Phi Phi Island

Almost made up my mind to travel to Phi Phi Island, and I read about yet another tsunami warning. This time 7.7 earthquake hit the Andaman sea around the Nicobar Islands. Immediately a tsunami alert was triggered but unlike the devastating 2004 tsunami that hit Phuket and Banda Aceh, seems that this time neighbouring countries are safe.

Meanwhile the thermometer in my parents house in Malaysia is showing 31 degrees Celsius: according to my father it's now 4 degrees Celsius warmer than when he bought the thermometer 10 years ago in 2000. That means in every 3 years, it becomes 1 degree warmer? How scary is that?

Global warming, melting of the ice caps, more water in the seas... all in all very scary to travel to island destinations in South East Asia with all these earthquakes and tsunami warnings :-( Better go and have a swim at your nearest swimming pool...

Category › earthquake , ko phi phi , phi phi island , tsunami

The Tsunami in Thailand

Even 5 years after, the tsunami in Thailand still haunts me. Not to mention the thousands of restless spirits that are still haunting the coasts of Phuket and Phi Phi Island.

For western tourists, reading the above must be kind of funny, but for me, being deeply rooted in Asian traditions, we can feel that something is not quite right in Phuket.

I was lucky: 2 days before the tsunami in Thailand (December 26th), I was transferred to go and work in another of our resorts in Malaysia.

Dedicating this post to all the victims and families of the Tsunami in Thailand 5 years ago, may their souls find peace.

Category › phi phi island , Phuket , the tsunami in thailand , tsunami in thailand , tsunami thailand

Lots of free time in Phuket...

As you can see, that's me shopping on the streets in Phuket today. Look at the girl in the foreground: she is just sitting there stiff bored gazing at me hoping I would come back to here shop in order to buy a postcard.

Well, having friends with digital cameras don't ask for lots of postcards to buy anyway...

Nevertheless I bought a few, since we are all in the same both here in Phuket, Thailand: just not enough tourists to make a decent income these days.

As you can see: I am blogging away like nobody's business today as well... If you can't make money from tips from customers, then you need to find other ways to make ends meet :-)

If you want to meet me in Phuket, why don't you book a flight right now. There are lots and lots of last minutes bargains for grabs since lots of tourists have cancelled their vacation to Thailand last few days.

So grab a cheap last minute ticket and fly all the way to Phuket Thailand were we are all eager to cater for you!

Category › bargains , last minute flights , phi phi don , phi phi island , Phuket , Phuket girls , Thailand

Moon Cake Festival in Phuket

Last weekend we celebrated the Moon Cake Festival here in Phuket. Not only in Phuket but also in Phang Nga, Krabi and all over Asia where people follow the Chinese lunar calendar.

So it is not one of those "cultural shows" to lure tourist to Thailand, this is a deep rooted feast we never miss.

Just that the Americans spoiled it a bit by landing on the moon... Other than that we Chinese hold this festival on the full moon day in the eight month under the Chinese calendar.

And what you see in the picture is half a Moon Cake: a special kind of sweet cake prepared in the shape of the moon and filled with sesame seeds and ground lotus seeds. First we serve them to our Gods and ancestors, and what they don't eat, we will finish :-)

Other than that nothing much is happening here in Phuket. The Phi Phi Island speed boats are really not making money and lots of tourists have cancelled their vacation to Thailand because of the political instability in Bangkok. All is calm and quite here in Phuket though, too quite for the tourist industry though.

Category › china , chinese , lunar calendar , moon cake festival , phi phi island , Phuket