Hotel Recommendation: Sawasdee Village (Kata Beach)

Sawasdee Village is one of the hotels I have meant to add here for a long time, and today was reminded by some customers in our dive center who raved about how beautiful it is and how well looked after they felt there. It seems to me that Sawasdee Village is no ordinary hotel. It's not a big hotel really, only about 40 rooms, built in and around an oasis of tropical gardens, orchids and pools, with a 5 star spa thrown in for good measure.

It seems to me that Sawasdee Village has been around for ever... I came to Phuket in 1999 and it was there.. from what I can gather by "web research" Sawasdee Village opened in 1991. There have been a lot of improvements and additions since and now it really does seem to be well worth recommending and it's a very reasonable price for such quality. The new Baray Villa rooms look amazing (more expensive too but looks like you get a lot of extras with these rooms). I like the sound of the 8 foot beds - truly King size!

Sawasdee Village gets lots of very good reviews, and is not far off the Top 10 Hotels in Phuket, but is considerably cheaper than some of the luxury resorts that make up the top 10, and unlike most of those resorts that are on the quiet northern beaches, Sawasdee Village is in Kata - central to just about everything, with plenty of restaurants, bars and opticians (if you are in Kata, you'll see!) nearby. The only disadvantage I can see is the location. Like many places in Kata, it's got Club Med between it and the beach, so you have to walk around, though it seems there is a free shuttle also.

Sawasdee Village - Booking & Reviews

• Sawasdee Village - Rates and Reservations at Agoda.com
• Sawasdee Village - Hotel Reviews at Agoda.com


Sawasdee Village - Photos










• More Hotels in Phuket - Phuket Hotels at Agoda.com
• Last minute Phuket hotels - LateStays.com
• More Phuket Hotel Recommendations

Life in England

You Spring forward and Fall back
- My brother trying to figure out if he was getting more or less sleep on Saturday night

The clocks turned back on Sunday morning at 1am which means British Summer Time is officially over. We are now two hours behind South Africa as opposed to one hour. To answer my brother's question - we got one more hour of sleep on Saturday night.

The most discernable change is when I catch my train. I catch the 7:14 train and a week ago it was cloudy and dull at that time of morning. This week it is sunny and bright because the sun has been up in the sky for an hour longer (basically, it is as bright and sunny as it was at 8:14 a week ago. Confused yet?

It is also colder. I believe it is because the sun has had a chance to burn off the layer of cloud and we are left without that blanket of cover, so to speak. I always tell people how icy Johannesburg winters are because the sky is a crystal blue colour and without cloud cover, temperatures drop to icy conditions. Of course, the tilt of the earth will always exceed lack of cloud cover and in the months to come, the sun will hit England at such an oblique angle that it wouldn't be able to burn away the cloud cover anyway.

The most exciting thing for me is that Sunday marked the beginning of Winter in England.  I absolutely love winter here.  I find winters full of bright colourful lights, fireworks, costumes, gifts and cheer.   I believe my love of winter was programmed into me from when I stayed in England until I was 9.  I never got used to the dry, icy, still and yellow winters in Johannesburg.  Of course, the winters in Johannesburg were always followed by a summer and the same can't always be said for England!

In six weeks time, Ste's parents are arriving from South Africa for a holiday.  We are going to take a road trip and visit Stonehenge, Bath, Liverpool, Manchester, York and Grimsby.  I'll update in more detail about that soon.  Any suggestions as to what we can do on the way back down to London from Grimsby?  We like castles, monuments and old stuff.

Aspirations

I've made a decision. When I finish studying this course, I am going to reward myself by learning some basic photography. I might possibly buy a new camera if mine turns out to be of lesser quality but I honestly think the problem is me, not the camera. I've taken some amazing shots before with that camera.

Talking of studies, I think I was too sick last weekend to mention that I got 76% on my mock exam. It turns out I am quite the Health and Safety geek which is fabulous considering I married Enviro Man.

I took the picture above in the summer of 2007. I had just arrived here and I took the District Line to Ealing Broadway. I think. Getting forgetful in my old age - that's why I need to type everything out. It's like Emm's Illustrated Guide for Use in Advanced Years. Anyway, I love trains and the Underground and this is one of my favourite photos that I have taken.

