Hello world!

Hero Material and I are back from our honeymoon to Thailand. It was very lovely, very hot and very interesting.

We flew out of Fukuoka. Random trivia for those with an adolescent humor psychosis: the three letter code for the airport is FUK. I still think SUX (Sioux airport) is the worst though, since it not only has the suckiest code but there aren't that many things to do in town.

Oh, then we flew to Bangkok. (Yeah yeah, make fun of it! Let's get the juvenile giggles out of the way. *wink*)

Then to Phuket. (I know it reads like a naughty little place, but it's really pronounced as Poo-Cat.)

Fukuoka airport was medium-sized but not that hectic. The Japanese really know how to move people around as efficiently as possible. Our flight to Bangkok was very comfortable. The cabin attendants served us champagne, so Hero Material and I toasted to our honeymoon. :) Then we watched Inglorious Bastards. It wasn't as good as I'd hoped, but still was entertaining. I napped a little bit afterward because I was tired from having to get up so early for the trip.

Getting around Bangkok airport was a bit messy, although it's a beautiful airport. There aren't enough gates, so they have to bus you to your planes, etc. It does get very energy-sapping, esp. with the 40 degree Celsius / 100 degree Fahrenheit humidity smothering you. But if you have the lounge privilege, Thai Air has a very nice one in the domestic terminal that overlooks a beautiful garden. It's very restful there, especially with the free wifi.

It was also nice that Thai Air upgraded me to First Class on our final flight to Phuket, though they didn't upgrade Hero Material, so he had to stay in Business Class. It was amazing how many kids were in business class, but from what I could gather, Thai Air overbooked economy, so they had to bump some people up a class or two. It was only one hour long, so Hero Material and I didn't mind too much about being separated. He also got to sit in the second level — it was one of those really big Boeings with two levels, the upper one being all business class.

Phuket airport was just insane, full of people yelling at you for your money business — taxis, mini-buses / vans, tours, etc. It was completely overwhelming. I really wished the concierge had given me better information on how to get to the resort when I'd called them. They just told me to use whatever transportation was available at the airport, which totally didn't work out, and I find it hard to believe they didn't know how hectic it is at the airport.

Here are my tips:

1. Do not use the airport mini-bus / van service unless you know they're going to leave immediately. Else you'll be standing outside for a long time. Like Hero Material and me. In the sweltering heat. I thought I'd melt.
2. Also be careful who you hire because even the taxis which you've paid for in advance will try to take you to some tour offices, etc. Many taxi drivers get a cut of the packages, etc. you buy.

Hero Material and I booked a four-day stay at at Le Meridien Phuket Beach Resort. HM loved it, but I thought it was just okay. It may be that I've been spoiled by years of traveling and staying at nice hotels (HM is a bit more protean), but I honestly thought Le Meridien Phuket would be a lot better based on its nightly rate and category (Starwood Category 4).

(a complimentary fruit basket from Le Meridien)

The room looks a little old and basically needs a face-lift. The housekeeping's slow, and you should expect to wait about thirty minutes before your request, no matter how simple, can be fulfilled. We also had multiple issues there that required them to send in maintenance our first night. The shower door refused to stay closed (this problem was never fixed). Then the knob broke in the shower, so I couldn't shut it off (the frugal in me cringed at the amount of water being wasted!). Then I found incredibly tiny ants (this too was never corrected even though the housekeeping and maintenance supposedly did whatever they were supposed to do to get rid of the little insects).

Hero Material and I showered, had room service (which was very tasty, albeit pricey) and slept like the dead. We were too tired to do anything after 12-plus hours of travel. We didn't even bother checking out the pools or the grounds or the beach or anything like that. At least the bed was very very comfy.

Our second day in Thailand is coming soon with more pictures. :) Feel free to leave any comments or questions.

Last night between 8:20 p.m. and 9:20 p.m. Buttercup passed away.

She'd been sick for a while, and even though we gave her medicine and so on, she just couldn't get healthy. She curled inside her favorite yogurt cup and just stopped breathing.

Her death was less of a shock to me than it was with Shiro's. In a way I kinda knew that Buttercup's chances weren't very good when she lost a third of her weight very fast and couldn't gain it back after a month. Her haggard appearance reminded me of Shiro's last days.

Hero Material and I buried Buttercup under a willow tree next to the one Shiro's resting under.

Good bye, Buttercup.

