On Day 3 Hero Material and I got up super early for our breakfast (again at the buffet) and went to the lobby to go to the dock. The shuttle was actually on time. Yay! And the weather was fantastic — sunny and beautiful albeit hot.

First we went to Ko Khai Nai for snorkeling. The island is beautiful.

And the big rock below looks like a Godzilla head:

The fish around the island don't seem afraid of people at all. The picture below was taken in the shallow water (shin-deep) with my digital camera. They come very close to the shore.

Afterward, we went to Tham Lod caves. They're sea caves, and you can see the beautiful view inside. They're almost like a room within a room or something.

Here's the same cave picture but I'm looking upward.

Another cave — this is accessible by kayak only. (Or maybe you can swim if you feel brave…)

And a beautiful cliff —

Ko Pannyi island's floating village — this is where we had lunch. It's a Muslim village, so we had to wear shorts and shirt, etc. to look modest. The waitresses on the island were in a full veil, etc. I have no idea how they do that in such heat and humidity. Oy…

And finally…the James Bond island!!!!!

Here's Hero Material bringing me a big rock. I mean, I asked him to get me a rock, but I guess he didn't get the note that I prefer the sparkly kind…

We were completely exhausted by the time we came back to the hotel. Besides, another storm hit us hard. So we decided to stay in and try their buffet. It was pricey — about $30 / person plus 10% service charge and 7% tax, beverage not included. But the food was very delish…!

And the buffet came with entertainment. We had dancers…

…and an Elvis Impersonator… (It took me a while to realize that he was supposed to be Elvis…)

And a man/woman singing thingie…

I spent the next day (Day 4) reading in bed because I felt exhausted. I think I was dehydrated from the tour and all. It doesn't feel that hot because we were on a speed boat, but the Thai climate really sucks all the moisture out of you. I should've had more water. Oy…

But I got to finish Kresley Cole's If You Deceive. Which was excellent.

Day 5 — Chiang Mai…! With elephants! Tigers! Pandas! Coming soon!

After a good night's sleep, Hero Material and I decided to get some grub and check out the pools and the private beach.

This is the view from our breakfast buffet table.

And our superb breakfast food.

The breakfast buffet was very good. It's pricey — about 600 baht / person (1 USD = 30 baht) plus 10% service charge and 7% tax, but worth it. The resort is completely enclosed, and Hero Material and I didn't want to trek out for cheaper places to eat.

Also restaurants around the pools were not open for breakfast except for a cafe. So if you didn't want the poolside buffet, you were stuck with the cafe.

After we gorged ourselves on omelets, sausages, bacon, pancakes, fruit and so on, we decided to walk around the compound. The landscapes were impeccable and well-maintained.

The private beach was gorgeous. Pristine with beautiful white sand and crystal clear water. It was actually fairly warm. Well, compared to the frigid water of the North Atlantic anyway, which is where we went swimming this past summer. :)

By the beach was a giant chess board. The below is Hero Material posing victoriously as he check-mated his (imaginary) opponent in just two moves.

Hero Material and I chilled out at the beach for about four hours. He went for a swim; I just dozed off and enjoyed my cold coconut. Afterward we decided to make an appointment for a night-time massage because the resort spa offered 30% off if you come after 9 p.m. We chose Le Stone (the spa's hot stone massage course) for that night at 9:15 p.m. then went to the concierge for two things:

1. to charter a boat for a tour of Phang Nga Bay for snorkeling and checking out the “James Bond island” (Ko Tapu)
2. to make a dinner appointment at Acqua, which is supposed to be one of the best Italian restaurants in Patong beach, so we wanted to try it

The concierge told us that the chartered tour was sold out because their private boat was unavailable until April 1, which was when we were scheduled to leave Phuket. The concierge recommended that we try a travel office (on the premises) for a third-party tour. So Hero Material went there to arrange for it, leaving me to deal with the second item.

The reservation was super easy. The concierge also arranged for our transportation to the restaurant.

Alas, the taxi never came.

Around 5:00 p.m. a killer storm hit the area.

Obviously this meant the taxi couldn't come on time. We waited twenty minutes past our appointed time then canceled. Seriously, dude…! It's so hard to go from Japan where everyone's super punctual — nothing short of a typhoon or massive earthquake can make anybody late for anything — to Phuket where obviously it's okay to be late. I was looking around to hear the PA announce, “Dear honorable customers, we have no words to describe how sorry we are to cause you this unimaginable and intolerable inconvenience.” *sigh*

Since we refused to go hungry on our honeymoon, we decided to eat at the resort and went to its Thai restaurant Wang Warin.

We ordered their recommended Thai course. It was superb, not too spicy and with ample portions. We were totally stuffed.

