Hong Kong cont'd

The next day, Cindy and I made our way over to Kowloon in search of the Space Museum. The subway system in Hong Kong is very efficient, clean and easy to use. The city itself is impressively clean. There are reminders everywhere to wash your hands and cover your mouth when sneezing or coughing.  From what I saw, not one woman was negligent in washing her hands in the ladies’ room. Every washroom had plenty of soap and paper towels, not a common thing in Asia.

We made our way out of the metro and onto the street but unfortunately, I got mixed up and took us to the Science Museum instead. So we walked and walked and walked before I finally figured things out….Cindy took it all in good humour.

Eventually we found the Space Museum and the IMAX theatre that was showing the documentary Born to Be Free. We bought tickets for later that night and made our way to the exhibit called Fantastic Creatures from the British Museum.  

The exhibit featured mythical creatures and themes that occur in both modern and ancient times and how these have influenced society. Creatures like the phoenix, dragon, griffin, chimera, and the unicorn.  Labels sometimes explained the myth’s origin – like how the narwhal’s trunk was thought to be the horn of the unicorn. Masks, knives, combs, boxes, etc. would showcase the carvings of these creatures. The exhibit was well laid out and extremely informative, but to be totally honest, I found it a bit dull.

We finished in time to catch afternoon tea at one of the oldest hotels in Hong Kong, the Peninsula. 

I felt very awkward going into this very fancy place in my very casual clothes. Let’s face it, I didn’t pack for fancy and it was cold in Hong Kong – too cold for my one and only dress. Oh well. Cindy and I joined the long queue but the line moved fast and we soon found ourselves at a table looking at a very expensive ‘high’ tea set. It was almost twice as much as the one at the Marriot and much less food; but it was lovely.

We had tea (of course) and scones, clotted cream, preserves, cucumber sandwiches, tiny quiche, chocolates, etc. The cucumber sandwiches were so good: thinly sliced cucumber with herbed cream cheese – yummy!  The sugary treats were boxed up for later as we were too full.

Time for some shopping! We headed off to a street lined with shoe stores. Cindy was looking for shoes and I was on the hunt for a new travel bag as mine was shot. We both got lucky – I bought a new bag and Cindy got herself some funky shoes.

Our 8:30 film was showing in a planetarium type- setting with the film played overhead. Unfortunately the seats didn’t tilt so it could have made for a bit of an uncomfortable experience. Luckily we had bought our tickets early so the attendant had given us good advice on which seats to purchase. As we sat waiting for the film to begin, the fellow beside me tapped me on the shoulder and explained that I needed to put on the headset and select English in order to understand the narration. I was a bit surprised since it was my understanding that we had bought tickets for the English version but we did as he instructed.

The headset was far too big for either Cindy or I so we ingeniously wrapped our heads in our scarves so the headset would stay on. We selected English on the channel and sat back to enjoy the experience. The movie started and whose voice do we hear? Morgan Freeman’s in English. So off went the headsets.

The movie featured Canadian Burite Galdikas and her orangutans, and British Daphne Sheldrick and her orphaned elephants. It was great seeing the orangutans; many were those that Ian and I had met on our journey to Borneo.  The film focused on the babies and their care: a female is assigned to one baby orangutan and she changes their diapers, feeds them with a bottle and sleeps with them until they are old enough to be reintroduced into the wilds.

Ms Sheldrick performed her work out of Kenya at the Tsavo National Park. With the elephants, a male is assigned as the baby’s keeper. He shares a small hut with the elephant until it reaches two years of age, then it is moved to a camp with more room to roam. When the youngsters are transferred there, the older elephants already in the wild intuitively sense the orphans approach and arrive at the camp to welcome them into their herd. I thought that was absolutely fascinating.

The following day we were off to Macau, 60 km west from Hong Kong across the Pearl River Delta. Macau, a former Portuguese colony, was handed back to China the same time as Hong Kong and Chinese development has changed much of the island. However, guide books assured us, there were still areas of charm and history worth exploring.

Entering Macau was like entering another country, so passports and a visit to the immigration counter were mandatory.  Macau comprises of three different areas: the peninsula and the islands of Taipa and Coloane.  Since we were only spending a day in Macau, we decided to focus on the peninsula. Known mostly for its casinos, there were also beaches, fishing villages, and colonial buildings to explore.

