Day 11 - Siem Reap

Do nothing day.  Eat, sleep, massage,  sleep, eat, sleep.

Day 10 - Siem Reap

We vegetated most of the day.  We went out when the sun went down.  We got a Tuk Tuk and went to Miss Wong for drinks.  It's a cute place down an alley off of Pub Street.  I really liked the drink I had.  I don't think kumi could say the same about her mocktail.

After drinks, we decided to find a place to eat.  It was a choice between a restaurant called MonSoon and another place.  As it turned out,  MonSoon was about 40 ft from Miss Wong.  So it won out.  It's a very nice place.  Great service.  Excellent staff.  Shout out to Osa!  Very good food and drink.  I really liked the the Signature Fish Curry I had.  I can't spell or pronounce what kumi had, but she said it was good too.

We went to Pub Street from MonSoon.  This seems the place to be for night life.  Bars, restaurants, shops, etc. all here.  There is a wide variety of things to eat, drink, and do.  Night Market is next to Pub Street.  We spent some  time here before getting a Tuk Tuk back to Anantara and calling it a night.

Day 8 - Siem Reap

This was supposed to be a mellow day.  We started out with the Anantara breakfast buffet.  While at breakfast, the Anantara Angkor social media representative stopped by our table and introduced himself.  He also gave us recommendations for things to do and places to eat.  One of the places he recommended was APOPO.

The APOPO Visitor Center in Siem Reap is an information center highlighting the recent history of conflict in Cambodia, the impact of landmines on local communities, and it gives the opportunity to meet and see the HeroRATs in action...  Yes, rats.  They use well trained rats (trained to the cost of 6000 euros each) to find landmines.  These are big rats, but they don't weigh enough to set off landmines. It was actually very interesting.

After APOPO, we went to the Angkor National Museum.  As far as museums go, this one is very nice.  The layout is well organized with a defined path of which way to go through the museum.  The combination of ancient artifacts displayed with current technology worked well together.  The optional audio tour added a very nice touch.

We decided to have an early dinner after the museum.  We got a Tuk Tuk outside the museum and had the driver take us to Jungle Burger.  I normally never eat burgers while traveling because there is so much other stuff to eat.  But this place was recommended by Anantara social media guy, so we went.  It was great.  Gourmet burger, fries or potato wedges, and a beer (I don't drink beer so I opted for something else) for around $7.00.  I had the Mushroom and Creamy Black Pepper Sauce Burger.  kumi had the Blue Cheese and Bacon Burger.  BTW, the Bob Marley Burger is no longer on the menu.

Our Tuk Tuk driver was waiting for us when we were done.  We had him take us back to Anantara just in time to get my complimentary happy hour drink.

Day 7 - Koh Samui/Siem Reap

Travel day.  Packed bags.  Had breakfast at the buffet.  Checked out.  Off to the airport.  The flight from Koh Samui to Bangkok is short.  The flight from Bangkok to Siem Reap seemed surprisingly shorter.  Immigration and customs were relatively quick... if you did e-visa beforehand.  We did.  Others who didn't spent a little more time in immigration.  The Anantara driver was waiting for us after baggage claim.  A short ride later and we were at Anantara Angkor Resort.  Painless check-in.  Good welcoming drink.  Room upgrade.  This was a good travel day.

One thing of note that we didn't know before we got here:  Cambodia accepts US currency.  I went to an ATM and it gave me US money.  Convenient.

Day 6 - Koh Samui

Tour day.  We scheduled a private van tour around the island.  We slept in late.  (Late for us anyway.)  Went to breakfast at Anantara Lawana Ocean Kiss  restaurant.  (Have I mentioned how awesome Anantara breakfast buffets are?)  After breakfast, we went on the tour.  Since it was just us, we went where we wanted and were on our own schedule.  I can't name the places we went,  but I did take photos.

We returned to the resort after the tour.  kumi returned to our suite, I walked around the resort to take more photos. The resort staff were having some kind of sports day.  I wasn't there for all of it so I wasn't too clear on what was going on.  But what little I saw was entertaining.

Later, pool bar, more plunge pool,  sleeping by plunge pool, sleeping in bed, then dinner at Ocean Kiss.

Day 4 - Koh Samui

I slept in.  kumi went diving.  Lazy day for me.  I got up and had a late breakfast at one of the Anantara Lawana restaurants, Ocean Kiss.