It's getting warmer in Japan, and many news programs have already started talking about hanami. I can't wait to see the gorgeous cherry blossoms in April.

I'm making a couple of changes to my blog. As you might have noticed, I'm not blogging much. Mostly I don't have anything to say on my blog that I haven't said on Twitter, and I hate repeating myself. Besides I already share what I read and my ratings on Goodreads. I feel bad, but right now, I don't have the inspiration to blog regularly. So my blog's going on a bit of a hiatus. This doesn't mean I'll never blog again or that my blog's going to disappear. You can still browse the archives, and I'm going to occasionally post pictures and news. Furthermore, if you leave me a question on my blog, I will answer it. This applies to my Twitter account, too. I don't auto-follow, but I will answer if you send me a @ reply with a question or comment. If I don't answer, it's because I somehow missed your question. Feel free to try again. My email is also open to anyone.

So what am I going to do now that I won't be spending time trying to blog regularly?

Firstly, I'm going to focus on working with my mentor, Kate Pearce. We hooked up through the Romance Divas formal mentor program, and I get to pick her brain until the end of June. I've already learned a lot from her, and I'm totally excited about honing my craft and learning more about how publishing works.

Secondly, I'm going to finish the current draft of my untitled novel plus a sexy paranormal romance novella set in Greek-myth-world by the end of April. These items are not negotiable.

Thirdly, I plan to work out more regularly. I'm turning into a couch potato, and it just won't do, especially with the bum back I have. Regular stretching and exercise make a big difference, and I've got to take care of myself better.

Fourthly, I plan to read more.

Finally, I'm going on an eight-day honeymoon to Thailand with Hero Material. We'll be hitting Phuket and Chiang Mai, and I'll post lots of pictures on the blog when we get back.

How about you? What do you plan to do for the rest of the month and April?

A very clever video about the end of publishing…because you know…the sky is falling! Haha.

Fallen by Lauren Kate

Silver Borne by Patricia Briggs

Demon from the Dark by Kresley Cole

Lady Isabella's Scandalous Marriage by Jennifer Ashley

The Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Last Olympian by Rick Riordan

Alpha and Omega #3 by Patricia Briggs

Changes by Jim Butcher

Hourglass by Claudia Gray

Unholy Ghost by Stacia Kane

Kiss of the Rose by Kate Pearce

Do you have any titles that you think I should add to the list?

Hero Material and I are going on our eight day-long honeymoon at the end of the month to Thailand. He's been there once or twice, but this is my first time in South Asia, so I'm very excited.

We booked our trip for less than $1,000 (USD), including all our flights (business class), shinkansen, resorts / hotels and taxi fare. The key here isn't just looking for the best deal, but having credit cards and so on that earned us miles and points on Star Alliance Airlines and Starwood Hotels. If you put everything on your credit card, you'll eventually have enough to book a nice getaway after about two years or so, although it really depends on how much you spend each year. (I do not recommend putting all your points and miles in domestic low-cost airlines because you can't use them for international trips. Of course, if you have zero desire to travel outside the U.S. feel free to disregard my advice. :) )

Also we almost always fly on Star Alliance Airlines — thankfully it's very easy to do — and we usually stay at Starwood Hotels. This gives us even more points / miles. Basically it's an exploitation of airline and hotel loyalty programs. I know that it can be a bit unnerving at times because so many airlines cry “Woe is us!” and talk about their impending financial doom, blah blah blah. What if you have all your miles with an airline and the airline goes under?

In my experience and observations, it's highly unlikely that your miles will disappear. Big international airlines, such as United, Continental, ANA, BA, etc., have millions of customers on their mileage programs, and many of those customers are very loyal to the brand. When I was a management consultant, United was the most convenient airline for me, and I always flew on United or other airlines that had code-sharing and/or alliance partnerships with United so I could pool all the miles in one place (United Mileage Plus). It was the same for my colleagues even though their airline of choice was often something other than United.

All big airlines know that a mileage reward program is a valuable loyalty- and consequently revenue-generating asset, so long as its rules and so on remain intact. If your airline becomes liquidated (god forbid), others will buy up the reward program and give you incentives to maintain your brand loyalty.

Anyway, that's it for my tips on how to book a nice honeymoon for very little money. Feel free to share your own experiences / tips and ask questions if you'd like.

P.S. I'll be posting some pictures from our trip in April. :)