After a visit to the tourist centre and studying a map, we boarded a bus for Largo do Senado (Senate Square).  Immediately, we felt like we had left China and entered Europe.  Facing the square sits Leal Senado with its interior courtyard and blue and white Portuguese tiles. Cindy and I stumbled into that one quite accidently. We had no idea what the building was when we went in.

On route to the square itself, we passed a bakery with warm egg tarts. Before leaving for Macau, Cindy had looked up what to eat, buy and do in Macau and number one was – eat an egg tart. So of course, we immediately purchased two and it was scrumptious. I am hoping that I can find homemade egg tarts somewhere back in Toronto when I return home.

We found a seat in the square to eat our egg tarts and watch the tourists wander by. A water fountain sits in the centre of the square and coloured tiles create waves on the ground. The buildings surrounding the square housed a variety of stores within them.  

Through the square and onto the narrow pedestrian streets, we noted several stores selling dried meats – as I do not eat beef, I tried in vain to get Cindy to take a bite but she wasn’t going for it. The flat square pieces of red meat really did look rather unappealing to me but not to others. Samples were offered at all the stores and people (mostly Asians, if not all Asian) were crowded around these freebies happily gobbling them up.

One shop with candied ginger, almond, sesame, and ginger cookies, and tons of samples did lure manage to lure us in. We wandered around tasting a variety of snacks. One such goodie was a pastry with seaweed. Cindy told me to try it first and only when I reported it as quite tasty, would she take a bite. Little did I realize, I had only eaten the pastry.  Cindy of course ate both pastry and seaweed and her face said it all. It was disgusting. In surprise (and not yet realizing it was only the pastry that was good) I helped myself to another nibble and could barely swallow it.

It was without a doubt one of the foulest thing I had ever tasted in my life – I can only describe it as something a kin to rotten fish. Being in the centre of the store in plain view of everyone, and without a napkin, I could hardly spit it out. Nor did I want it in my mouth so I swallowed it; along with a lot of water, candy and anything else that could get rid of the taste.

The streets we wandered on were quite lovely – cobble stone and pedestrian only lined with shops, historic buildings and churches.

As the day progressed, the streets filled with more tourists and it was soon very crowded. Eventually we came to our goal, the ruins of the church of Sao Paulo.

Only the façade remains but it is still an impressive site.  The doorway leads to an open area behind the wall and stairs lead up to a viewing platform. This is the view through the second story windows.

East of the ruins lies the fort so we wandered around the outside eventually making our way to the top.

Once we had exhausted this area of Macau, we decided to visit the ice sculpture at Fisherman’s Wharf that Cindy had read about online. First of all, I thought that Fisherman’s Wharf was an actual fishing village so it seemed somewhat odd to me that Macau would have an ice sculpture there but hey, whatever.

It turned out that Fisherman’s Wharf was not at all what I thought. My guide book describes it best: “a bewildering array of amusements, shops and restaurant” (Rough Guide).  The area is huge with convention centre, parking lot, fake volcano and fake stucco fisherman’s wharf all within a walled compound. There are several restaurants, bars, and clothing stores but the place was a ghost-town. It was hard to find an information counter, employee, or building with someone actually in it.

Finally, after much wandering and asking anyone we could find we were eventually directed to the ice sculpture park, exhibit or whatever it was called. I shouldn’t have had any expectations but I did. I couldn’t help it. I imagined a huge indoor building with several (at least a dozen) ice sculptures inside and loads of tourists wandering around reading accompanying signs and taking photos of the amazing sculptures.

Needless to say, it wasn’t like that at all.

On the outside, the building looked quite tiny. There was one woman working at the desk and after taking our money, the same woman took us into another room where we donned winter coats and boots.

Once properly clothed for the -10 degree room, the worker pulled open a thick metal door and then showed us how to get out when we were done.  We could spend as much as we wanted inside. No employees were inside supervising…

Our first introduction to the place was some sort of ice sculpture followed up with an ice bar complete with bar stools and beer bottles stuck in the ice. Next were two ice slides – and that was it. I’m not exaggerating.