As far as breakfast buffets are concerned, Anantara has my favorite.  There is a good variety of cuisine and large selection of food.  Ocean Kiss also has a very nice beachfront view.

After breakfast, I stopped by the spa to schedule a massage for the afternoon.  I went for the traditional Thai massage, 90 minutes.  It'sa dry massage, no oils, a lot of stretching.  I, surprisingly, was not as stiff as I thought I was.  The massage was great.

After the massage, I returned to our suite.  kumi had just returned from her dives.  We, of course, vegetated until dinner, at which time we did in-villa dining again.

Day 3 - Koh Samui

More diving.  Silent Divers again.  2 tank dive, both were very good.

We returned to Anantara after diving.  The plan was for me to stop by the spa to schedule a massage for the next day, and kumi would go back to the suite.  Both of us ended up going which resulted in us getting a couples massage within the following hour.  Neither of us particularly care for a couples massage, but it worked out well.  The massage was very good.  We were done for the rest of the day.  We ended up doing in-villa dining again.  Have I mentioned in-villa dining is awesome.

Traveling Again

@kumimonster and I are traveling again in southeast Asia. Specifically, Thailand and Cambodia. We had an eventful time getting here. Lyft and Amtrak were good. BART had some issues with maintenance, bus transfer, train transfer, and a “security incident” at SFO BART. (Mental note: Probably not a good idea to be standing behind a cop with his gun drawn if the person he’s pointing his gun at also has a gun drawn.) The BART ride which should have been about an hour, took about 2 hours. Still plenty of time to catch the flight though. kumi was already there. Quick check-in, quick boarding.

The 13 hour flight to Taipei seemed short. Probably because I had a window row all to myself. I slept most of the flight. Long layover in Taipei, then off to Bangkok.

We arrived in Bangkok to find Bangkok Airways agents waiting for me. Seems I had a very short layover in Bangkok and they wanted to make sure I made the flight. We also found out that we had been put on different flights for the 3rd flight. kumi’s flight was an hour after mine. Minor inconvenience, but still ok.

I caught the flight and arrived in Koh Samui without issue. Anantara Lawana was there waiting for me. Since the resort close to the airport, the driver convinced me to drop off my bag, check-in, then we could come back to the airport to pickup kumi. That worked for me. Checked-in, welcoming drink. Got a free upgrade on our room to one with a plunge pool. Went back to the airport to pickup kumi. Returned. She got her welcoming drink. Then off to our suite. After more than 25 hours of travel, we made immediate use of the plunge pool.

Day - 6 China, Malaysia

Travel day. Flying from Sanya, China to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Got up early enough to get a quick bite at Shi Yuan. Followed by a nice ride to the airport. Check-in, immigration, etc. relatively painless. Boarded the plane on time. The rest went seriously downhill from there.

I was flying China Southern airlines. They announced “Due to traffic congestion, our flight is delayed.” The flight from Sanya to Guangzhou is about an hour and a half. I had a 2 hour layover in Guangzhou. The plane sat on the tarmac in Sanya for 2 hours. When we eventually landed in Guangzhou, I had 10 minutes before my connecting flight took off. For some odd reason, China Southern gave me and another couple hope that we could make the flight. That in 10 minutes we could take shuttle from the plane to the terminal (No jetway); Go from terminal W to terminal A (It’s as far as it sounds); Go through 2 security checkpoints and immigration, then proceed a quarter of the way down terminal A to the gate… I made it to immigration before they told me the flight was gone. I went back through the checkpoints, found the China Southern supervisor desk and they put me on a later flight that boarded at 1700.

This caused a couple of problems. First, I scheduled a pickup with Avani Sepang and I had to notify them of the flight change. Second, I was meeting @kumimonster in Kuala Lumpur and her flight arrived earlier than mine. The original plan was for us to meet in Kuala Lumpur and take the car from there to the resort. Through an excellent combination of AT&T hotspots and Vonage, I managed to get kumi picked up earlier and my pickup rescheduled.

Of course, that couldn’t be the end of it. My scheduled 1700 boarding didn’t occur until over 2 hours later. 3 and half hour flight to Kuala Lumpur. I arrived at 2330.

Immigration was quick. I had a little wait at baggage claim. Breezed through customs. Avani was waiting for me (yay). Approximately 40 minutes later, I was at the resort. Checked-in. Went to the room. kumi was still up posting stuff. Went to bed.