Where I work: My walk to work in the mornings part 1

For quite some time I have wanted to write about my walk to work in the mornings and what better time than when I am stuck in bed with a stomach bug?  Being a nostalgic type of person, I often pick up on items in my daily life that I will remember fondly in times to come.  This walk and the sites I see will be among those memories.

I exit London Bridge station through the bottom entrance that runs between London Bridge Rail and London Bridge Underground Stations.  To the left of where this photograph was taken is where the Shard and London Bridge Quarter are being constructed.  This is a really exciting development that is going to change the face of the London skyline, so check out the link!

I often stop by at the McDonalds for coffee.  I am not really a coffee drinker but I like the taste of McDonalds latte.  I try not to overdo it though - coffee make me bounce off the walls for hours on end and so I restrict it to once or twice a week.

I find it exciting to walk through Guy's Hospital every day.  Guy's is a very famous teaching hospital and I can't help but be reminded of E.R. and Grey's Anatomy when I walk through here.

I walk right through the centre of King's College every day and I think it is so beautiful.  I love the massive trees and the old building to the right there.  Right at the bottom you can see the World War I war memorial.  I quite enjoy looking at war memorials - I find them to be haunting and beautiful. 

One thing I have noticed - there seem to be so many more memorials for the first world war than for the second world war.  Is this because people were tired of remembering the dead by the time the second war came about (in the sense that they were exhausted and emotionally shattered)?  There seem to be no memorials for the war dead of recent times either.

In my quest to avoid the crowds on Borough High Street, I continue my walk through a Southwark council housing estate.  There are many estates in much worse condition in England - many are just concrete skyscraper tenement blocks with no facilities for children and high rates of social problems and crime.  Still, I can't help but look at this and compare it to some of the poverty I have seen in South Africa or the rest of the world.  English people are luckier than they realise and as I am lucky enough to be able to vote here, I guess I would vote for whichever party wanted to maintain this standard of living.

The second to last attraction on my walk is the Southwark Coroner's Court.  The most infamous case to be heard by the court recently is the Jean Charles de Menezes inquest but that is being in special sessions in the Oval cricket Ground and not actually the court itself.

Seaplane Flight to Phi Phi

Yesterday was a very good day! We did something that we had not planned on doing.. in fact we had planned a day up to Khao Lak, but we got something a bit special instead. I had been contacted by Destination Air the week before about maybe taking a ride on one of their seaplanes and writing about it here on Jamie's Phuket. Yes, sure! This week I decided to be very cheeky and asked if there were 4 seats available so I could go with my wife and kids. On Friday afternoon we got confirmation that a flight was heading to Phi Phi at 3pm on Saturday.. and they managed to find a seat for my sister in law too :)

I have been recommending Destination Air to people for some time now. Yeh, I know you can get to Phi Phi quite cheaply by ferry, but damn! A flight to Phi Phi? There are still many people who don't know the option even exists, and yes, it's not exactly super cheap - current price is 4,999 Baht per person. But this is more than just transport, this is an experience too, and if you have limited time, or arrive in Phuket at the wrong time for the ferry, a flight to Phi Phi is a great option. From Phuket Airport to your hotel on Phi Phi in about 25 minutes. And when I say it's not cheap, I guess that's the backpacker in me talking. It's 100 Euro, it saves hours of travel time, and ... this is one of those "picture is worth 1000 words" moments. This is something I had wanted to do for ages, so thanks to Destination Air for the experience, and thanks to Gerry our pilot and the crew. The whole family enjoyed yesterday.

If you want to get to Phi Phi in style, I hope the following photos and mini videos will give an idea of what you can expect on a flight to Phi Phi! After meeting at the Destination Air office at Phuket Airport, we had time to buy the kids a donut before boarding. This is not a 747, not even close! We were shuttled over to our little plane by minibus and waited as customers bags were loaded. The plane seats just 9 people (plus a "copilot" seat). It's not big!