Since we paid good money for the experience, we took advantage. I carefully climbed the ice stairs and down I went on the first slide. Bumpy but fun.

Once I discovered plastic sleds, it was near impossible getting Cindy out of the place! She was having a great time.

The entire place was smaller than my house and anyone who has visited, knows it’s a tiny place. Oh well, didn’t matter, we had a great time. Lots of laughing.

We poked around Fisherman’s Wharf for awhile, had some yummy (but expensive) Indian food and then headed back on the later ferry for Hong Kong and our comfy beds…

Next morning we were up for a visit to Stanley on the other side of the island. The concierge team at the Marriot was fantastic providing us with small cards in both English and Chinese with directions to Stanley via bus. We found our way to the bus stop and boarded a double decker bus full of tourists and paid about $10 Hong Kong dollars each for our journey.

The bus wound its way through the tall high-rise buildings in the financial district and into a tunnel taking us to the other side. We made our way up and then down a hill with gorgeous views of Repulse Bay. According to my guide book (Rough Guide), the name came from the British fleet’s repulsion of pirates in the 1800s. The bay has some lovely beaches but it was too chilly for us to be swimming so we stayed on the bus to Stanley.

Stanley is located on the water and is a small town with restaurants, shops, and a market selling super cheap clothes, purses, shoes, souvenirs, scarves, etc. As usual, I bought very little but should have bought more. I’m the worse shopper. I tend to talk myself out of things: do I really need that? Or better yet: do I really want to carry that around? After spending a few hours there, we found a taxi to take us to The Peak.

The Peak is located on the 550+ metre hill and has spectacular views of the harbour and Hong Kong. We were lucky as the day had cleared so it was probably our best day to go up there. The line up however was very long but when you’re hanging out with a friend you haven’t seen for a while, you’ve got lots to talk about and time goes fast. Before we knew it, we were squeezed onto the small tram’s hard wooden seats for our ride up the hill.

Unfortunately, passengers face the front so getting any sort of good view isn’t possible. The angle up is very steep, climbing 373 vertical metres in 8 minutes. The exit is in a small mall (surprise surprise) and we followed the several escalators up to the top to the viewing platform. The view up here was spectacular.

The buildings on Hong Kong Island were fairly clear as you can see. The Kowloon side was a bit hazy.

At one point I leaned over the side and was astonished to hear noise of birds and cicadas. When you lean back in, you can’t hear a thing.  It was such a spectacular view up there and hard to leave but we were flying out of Hong Kong that evening so it was time to return to the hotel and gather our belongings.

The shuttle bus and train were an easy way to return to the airport but finding our way to terminal 2 where Air Asia departs was ridiculous. As we exited the train a sign pointed to a set of elevators for terminal 2 so we entered but there was absolutely no indication of what floor to exit on so we guessed. Of course, it was wrong. We wandered around and around that airport for what felt like forever – and that was after asking information for directions. The absolute lack of signage didn’t help. Eventually we had to get on another elevator, walk on another pedestrian bridge and around in a circle till we found it. All this only to discover there wasn’t even a gate assigned  for a flight yet so we grabbed some dinner until we heard an announcement for our gate.

The flight went well and we spent a night at a hotel very close to the airport – a really decent place for about 60 dollars including a free shuttle to the airport. However, when I went to unpack my bag I discovered my portfolio wallet was missing. I had put it in the top of my backpack because I didn’t have room for it in my shoulder bag (I had the computer in it).  Our insurance cards, extra passport photos, my international driver’s license (Ian had his) and about 120 dollars US were in it. Clearly someone at the airport, in the baggage area, had taken it since there was no way anyone else could have lifted it. I was appalled that someone who worked at the airport could do such a thing.

As there was absolutely nothing I could do about it, I set my phone and went to bed. About 1 am I got a call on my cell phone from someone asking for me by name. He said they had my wallet at the airport and could I come in the morning to get it? I was half asleep but understood that I was to go to the information counter. I thought it was all rather odd but at least they had my wallet so I didn’t care. Of course, in the morning when I was awake, I started wondering how on earth they had gotten my cell number.

