Day 7 - Malaysia

You would think after arriving so late the previous evening, I would want to sleep in late. But nooo, at around 0630, kumi was like “I’m hungry!” So we got up and went to breakfast. The buffet was good. They had a good selection of food. Anantara still is my favorite though.

We didn’t do much else the rest of the day. Toured the resort. Took lots of pictures. Ate lunch. Then stopped by the spa and scheduled an appointment for later. Massage for me. Scrub and massage for kumi. After that we were pretty much done.

We would’ve been done for the night, but we had to do a room change. There was a problem with our room, so the resort immediately moved us. We resettled in. Posted a few updates. Then called it a night.

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.

China, Malaysia, and Sri Lanka

The beginning of my trip to China, Malaysia, and Sri Lanka.  First stop, Sanya, China.  Getting here was a little bit of a chore.  In addition to getting my boarding pass for SFO-LAX, I had to get a boarding pass in LAX for LA to Changsha.  Then get another boarding pass in Changsha for Changsha to Sanya.  The Changsha stop was made a little more tedious by having to pickup and recheck in my luggage.  Once I figured out the Hunan check-in counter services several airlines (like 9), including Hainan airlines (My airline), everything went fine.

Arrival in Sanya was fine.  It was a leisurely ride to the resort.  Actually, this was the first time in a while that traffic in a southeast Asia country wasn't, for lack of a better word, crazy.

The resort I'm staying in is the Anantara resort in Sanya.  It’s a beautiful resort.  (Pictures to follow.)  Upon arrival, the obligatory welcoming drink. They also upgraded my suite to a sea view suite because my luggage was late.  (Not their fault.)

After settling into my suite, I learned something surprising.  Almost anything Google doesn't work.  (Mental note: Give coworker grief for not telling me that.) Tumblr doesn't work either so no posting pictures or updates…  That is until I get a VPN connection working....

Latest Travel

Latest travel blog and pics are up. To see them go here, http://www.trackdogs.com/howard/4201/42011016.html.

Thailand - Day 18

Travel day.  I had an afternoon flight, so I had time to enjoy breakfast and leisurely pack. 

Beautiful, sunny morning.  It started raining on my way to the airport.  Anantara provided transportation to airport.  Mercedes with cold towel, beverages and snacks provided, approximately a 20 minute ride.  My driver went above and beyond the call of duty.  I only needed him to drop me off at the airport.  He took my bag out of the trunk; escorted me into the airport; waited while my  bag was scanned through security; took my bag to the check-in counter; then escorted me to the security checkpoint.  That will definitely be included in my Tripadvisor review of Anantara.

1 hour and 15 minute flight from Phuket to Bangkok.  From Bangkok to Taipei, a little over 3 hours.  Taipei to SFO, approximately 11 hours.  At SFO, I got to go through Global Entry instead of normal immigration.  Awesome!  In and out in approximately 3 minutes.  My bag came out of baggage claim about 15 minutes later.  Then it was a breeze through customs and a leisurely walk to a waiting BART train.  About an hour ride from SFO to the Richmond Amtrak station.  Amtrak to Sacramento normally takes about an hour and a half, but due to delays with Union Pacific, it took about 2 hours.  I setup a pickup with Lyft on my way from the train to the curb.  The car was there in 2 minutes.  A short ride later, I was home.

Thailand - Day 17

"Do not much of anything" day.  Very nice day.  Mostly sunny.  A tad on the hot side.  (I was sweating from just walking around and taking pictures.)

After breakfast, I walked around more of the resort.  I found the tennis courts and the boxing ring.  From there, I went back to other side.  I walked around the pool, then went down to Mai Khao beach.  There was still some of the resort that I hadn't seen, but I was sweating so much, I decided to return to my villa.  I put my pool and outdoor shower to good use.

Lunch time, I walked down to Mai Khao Plaza. It's a nice place.  There are a few shops and a restaurant.  I stopped by a souvenir shop and bought some stuff.  Then I had lunch at Mai Khao Living Room.  A very nice restaurant with a good menu.  Also, it's much cheaper than the resort.

On my way back from lunch, I stopped by Turtle Village.  More shops, more restaurants, more stuff.  It's conveniently located next door to Anantara.

The rest of the day, I did relatively nothing.  I kicked back in pool for a bit.  From the pool, I moved to my Sala.  A little later, I went to Anantara's Tree House. I finished the day with a 90 minute Thai massage.

Thailand - Day 16

Beautiful day.  I spent all of it on a diving excursion.  I went with Sea Bees Diving.  I did the 1 day/2 dives package to the Similan islands.  They picked me up from the resort around 0640.  Then it was about a 45 minute ride to the pier.  There I, and a lot of other people, boarded a  very large catamaran.  Once everyone was onboard, we began our 3 hour trip to the Similan islands.  On the way there, the crew prepared a very nice breakfast for everyone.  After which, everyone settled in for the ride.

The dive sites were very nice.  Blue skies, calm waters, and about a 20 meter visibility underwater.  I think I got a lot of good pictures.

After the first dive, the crew prepared lunch.  Some time after lunch, dive 2.

Once the dives and snorkeling (there were snorkelers too) were done, everyone was back on the boat for the return trip.  The crew prepared more snacks.  I don't know about others, but after the snacks I found a place to lie down and get some sleep.

Back at the pier, transportation back resorts was waiting.  Funny thing, it started raining on the way back. It was a 45 ride back to the resort.  I got back around 1920.  Once there, I showered and got a drink. I barely finished my update and called it a night.  I was tired....

Elephant Trekking

Thailand - Day 15

It's been raining on and off all day.  What's been nice is it really hasn't affected anything.  What's been really nice is it stops raining during my activities.

Today's activity was elephant trekking.  It took up the entire morning.  It was a nice drive there, during which it rained.  We (me and guests from other resorts) arrived, it stopped raining.  We got a tour of the place.  We were introduced to an elephant and his Mahout.  We went elephant trekking.  Some people bought some souvenirs after.  Then we were all driven back to our respective resorts.  During which it started raining again.

This is the fourth elephant I've been on.  Three times, I've been a passenger.  One time, I was a Mahout.  The other times, it was just a single elephant.  This time it was more of a caravan.  It had a different feel, but it was still good.

I got back to the resort around 2:00.  Lunch was still being served.  I didn't bother stopping by my villa, I just went straight to lunch.  Afterwards I walked around a little bit more of the resort.