Nakamanda Chill Out

Our resort is fabulous.. the pool, the people, the steps I jump up and down and our room where we play hide and seek and take lots of showers in.. not to mention the free chocolate we get every day!!

Most of all though I like the chill out moments we have on our terrace sipping a cold beer and going through our box of chocolates!!

sawat-dee!!! (Bye bye!!)

Crabs & Birdies in Ao Nang

The days boat trip was topped up by an evening stroll in Ao Nang with a magnificent visit at the Lae Lay grill where Mamma and Dadda were marvelled by the view on the islands scattered off the coast line..

We had fish and chips which I could eat on my bench while they were eating uninspiring looking (yet apparently super yummy) crispy soft shell crab in Thai curry sauce....
 

...of course I was far more excited by the presence of fish basins full of huge fish and crabs that I could stare at for hours!!

The master chef even made me touch one!!

And when our fruit desert came with my yummy watermelon which I've been devouring since our arrival in Thailand... we even had a singing birdie at the table too!!  

I hope all the rest of the guests in the restaurant enjoyed this noisy bird as much as I did as it went off making "chip chip chiiiiiiiiiiiiiip" relentlessly for hours...

... in reality as you might have suspected our neighbouring tables were soon unimpressed with the disturbing sound which rushed Mamma and Dadda to drink through their whisky sour and ask for the bill!


Boring old sods!

Overrated Koh Phi Phi

... hundreds of boats packed like sardines, the world famous Maya beach packed like Bondi Beach (except with a fraction of the space) and on top of that the weather was crappy too....

What is the "Beach" movie anway?  And what is all this fuss about Leonardo Di Caprio?  Dear oh dear..   well the scenery is certainly far from impressive but glad I've got my pringles to get through just the same!

The highlight of the day came when we visited a tiny beach on the back of Kho Phi Phi where little monkeys were mingling with the tourists looking very much at ease.. and no doubt also overweight with all the food they were given!

Mamma's favourite spot was on Bamboo island just a little north of Kho Phi Phi... lovely white sandy beach and great opportunities for snorkelling Dadda says... 

Might be worth re-visiting on a sunny day to get a better feel for the place!!

Hong Island

... after my little accident we had a big breakfast at our hotel and set off bright and early as we boarded our private Long Tail boat which Dadda had negotiated for THB 1,700 with the sole inconvenience of having our Thai boatman who couldn't speak a word of English...

...he obviously knew what he was doing though as we were told that the scenery would speak for itself!  In fact he took us to visit some amazing beaches on Hong Island and the few islands around there just about a 20 minute trip off the North Western coast of Klong Muang Beach.  

The Thai boatman handed us snorkelling equipment, bananas, water and lots of stale bread which he indicated somehow would help us get a better idea of the fish variety that populate these waters... the man was right.. .there were thousands of colourful fishies all over the place!  They could eat off Mamma's hand!!

We also saw an amazing lagoon with beautiful colours as well and as the tide was low we could walk around the whole lagoon with the water at Mamma and Dadda's knee height... I didn't want to try walking though as I could see there were crabs, rocks, shells of all kinds and star fish too!

 There was a little island where I was happy to take a few steps until the tide came in and washed the little island away...
 

... and Mamma even picked up a star fish and made me hold it... 

... you didn't tell me this bloody thing is all prickly though... and why do you call it a star-fish anyway.. this thing isn't a fish?!  It doesn't move!!  Get the hell out of here...

We saw other lovely sandy beaches and islands throughout the day and couldn't be happier...

... even my Dadda deserves a kiss!

Again again!!

Aua Aua

Mamma: "Fra', this is terrible, why weren't you looking after him on the steps?"

Dadda: "It's nothing, just a good experience and he'll know better next time".

Auaaaaaaaaaa!!

No Sea Krabi!

Enough with cultural itineraries and busy cities.. time to relax now and wind down after a very busy year!   We are flying off to Phuket today where a driver will pick us up and take us to our resort in Krabi... do I look excited?

We checked in late into our lovely room at the Nakamanda resort and was super excited to go find out where the sea was and how it looked like...

Biiiiig disappointment.  There is no sea in Krabi!!  They told us that it went to Kho Phi Phi and that it would be back tomorrow.. it has something to do with the tides I am told but not that I could care less... i want my sea!

We settled with a dip in the hotel pool before going to dinner... I wasn't convinced... I still wanted the sea!

The next morning I woke up bright and early to look out of the window and look out for the sea!  Will have it returned from Kho Phi Phi yet?  Let's go let's go!!