Unlike a big 300 seat aircraft, boarding here takes 3 minutes, a quick safety briefing, fasten seatbelts, and you're off! The take off was very smooth, I could hardly tell when we left the ground. It's been a while since I flew in a small plane in the Caribbean. You have to ignore the noise and rattles! As we left the airport and flew to the east coast of Phuket the view below was very green...



On the outbound flight I did not take a window seat - better let a "paying customer" get some great photos! I just enjoyed the ride. If you take a flight, and want to take good pics, best to bag a window seat or ask if you can take the copilot seat. Here's the view after flying over Phuket looking towards Koh Yao Yai...



I learned later that you can also charter a plane for a sightseeing or aerial photography tour - you need to contact Destination Air for prices. If you had a small group, I reckon you'd have a great experience and a chance for some great photos without spending too much per person.



It's only 45km to Phi Phi, the flight is about 20 minutes. The customers on board were staying at the Zeavola Resort in Phi Phi. We landed on the water on the east coast and taxied to a floating platform where customers were met by a longtail to take them to the beach. The resorts on Phi Phi's east coast are very nice places, a real getaway from noise, from stress. I can assure you it's very nice to stay in a place where there are no cars!



Video above - landing at Phi Phi on the east coast of Phi Phi Don. On the water!

The floating platform is moved according to the season. Right now it's still on the east coast but once the NE winds start, this will move to the west coast of Phi Phi Don. We said good bye to the passengers heading to their hotels and I chatted a while with Gerry the pilot. He's a Canadian and used to fly seaplanes in Fiji as well as in the frozen North, eh. After a while we found out the return flight was just for us!





No holiday in Phi Phi for us... we just headed straight back to Phuket, well.. almost. Gerry detoured a couple of minutes to the south so we could fly over Phi Phi Le Island, oh, and I got the copilot seat :)



No matter how many times you have seen this island, the view from above is absolutely breathtaking. And here I was thinking I was too old for breathtaking experiences... (Note: you can click on the images to enlarge.. then click Back to come back to this page...)









Video - flying over Phi Phi Don... I should have thought to clean the window!



Koh Yao Yai is a huge island in between Phuket and Phi Phi, stretching up into Phang Nga Bay. We have been to Koh Yao Noi before, but Koh Yao Yai remains a target for me.. before the developers move in. We got plenty of views from the seaplane. Absolute paradise.





Anyone for sailing? You can sail around Phang Nga Bay for days and hardly see a soul. And yet, you're within sight of Phuket island. This area is absolutely gorgeous and from the air you really get an idea of the wide open spaces, the green islands, the nature...





A final couple of photos of islands off Phuket's east coast and of mangrove river in the NE of Phuket. We also flew over one of our favourite restaurants at Bang Rong, near Bang Pae Waterfall. Sometimes hard to know where to point the camera... All photos on this page by me or my wife. A fellow passenger has given me a link to his website and I might copy some of his later.. I enviously admired his Canon EOS 40D...





A couple of minutes later we landed back at Phuket Airport. I was momentarily worried by an eagle that decided the runway was a good place to hang out. It took off rather lazily towards us as we landed. One hopes the eagle knew what he was doing! Our great experience was over. I must say.. If you want to do something different, I reckon Destination Air can help! They can do flights to other places too, such as Krabi or Koh Lanta, or charter flights to just about anywhere within range, either for transport or for a tour with the most amazing views.

• Destination Air website
• Destination Air Photo Gallery

I hope we can do this again someday, it was truly a great day yesterday for the whole family :) Thanks to everyone at Destination Air for the experience.

Evening Out: Lee Evans Big Tour 2008 at O2 London

On 6 October, Stephen and I met at the London O2 straight after work because the night had finally come to see comedian Lee Evans in concert.  We had dinner at Tapa Tapa, a very friendly tapas restaurant with great service and excellent specials situated at the main entrance to the O2.

This was my second time inside the O2 arena.  My first visit was for the NME Shockwave Awards on 29 February 2008.  We saw many bands that night (I should post about it) but most of all we saw my beloved Klaxons.  On this occasion inside the O2, we were asked not to use cameras or recording equipment which is a real pity but I imagine that when a comedian stands for over three hours, the last thing he wants is to be disturbed by flash photography or the sight of 10,000 mobile phones cameras pointing at him.  Hence, I apologise for the quality of the photos on this post.