One of the head honchos came by to ask us about our dining experience. We told him it was excellent. The service was good, and the food was just right. I have no idea how authentic it was — hey, I'm not Thai and don't know much about its cuisine — but I liked it. :)

But another disappointment awaited us when we returned to our room. The spa called us and said it couldn't do Le Stone for two because one of the masseuses was unavailable. The receptionist offered us another package, but we were set on Le Stone, so she rescheduled us for the next night at 9:00 p.m.

Though Hero Material and I were unhappy at first, we decided that maybe it was for the best. Since we would be snorkeling and so on the next day, maybe it'd be nice to have an eighty-minute massage at the end of the day. :)

Our third day in Thailand coming soon — James Bond island and snorkeling…!

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.

I'm back in Japan. The flight was long but relatively painless (thanks to JAL's incredibly dedicated and uber-friendly agents and cabin attendants!), and Hero Material and I arrived home a little after 10:00 p.m. yesterday.

Hero Material's secretary had come by before our arrival and turned on the air conditioner. :wub: We were grateful since it was ridiculously hot and humid. She also left our hamsters in our living room. So we got to greet our little critters. Yay!

But bad thing is…my cell phone is more or less useless now. Well, I get my calls and stuff — I think — but for whatever reason, its memory went bad, and I lost my contact list. That means I can't call anyone because I don't know their number. Argh! (Hero Material tells me that back before they had cell phones people actually used to remember their friends' phone numbers, but I don't believe it.)

This morning I got woken up by a sound car blasting some candidate's names over and over again: “Vote for me! Don't forget my name XYZ! Vote for me! Don't forget my name XYZ!” Believe it or not, creating ungodly amount of noise pollution from 8:00 a.m. on Saturday (and every other day of the week) is how they conduct political campaigns in Japan.

Now I know I'm truly back.

Confidence is the weirdest thing ever. When I was in my early twenties, I was a size 4 but could never wear a bikini because I was too embarrassed at how “huge” I looked. (Because I was not a size 2…I know, I know…misguided youth!) I'm bigger now, but got myself a bikini anyway in a color I like. Figured life is too short to worry about a little bulge here and there so long as my bloodwork looks good (and it does; the doc joked that maybe I should eat more junk food or something). Besides, if anyone mocks the way I look in my new bikini, I can always feature him/her as a villain and/or a weasel in one of my stories.

Interestingly, not giving a damn about what other people think gives me more confidence and a sense of liberation. I'm not sure why I wasted so much of my youth worrying about fitting in. Guess it was just part of the growing up process.

On the writing front, I started the first draft of my new WIP. Much to May's surprise, I'm pantsing this draft. I've never really pantsed. Everything I've written had a clear outline, but I figured why not? Maybe I'll do better this way. I'll never know unless I try.

Oh BTW — Amazon is selling Altec Lansing UHP336 earphones for less than $40 which I think is a great price. I love the clarity and the beautiful sound. I can hear everything, every little base note, the cellos, etc. (I'm a very aural person, and I love listening to music when I write, etc.) The only bad thing is that it highlighted how inadequate iPods are for playing music. The earphone is very sensitive so it picks up every hiss, etc. from your audio unit (should you have a crappy one), and iPods produce the worst static and hiss. (Naturally, you won't notice anything if you use the meh “earbuds” that come with your iPods.) What a disappointment. iPod Touch was the worst even if the wifi off. So if I want to listen to music on it, I'm stuck with earbuds.

P.S. I googled the problem, thinking that maybe it was just my earphones, but actually a lot of audiophiles have noticed the same issue. *sigh*

I'm still in the States (hence the very sporadic Twitter updates and blog posts).

Since my last post, I went to NYC and met Agent. She was delightful, witty and absolutely wonderful, just as I imagined. :) I enjoyed our time together, and the meeting got me even more pumped up about my next project.

The next day, Hero Material and I hit MoMA. I know many people love modern art, but I decided it's not for me after the visit. I still don't get it, and I don't think I ever will.

After our MoMA tour, we went to MA to see Hero Material's extended family. They're lovely people, and their farm house was really cool. (I've never been at an American farm before.) They raise Black Angus, totally organic and grass-fed, and the cows looked so content, ambling around their emerald green fields. While in MA, I also got to meet Bethany, a member of my former crit group. I told her that next year's RWA is in NYC, so she should go if she finishes her ms by June. NY is so close to where she is. (I'd love to go to RWA next year — if I can — as well…)

Right now I'm in NH, surrounded by tall trees that love to dance with the wind. I've never been up in northern New England before, and I love the natural surroundings and cool summer. And of course, there's the oddity of my being the minority again. ;)

Hero Material and I are heading back to Virginia early next week for dinner with friends and so on. And I'm still not done with shopping.

How's everyone's summer? :)