The next day Cindy and I were hopping on a bus to do some diving in Pattaya. The bus left directly from the airport so we were using the airport shuttle from the hotel at no cost so we went early so I could visit the information counter. We found it easily enough but the fellow behind the counter was not only rude but extremely unhelpful. It took everything I had to stay calm and keep smiling. Eventually we figured out we had to go to Air Asia’s counter so off we went – they did indeed have my wallet minus my international licence but everything else was there, including the cash. I figure someone pulled it out, opened it – didn’t see anything to take (the cash was hidden behind our vaccination records) and threw it aside. The licence was loose so it probably fell out. Air Asia had my phone number from my online bookings – lucky I had written it in!

That took a lot longer than expected so we raced downstairs to catch the bus. The bus was $10 dollars each and was only an hour and a half to Pattaya with a drop off right at our hotel! Can’t beat that!

I was looking forward to getting back under the water and doing some diving with Cindy.

Chiang Mai and Hong Kong

We flew to Chiang Mai on Air Asia – I’ve lost track of how many Air Asia flights we’ve been on. It’s a super cheap airline but they charge you for absolutely everything: food, drinks, comfort set, etc. You have to be careful as it can start to add up.
In Kuala Lumpur, Air Asia flies in and out of the Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT). It’s as if AA has taken over the entire place – one doesn’t see a lot of other airlines there. The place is no frills: passengers unload from the plane out on the tarmac then walk, and walk, and walk through covered open to the hot air pathways to the tiny arrival department. When we left for Chiang Mai, we decided to grab some lunch before going through to our gate. As AA always runs late, Ian and I figured that going through a little more than an hour before boarding would be more than enough time. Little did we know, the line ups for immigration were HUGE and SLOW. All three of us stood in different lines and boy did they crawl. We were still in line when I heard them announce our flight was boarding!

Finally, I got through and booked it to the gate. They were closing it when I got there. I ran up to the woman and told her that my friends were stuck in the immigration lines and would be along shortly, I explained how long and how slow the lines were. She said she wondered what was going on because so few people boarded the plane. As I stood there waiting for Cindy and Ian, passenger after passenger ran up to the gates – they too had been caught in the lines. The AA attendants were growing impatient and wanted to close the gate but I pleaded with them and finally Ian and Cindy came running. We were so lucky!

In Chiang Mai, Ian found a great deal for Le Meridien so we stayed there. Rooms were lovely and we felt quite spoiled. That night, we toured around the night market and had some Indian food for dinner. It was super cheap (I think it cost maybe 15 dollars for the three of us) and it was yummy!

The next day, Cindy and I were off to the elephant park – although I had just been there not long before, I didn’t mind returning one bit. The elephants as usual were stunning to see – especially up close and personal. Here’s me getting a nice wet kiss from the baby –

Both Cindy and I got in the water to throw buckets of water on the hot elephants.

Best of all was watching them play in the mud. One naughty elephant got a hold of the hose and wrapped it around his trunk to swing all over the place. It was great fun watching the young fellow try to get the hose back only to be chased away. Eventually the elephant pulled too hard and the hose popped off the tap. It was hilarious to see all the elephants just stop what they were doing almost in disbelief.

We had a super time but both of us were happy to get home to clean the dust and elephant saliva off us.

Our adventure with the wild-life was only to continue. Ian had arranged a driver to take us to the Tiger Kingdom the next morning.  I had read about this place last time Ian and I were in Chiang Mai but we just couldn’t fit a visit into our schedule. Large enclosures with several young tigers are spaced around the property and visitors pay to enter the enclosures with the tigers. Only a few people at a time are allowed in. Like everyone else, I was sceptical and emailed the park to find out how this was possible. Were the tigers drugged?

I was assured that absolutely no drugs were used and when you saw the tigers playing, you could see they were not drugged. The reason visits were possible, the park said, was because the tigers were all under 2 years old – apparently after that, they were too aggressive and unpredictable for human contact. Once the tigers reached that age, they were sent to zoos. The tigers had all been born at the park so none were captured from the wild (although who knows where the original mama and papa came from).  The park also said, visitors were never left alone in the enclosure without staff and all staff were highly trained.

As we entered the park complex, the first thing we saw were 4 very large tigers playing in a pool of water with two staff members in the enclosure with them.

