Phuket, Thailand

The kids came for their first visit to Singapore in March.  Luckily for them, Merck paid for the non-stop Singapore Air flight.  It’s 19 hours long but all business class!

We decided we’d like to go to the beach for the first few days so they could relax while recuperating from jet-lag.  The many beaches of Thailand are only a short flight from Singapore and we decided on Phuket.  Phuket is an island on the west coast of the Malay peninsula with the Adaman Sea to the west and Phang Nga Bay and the Phuket Sea to the east. Bangkok is 425 miles to the north.

We stayed in northern Phuket away from the busier beaches of Patong and Karon in the lovely Aleenta resort.  While we were there we decided to take a day-long boat trip to the Phi-Phi islands, Hong Krabi and Phang Nga Bay, the home of the James Bond Island, which is famous for it’s role in “The Man with Golden Gun” back in the 1970s.

Phi-Phi islands are known for their diving and snorkeling areas.  They are also the islands on which the movie "The Beach" with Leonardo DiCaprio was filmed.  The islands are stunning and the snorkeling very good.  Phi-Phi as well as Phuket were devastated by the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami.  In Phi-Phi the destruction of the unrestrained development was a blessing in disguise for the eco-system of the island.

As we traveled north toward Phang Nga Bay we visited Koh Hong Krabi.  Koh means island and Hong means room and this particular Koh Hong is near the town of Krabi on the Thai peninsula.  It’s called a room island because is has an eroded group of caves in the middle of the island which harbours a large lake with a small passage to the sea. When the tide is high long tail boats are able to enter the ‘room’ and visitors can swim in around in crystal clear water with a depth of around one metre.

From inside Koh Hong Krabi looking out to the sea.

We finished our travels at Phang Nga Bay, home of many other koh hongs and the much visited James Bond Island.  Originally and locally known as Koh Tapu or Nail Island, it found fame in the 1974 Bond film "The Man with the Golden Gun" which starred Roger Moore and Christopher Lee, as the three nippled arch-villain Scaramanga.

Nearby is the village on Koh Panyee.  This is a remarkable village, the whole of it built out over water on stilts with a giant rock monolith guarding its rear.  There are 1,485 people from 315 families who live permanently on Koh Panyee.  All of them are the descendants, directly or indirectly, from one family who were the first people to settle on Koh Panyee some 200 years ago.

Our last night in Thailand we decided to head down to Patong Beach which is known for it’s clubs and bars.  There were plenty of bars, shops and nightclubs all selling beer and other things that I won’t include on a blog that children might read!  We did end up at Molly Malone’s - you can always count on the Irish!  And we were very thankful we had made the decision to stay on a quieter beach.

The Thai people are very friendly and when meeting you make the Wai gesture - hands clasped together as if in prayer with a slight bow of the head. It is used to say hello without speaking but also as an sign of respect.  This gesture is often incorporated with the Thai word “sawatdee,” an all-purpose Thai salutation. No need to distinguish between "good morning" and "good evening", "hello" and "goodbye": sawatdee covers it all. When parting, some say chohk dee, meaning "good luck". Chohk dee also serves as a substitute for "cheers", not in the British sense of "thanks", but in the old-fashioned sense of "may the road rise to meet you, may the wind always be at your back."

Yes, Thailand has McDonald’s and Ronald is in a Thai state of mind!

Chohk dee!

Kamakura, Japan

I’m way behind on posting blogs.  Dan and I went to Japan the week before the kids came to visit.  Needless to say I didn’t get any posts done while they were here.  And since then, well, I just don’t have any excuses.  So here’s the long overdue post on Kamakura.

Dan’s colleague, Kumiko Ota, and her husband were gracious enough to take us to Kamakura during our visit to Japan.  Kamakura is a little over an hour away by train southwest of Tokyo.  Located on the ocean, Kamakura was the capital of Japan’s first military government, the Kamakura Shogunate from 1185 to 1333.  It has been the center for Zen Buddism for hundreds of years and is know for it’s multitude of temples and shrines.

Kumiko and Takeshi first took us to a Shinto Temple where we had a vegetarian lunch prepared by the staff.  Shinto priests are allowed to marry and the priests sometimes stay at temple through many generations.

Next we went to Hase-Dera Temple that overlooks the sea and houses a statue of the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy.  Built in the 12th century, the temple also has a cave that contains a statues of the Seven Lucky Gods of Japan.

We also visited the Giant Buddha that is over 1200 years old.  A 15th century tsunami destroyed the temple that once housed the Great Buddha, but the statue survived and has remained outdoors ever since.You can go in the Buddha and climb to the top, similar to the Statue of Liberty.   

Our final stop in Kamakura was Tsurugaoka Hachiman Shinto Shrine.   Minamoto no Yoritomo, the founder of the Kamakura shogunate, built the shrine in 1191 and invited Hachiman, the god worshipped popularly among warriors, to reside there and guard his government. Cherry trees line the avenue to the shrine. The trees were ordered by Yoritomo as a prayer for the safe delivery of his first-born son.  The cherry trees were just beginning to bloom when we were there and it was quite lovely.  We were fortunate enough to see a traditional wedding procession.

As in almost all Shinto shrines all across Japan, Omikuji can be found. Omikuji are a written predictions about a person's near future. They give general advice about things like which direction is best, travel, business and illness. They are usually left out in a wooden box near the shrine with a sign stating how much for one. After paying, you unroll the folded paper and take a look at your fortune. Fortunes are divided into different levels of luck and misfortune. If you don’t like your fortune, you simply tie the paper to the strings hung at the shrine so the wind can blow the bad luck away.