidewalks were being repaired at the time on Thanon Pun which made navigating the street slightly difficult. There was also a Vietnamese restaurant on the street which we tried and found to be pretty good.
One thing I like about being in Bangkok is its convenience – tuk tuks are easy to get, as are taxis (which to foreigners are fairly affordable). Now with the Skytrain and the subway, I think it's even easier now to get around. There are also 7-11's and Family Marts almost at every corner and block (or so it appears) where we can get daily supplies – mainly water. There was a 7-11 around the corner from us on Sathorn and a Family Mart about half a block down on Pun. The things sold here aren't always marked up either – for instance, I went to Silom to a pharmacy (Watson's) to get some Vaseline lotion thinking it would be cheaper there but when I popped by the Family Mart, I found that I had overpaid by almost 15 baht.
The location however is excellent – near the Taling Pling restaurant where we got food almost daily and close enough to the Surasak Skytrain station. It was also walkable to Silom near Silom Village where we also at. The sidewalks were being repaired at the time on Thanon Pun which made navigating the street slightly difficult. There was also a Vietnamese restaurant on the street which we tried and found to be pretty good.
One thing I like about being in Bangkok is its convenience – tuk tuks are easy to get, as are taxis (which to foreigners are fairly affordable). Now with the Skytrain and the subway, I think it's even easier now to get around. There are also 7-11's and Family Marts almost at every corner and block (or so it appears) where we can get daily supplies – mainly water. There was a 7-11 around the corner from us on Sathorn and a Family Mart about half a block down on Pun. The things sold here aren't always marked up either – for instance, I went to Silom to a pharmacy (Watson's) to get some Vaseline lotion thinking it would be cheaper there but when I popped by the Family Mart, I found that I had overpaid by almost 15 baht.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Liquid chlorophyll
To drink! I saw a billboard for this in Penang. It's considered an anti-oxidant.
Coincidentally, I came across this article "Wheatgrass Juice and Folk Medicine" in the August 2008 Scientific American by Michael Sherman:
The recent medical controversy over whether vaccinations cause autism reveals a habit of human cognition – thinking anecdotally comes naturally, whereas thinking scientifically does not. ... On the other side are parents who noticed that shortly after having their children vaccinated autistic symptoms begin to appear. These anecdotal associations are so powerful that they cause people to ignore contrary evidence ...
Take wheatgrass juice ... if you can stomach it. The claims for its curative powers are bottomless.
While we're at this here are some other personal examples from my uncle who swears by the following:
1. Fruit wash when used on the skin can eliminate blemishes and acne.
2. The juices from discarded fruits and vegetable (when left to compost) is a very efficient cleaning agent (even for the skin).
Coincidentally, I came across this article "Wheatgrass Juice and Folk Medicine" in the August 2008 Scientific American by Michael Sherman:
The recent medical controversy over whether vaccinations cause autism reveals a habit of human cognition – thinking anecdotally comes naturally, whereas thinking scientifically does not. ... On the other side are parents who noticed that shortly after having their children vaccinated autistic symptoms begin to appear. These anecdotal associations are so powerful that they cause people to ignore contrary evidence ...
Take wheatgrass juice ... if you can stomach it. The claims for its curative powers are bottomless.
While we're at this here are some other personal examples from my uncle who swears by the following:
1. Fruit wash when used on the skin can eliminate blemishes and acne.
2. The juices from discarded fruits and vegetable (when left to compost) is a very efficient cleaning agent (even for the skin).
Race and Ethnicity
Reading Rehman Rashid made me wonder what this term/phrase really means. It's on Census forms and various other official and school documents for K1 and K2. In the US I would fill in Asian and when working with public use data I've seen Filipino or even Malaysian as a race/ethnicity usually in the 'Other' category.
Curiously, in Malaysia where this question is always mandatory in all official forms (including religion!) I would have filled in Chinese. So race/ethnicity is relative to where we are, but does where we are define who we are, and does it also define who we are supposed to be as well what our roles are depending on where we are? Or is this question just another useless item on a questionnaire?
Curiously, in Malaysia where this question is always mandatory in all official forms (including religion!) I would have filled in Chinese. So race/ethnicity is relative to where we are, but does where we are define who we are, and does it also define who we are supposed to be as well what our roles are depending on where we are? Or is this question just another useless item on a questionnaire?
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