The tigers were gianormous, and gorgeous. We stood in awe watching them, they were so magnificent. The staff held long poles with loose bits of strong material on the end and were playing with the big cats just like we would play with a kitten, teasing them with the cloth so the cats would jump up trying to catch the material in their claws and teeth.

Entrance to the park is paid according to which size of tiger you want to get close with – Cindy and I chose smallest, small, and large. Ian chose smallest and large. It wasn’t cheap but it was a once in a lifetime opportunity and I was taking advantage.

Our first visit was with the little ones. A few were in a playful mood -

 …while others just wanted to nap.

 We fed them from bottles, pet them and just sat there watching them.

Next up were the small – or medium tigers.

These fellows were in a very playful mood: jumping in and out of the pool and play fighting each other. It was hard to get a photo with any of them but eventually one stopped for a little rest break and I jumped in there for a shot…

Absolutely gorgeous creatures….

…such great faces.

Last up - the big tigers... I couldn’t help but be a wee bit spooked by these ones – they were so BIG.  One of the keepers motioned to me to come behind the tiger for a photo but as I moved towards her, she growled. It was because I had walked too much in a line towards her rather than come in from the side. It freaked me out, but the keeper encouraged me to keep going so Ian and I got in behind and they snapped off a photo –

I guess the stick kept her occupied and happy….

The best was the sleepy guy on the table. He was so accommodating, didn’t mind us laying on him one bit –

I know that this experience was probably bad in so many ways – and I’m sure someone out there could easily criticize us for encouraging tigers to be kept in captivity but man..what an incredible morning.

On our way out, Cindy and Ian decided to go zorping(at least I think that's what you call it). I’d never even heard of this before. You crawl into a large plastic ball which is sealed and filled with air.

Then you’re set off onto the water where you attempt to move –

It was wonderful watching these two try as hard as they could to stand up –

The report: HOT but a blast. After a refreshing drink we headed off to see the Karin women.

I was hoping to see their village and not a market place but that’s what we got so we made the best of it. Cindy loves to shop so we took our time browsing through all the scarves and jewelry. I must confess, I picked up the shopping bug…

The hoops on the Karin women’s necks are added as they grow from young children to adults. Long ago, the hoops were added to make the women more attractive to men but rumour is, now they exist for tourism alone; and contrary to rumour, the hoops can be removed without the women’s necks collapsing.

The next morning Cindy and I headed out to see the temples while Ian arranged a motorbike rental for his solo trip around northern Thailand.  Ian was really looking forward to riding a bike on those curvy hilly roads and it would be nice to have some ‘girl time’ with Cindy but when the time came to say good bye to Ian, it was really hard. We’d been together 24/7 for 8 months and here we were, parting company for a good 10 days. It felt downright strange.

Cindy and I were off to Hong Kong for a few days before returning to Thailand for some diving before she left us for Canada. Ian and I had been to Hong Kong for a short trip when we lived in Korea and had both enjoyed it so I was certainly looking forward to going back.

Cindy used her Marriot points to score us a few nights on Hong Kong Island and what a great hotel the Marriot that turned out to be!!! From the airport we took the train and then a free shuttle bus to the hotel. Our room was fantastic – a corner room with a great view of the harbour. We didn’t even want to leave the room, the view was so amazing; but time was ticking and we had things we wanted to accomplish. One was doing high tea.

The Marriot does ‘tea’ so we went downstairs to check things out. It turned out to be a tea buffet rather than high tea; a new concept to us but we decided to give it a go. We made reservations for later and headed to the mall attached to the hotel; not to shop but to look for the escalators that led up the hill to Hong Kong Park. The day was cool and the park crowded with visitors. We found a neat water fountain where the water spilled over the sides of a pedestal-type structure leaving plenty of room to slip underneath for a photo. We had a blast getting lots of photos but unfortunately those are all on Cindy’s camera. I left our camera with Ian. I did manage to get a few photos from Cindy before she left for home but those ones, I don’t have.

After walking around the park, we headed into the free tea museum that held an exhibit of art pieces focusing on tea.  Most of the art work consisted of various tea sets centred on a theme – I remember being very impressed with some, and thinking others were quite ugly. Wish I had photos to share of those but photography was not permitted.