Day 5 - China

Do nothing day. Eat, drink, sleep, repeat…

Day 4 - China

Today started out nicely.  Woke up to the sun shining and the temperature already at 80°F.

I went to breakfast around 0830.  Usually when I arrive around this time, I can easily get a table next to the window.  No such luck this morning.  There were a lot of people there.  I'm guessing some arrived for the weekend.  Others appeared to be checking out.  Even though I wasn't next to a window, breakfast was still great.

Later in the morning, I took a bike tour.  This was really fun.  It was just me and my guide.  A woman named Milan, who spoke very little English.  (Which is much more than the amount of Chinese that I know.)  We went out to the bikes and she adjusted one for me.  I tested it out and another older female Chinese tourist noticed the tires were low on air.  A situation they immediately remedied. Tires inflated properly, off we went.  Milan was great.  She pointed out things along the way.  I'm guessing she was giving her usual “bike tour” speech.  We rode to the Sanya marina.  (Another place it seems, that is popular for wedding photos.)  I took a few pictures there.  We hung around the marina for a bit before heading back to the resort.  Along the way back, Milan tried to teach me some Chinese.  I learned how say “hello” and the correct pronunciation of a few other things.  It was a fun ride.

Of course, I stopped by Ahei when we got back.  I didn't even have to tell them my drink this time.  They just made what I wanted.  Does that make me a “regular?”

I did pretty much nothing the rest of the afternoon.  I took a few more pictures.  (More weddings happening.)  Then I crashed until dinner.  Which again was at Baan Rim Nam.  This time I had fried rice with pineapple.

No idea but I like it.

Balcony bed

Day 3 - China

The day started with thunderstorms.  That was fine since I didn't have any morning plans anyway.  I got up whenever, strolled downstairs and enjoyed a leisurely breakfast. 

Afterwards, I went to see the concierge and cancel a planned sea kayaking excursion.  It was scheduled for another day, the forecast for which was more thunderstorms.  Though it probably would have made for great pictures and a good story, I just wasn't feeling it.

Later in the morning, another thunderstorm hit.  I took some pictures but I don't think they quite did the thunderstorm justice. Intense as it was, it was quite enjoyable to watch from my balcony, which is well protected from the storm and has an awesome bed.

After stopping by Ahei (lobby lounge and wine room) for my lunchtime drink, I decided to venture out of the resort and check out the “neighborhood.”  Anantara Sanya is a resort next to other resorts and tall buildings. There aren't many stores around.  No traffic to speak of.  It's also relatively quiet.  There's a park next to the resort which seems to be the place for couples to take their wedding photos.  If you do want stores, Anantara provides a free shuttle to some place I can neither spell nor pronounce, that has that stuff.

I returned from my walk with time to spare before my next massage.  It was a 90 minute, traditional Chinese massage.  I've never had one and had no idea what it was.  I found out no oil is involved and you wear clothes.  At times it was intense, but I was definitely relaxed after.  Almost didn't make it to dinner.

I ate at the Thai restaurant again, Baan Rim Nam.  I usually don't eat too much at resorts.  I usually try to find restaurants away from the resort.  But I have not found any close to the resort that weren't other resort restaurants.  However, Baan Rim Nam has an extensive menu, and you can inexpensively priced food all the way up to the really pricey.  Tonight I had fried rice with crab leg meat.

Thunderstorm

It is seriously raining.

Anantara Sanya

Day 2 - China

Started the day with a great breakfast at Shi Yuan restaurant.  It's the main restaurant at Anantara Sanya.  (Anantara still has my favorite breakfast buffet.)

It was raining during breakfast so I initially decided to stay in the resort today. But it cleared up later so I decided to wander around and take pictures of the resort.

The resort is bigger than I thought it was.  I didn't make it over to the villa side. Not many people were out.  No one was by the pool.  The pool bar was empty. No one was in the lobby bar.  Yeah, it was before 5:00 PM, but they were open.  Someone had to go in there and have a drink….

I did tour a little bit of the area.  Not much around but other resorts.  Didn't see any stores or restaurants.  Depending on the weather tomorrow, I will see what else is around.

I also used the coupon for a complimentary massage, which I received at check-in.   60 minutes.  Yes, it was great.

I finished the day by eating at Baan Rim Nam.  It's the Thai restaurant in the resort.  They only serve lunch and dinner.  I had the fried sea bass with a few seasonings that I don't remember. It was very good.