Sadly it hadn't... still no sea!  Better go and get some food then!!

At least breakfast was decent.. they had all the slices of bread I like with seeds in them and "songs"... lots  of "songs" (my word for "croissons")...

Then off we went to the pool for a proper splish splash session with Mamma and Dadda!!  This section of the pool was reserved for me and we had a hell of a time playing here all morning!!

Tiredeness soon caught up with Mamma and I perhaps for the days we spent sightseeing and dashing from one place to another so we went off for a long nap and even skipped lunch.... not Dadda though.. god no!  He wondered around outside the resort in search for food and pieces of information.  Apparently he met "Leo" in a restaurant around the corner where he had a delightful lunch and recommended we returned together for dinner!

Eventually I got up and the sea had finally arrived settling there right in front of our hotel!

A little late to have a swim in the sea but we did have a wonder down the beach to look at the crabs!  There are sooo many around here!  

And Dadda couldn't have picked a better place for dinner.  The Mother House restaurant run by Big Mama was a perfect choice...

... food was yummy and I could even drive the electric car!!!

Steps and Temples in Chiang Mai

Sightseeing with Mamma and Dadda can be hard work so think twice if they ever ask you to join them on holiday in future..

Chiang Mai apparently has more temples than Bangkok so go figure out how many times we had to walk up and down loads of steps in the piping hot weather!!

Hold on a minute.. that isn't a temple!! That is a Christian church... we found this church in the middle of nowhere at the top of the village with the long neck women who came from Burma in search of a peaceful place to settle...

Easy.. absolutely no problem.. I've practiced this soo many times now!

Come on Dadda let's jump down the steps together!!

Jumping has become my n.1 favourite thing to do and I won't miss any opportunity to jump or as I say to do "dumpings".  We jump on the bed in the morning, afternoon and at night time, we jump down the steps... we now even jump up the steps!

Check out how I have mastered the art of "DUMPINGS"

....oppela... oppela... opppelaaaaaaaaaaa!

I became so good we eventually made it to the Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep temple on the mountain above Chiang Mai... the temple of Chiang Mai temples (see more pictures on Dadda's facebook)... a mammoth 309 steps from the parking lot!!

We went up by cable car but couldn't save myself by the temptation of beating my personal best of 309 jumps in a row!!

Jingle Bells...

Just before we went off to see the tigers we were practicing a song that I am sure the grandparents will appreciate... sign that nursery is paying off on some teaching after all!!

Play Jingle Bells with me clicking here!!

Tiger Christmas!

This year no Christmas presents, no Christmas songs, no pandoro, no Christmas stocking, no Father Christmas...

Just Tigers under the Christmas tree!  Fine with me!!!

A very Tiger Christmas to everyone!!

Baan Chang

Today was a very special day.  I believe back home people are getting very excited and frenetic about their Christmas procedures, presents and turkey preparations... but out here Christmas eve is just like any other day.

Well not quite like ANY other day.  Today Dadda finally held up his word and delivered on his promises of seeing real elephants...

Oooohhh wwwwoooooooooooooowww!  There are sooo many... feeee...fooooo....faiiii.....!!!! (3, 4, 5)

They even gave me a special little boy elephant outfit to go and see them really close up!  Andiamo andiamo!!

I didn't realise elephants are just like me!  They feed off bananas exactly like I do!!  Look how many bananas we can get through... yummy!  Sounds like we're going to have a great lunch today!!

So off we went to feed the elephants starting off with the smallest one in the year... this one is 2 years old like me!!! Wow, how many elephants have you been eating??  Your nose is soooo much bigger than mine and I sure can't pick up bananas without using my hands!

Then came the scary bit... sitting on the biggest elephant of the lot with Dadda!!  Not sure this is for me just yet... I'm a bit scared of heights!

Back down on the ground level (or just about) the 2 year old elephant tried socialising and letting me know that elephants have hearts and are lovely animals too if they are treated nicely and particularly if you are carrying bananas with you!  Here is the little one hugging me and showing his affection though deep inside I know he just wanted my bananas!

As always the whole equipe of staff were lovely and caring for me in everything I did...

Baan Chang Elephant Camp was a fantastic experience and one I would recommend to everybody!!  

I want to come back here when I am ready to ride and bath elephants like Dadda myself!

This camp was very good with their elephants unlike many others in the region that exploit territories and the animals themselves for tourism and all the money they can make.

Here animals come first and the people we spent the day with very much embraced such values and motto from dawn until dusk.  A wonderful experience!!!

Look at this one my friends and tell me if you don't agree this elephant is happy and chuckling away and laughing with me!!