It was soon time to return to the hotel for our dinner. The buffet had all sorts of goodies: noodle soup, smoked salmon, breads and cheese, Caesar salad, anti-pasta, dim sum, and of course, lots of desserts including scones and clotted cream. There were quite a few teas to choose from and they were yummy. I had pear and Cindy had blueberry. The buffet tea was a reasonable price and we left full and happy.

That night we headed out across the harbour by metro to watch the laser show. We were pretty excited having both seen the huge Robert LePage show in Quebec City where a movie was projected onto a km of silos sitting in the harbour and lasers, smoke and fire added to the effects. Here in Hong Kong, Samsung was the sponsor so it was no surprise that the Samsung building featured prominently in this show. After 15 minutes of lasers shooting across the harbour and into the sky, and buildings flashing on and off, it was over. Loud music played in the background but the timing with the lights didn’t always work. The show left us disappointed but still, we were in Hong Kong so who could be upset with that?!

Cindy and Mark's Visit: Bangkok, Phuket, Koh Phi Phi, and KL

Cindy and Mark were arriving from Canada – seemed like so long ago when Cindy and I had first talked about her coming for a 3 week visit and now here it was, mid-March already! They arrived tired, very white, and happy after their 22 hour flight from Toronto.

Ian and I ushered them off to the hotel for hopefully a good night’s rest and we spent the next few days showing them a wee bit of Bangkok: the market, Grand Palace, Wat Arun and Wat Pho. Here’s me umbrella in hand and borrowed sarong  ready to walk the palace grounds in the hot sun.

 We did the dinner cruise with Shangra-La again, only this time the water was low enough for the boat to journey past the Grand Palace.

Here’s Mark, Ian and I full and happy after our super meal on board.

March 25^th we headed off to Phuket – a popular tourist spot known for its clean beaches, hot weather and great diving off the Andaman coast. Cindy got us a great deal with Marriot in a two bedroom condo complete with living space and kitchen. Ian and I felt like we were in heaven having a table, chairs and couch and kitchen!  It was the closest thing to a house we’d been in since the place we’d stayed in October in Bangkok.

The weather was hot so it wasn’t long before we headed to the pool with a stop at the dive shop. Cindy and Mark signed up for a scuba diving course the next day. This could be extended to an open water certification which Cindy was determined to complete while on this trip.  Later that evening a shuttle took us to a tiny market where we bought some food and Ian and I grabbed a meal at the pub.

The next day, while Cindy and Mark did their course, Ian and I lounged by the pool.  All the sun beds were at the pool to preserve the beach for the turtles so it was pretty well deserted by the ocean. The resort owned two small elephants that looked very well cared for and they went strolling by a couple of times before going down to the beach for a bath.

 The days were very lazy for Ian and I but not for Cindy and Mark who had to study and practise their scuba skills in the pool.  After a few days, we headed to Koh Phi Phi, a tiny island that is absolutely gorgeous with white sand and the clearest blue water ever. After an hour ride on road, we boarded a tiny fast boat that got us to the island in about an hour and a half –

The resort was quite secluded and they treated us like royalty.  A staff member greeted us with a hose to wash the sand off our feet! Nice.

The usual cool cloths and welcome drinks were offered (yummy!). Best yet was the free upgrade to a pool villa! This would free up two bungalows for the resort while giving us one villa. We happily agreed to that arrangement and were soon taken in a golf cart to our two story private villa in the hills. It was gorgeous!

Ian and I took the spacious top floor with lovely bedroom while Mark and Cindy took the bottom with a walk out to the pool.

The pool was fantastic – refreshing, large, and deep.

The villa included internet and breakfast that was delivered in the morning off of an extensive menu where we could order as much as we wanted. The food arrived hot. There was a lovely porch with swinging couch and ceiling fan where we could sit and chill OR we could have a bath in the outdoor cement tub.

The villa compound was walled with a wooden door. Ian and I went to leave for dinner only to discover we had been accidently locked in! Just as Ian was about to climb the fence, some Brits happened by. We called to them and asked if they could let us out which they did oblige.

We felt absolutely spoiled staying there – golf carts and drivers were available to drive us anywhere we needed and turn down service came every night with fresh towels and a home-made snack.  Cindy looked up the villas online and we were shocked to discover they went for over 1000 dollars a night. They were not perfect mind you – Cindy found a spider as big as her thumb in the shower but the sound of the Gibbon monkeys every morning and evening more than made up for a few insects.

Our first order of business was to arrange diving. Cindy and Mark had to do their dives with Sea Bees located at the Holiday Inn a short boat ride away, whereas Ian and I chose to dive with the resort. It certainly wasn’t the cheapest diving but it was splendid.  We suited up in the morning and watched as the truck with all the equipment on it drove onto the sand left bare from the low tides.

Divers followed suit – first on the truck, then into a smaller boat before stepping carefully into the larger dive boat. We were only doing two dives with a lunch on the boat. I cannot remember exactly how long it took to get to our first dive spot but the areas we dove in vaguely resembled Halong Bay, only on a much smaller scale. Large rock islands towered over us as we dove. It was quite brilliant.

The dives went well – a little shorter than we would have liked since we dove with an air hog (someone who goes through their air a bit fast) – but overall, they were highly enjoyable. Maximum depth ranged from 18 to 19.5 metres with an average of 11 to 12 m. Visibility was 7 to 10 metres.

We saw quite a few Hawkbill turtles,  porcupine, boxer, and trumpet fish, leopard shark, blue spotted rays, and schools of snappers.

Lunch was yummy with chicken rice and the company good as we made friends with our dive companions.  It was fantastic not having to clean the equipment on our return at 2:30 and Ian and I hurried off to our villa for a dip in the pool and a report from Cindy and Mark on their own dives.

Dinner was the buffet down at the beach and it was lovely with fresh sushi, pasta, breads and cheese, etc. Next day was sadly our departure day but we were headed back to Phuket to say good bye to Mark and squeeze in another day of diving with Cindy who was completing her open water course.

I can honestly say, I’ve never been on such a fancy dive boat before. It was huge with the bottom level housing the gear, washrooms, two showers, and kitchen. On the second floor there were cubbies for your stuff, sitting area, and a bathroom that actually flushed! Upstairs there was a bar, tables and chairs and a hot buffet breakfast and lunch. Towels were even provided – what a luxury!  Cindy would be diving with her instructor while Ian and I had one other person joining our group.

The dive was great – we saw moray eels right out of the coral and a huge stone fish. At the artificial reef we saw baby puffers, mantis shrimp, school of barracuda, flounder, lion fish, etc. 

We soon said good bye to the beach and once again boarded Air Asia for a quick visit to Kuala Lumpur. We landed at the Low Cost Carrier Terminal, took a shuttle bus to the larger international airport and then onto the train into town.

We stayed at the Renaissance a 5 minute walk from the Petronas Towers which I have to say, looked brilliant when lit up at night.

The next day we went to hear the Philharmonic Symphony play Oscar favourites and we disappointed that it wasn’t just the orchestra playing but a lounge singer 'entertained' as well. A couple songs would have been okay but he did too many and soon grew tiresome. They played theme songs from Jaws and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and those were my favourite. It was fascinating watching them play Jaws – having heard that song so many times, I had no idea how hard it was to play.

Speaking of Jaws, no visit to KL is complete without a trip to the aquarium so off we went to see the fishes – it’s amazing how these piranhas look like animatronics –

They had a petting tank where we got to pet a small shark and hold a starfish . Here’s Cindy trying to get a shot of the tuna in the larger aquarium–

That afternoon, Ian took Cindy to Batu caves while I stayed in and did some research – booking flights etc. Ian and I had visited Batu caves on arrival so long ago and had been overwhelmed by the people And the monkeys. This time, Cindy was lucky to have the place almost to herself.

 Macaques were about as usual and Cindy got this great shot - .

On our final evening  we strolled along Butik Bintang, a popular shopping area in the city. In front of the large mall there is a gorgeous water fountain that changes colour -

After a wonderful meal of tapas and sangria, we visited a fish spa where Cindy had her feet cleaned by fish. This spa was more upscale than the one Ian had used in Cambodia – here you started small with tiny fish and then progressed to larger ones – and I mean large! I couldn’t even imagine having my feet nibbled on by some of these fellows!

 The trip was short but enough to give Cindy a taste of the city – since Ian and I had such a great time in Chiang Mai, we decided that should be our next destination.