Lee Evans is awesome.  He is funny and irreverent and he makes you laugh so much that you cry.  He just shoots off joke after joke and moves completely seamlessly between topics.  This guy had three hours worth of comedy material and it is so surprise that he just reclaimed the title of "biggest comedy gig in UK" from Chris Rock.  In fact, I was lucky I got tickets last November as they sold out in under an hour.  I managed to succeed on the second try when they opened up more dates.

My favourite joke of the night was his parody of modern razors and the quest for the 'closer' shave.  Just stand closer to the %^&* razor???

I don't understand why Metro gave him only three stars but I do agree with the comments on that post.  He was absolutely brilliant and I would definitely see him again.

I like being surprised and I like having my views on the world expanded or challenged.  (I am also a Taurean born in the year of the Ox which means I am never wrong stubborn on occasion).  My biggest surprise of the evening was to see how vulnerable Evans seemed.  he is absolutely down to Earth and seemed surprised that we had all come out to see him.  Perhaps it is part of his act but I am certain his nervous laughter between jokes isn't all an act. 

Lee Evans' trademark at the end of his gigs is to sing.  I agree with one of the reviewers - shame on those that left early!  His songs aren't meant to be hilarious and I think these were great.  Evans broke a lot of records that night and I think he was absolutely on an adrenaline high.  He said that the songs were born out of a desire to say something, because he is in a position where he can say something.  They were political and called for social action but for once I did not feel preached at.  I felt Evans' exhilaration and I just... really enjoyed it.

As I have mentioned, his gig was really long and you really got your money's worth (tickets were £30).  Just at the end though, he said he had two minutes left and that he couldn't leave the stage without fulfilling a promise to a fan to do once last skit.  Lee Evans just gave the impression that he wanted to be on stage and that he was the one honoured to be performing for us, his audience.  Evan finished with his famous rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody, much to the glee and appreciation of the audience.  What a fantastic guy and a fantastic show.

About me

I've been tagged by Funky Doodle Donkey to take part in this meme.

It has taken me about 10 days to respond to the tag, so we shall have to see how I go about writing up weird (as opposed to mundane) facts about myself and I'm still undecided as to whether I will tag other people. [In answer to your next question, yes. I do tend to get very tetchy and cranky when I am studying].

1. My name is Amanda or Mandy for short. I spent 34 years of my life refusing to let people call me Amanda and then on a whim, decided to start calling myself Amanda when I came to the UK. The biggest reason for this is that I couldn't stand having to spell 'Mandy' all the time. In contrast, I have only had to spell 'Amanda' once in 15 months. My colleagues think this is hilarious and call me 'Mandy' from time to time to see if I will respond. I do, I always do - with a smile.
2. My middle name is Serena and I love that it is spelled the same way as Serena Williams and Serena van der Woodsen from Gossip Girl. My Mum named me after her mother Sarine, as is the Sephardi tradition but she imagined a flowery, dreamy little girl and thus spelled it in the fashion of 'serene'. She got an outrageous tearaway instead but whenever I do one of those numerology-type quizzes, they always depict 'Serena' as a ruthless, ambitious, materialistic person.
3. I used to be very much that type of person. I was a workaholic and I hated Fridays because it signaled the end of my work week. Of course, I soon discovered that I could go into work on Saturdays and Sundays and this made Fridays seem more bearable. I used to speed everywhere too, easily hitting speeds of 80mph on suburban roads. Thankfully, my Dad's lessons of 'you're never in too much of a hurry to make it alive to your destination' began to seep into my life and soon all areas of my life were saturated by that lesson. I work overtime maybe one or two days a month now and that is usually as much a result of me playing on the Internet at work as it is month end commitments and deadlines.
4. I am absolutely mad about music and I have 14,000 songs on my iPod. Stephen once flew me to the UK to see a Pixies concert. Well, the story goes that I received an email from a friend telling me that Pixies were to play a couple of live shows in London. A quick check on the Internet showed that the dates were sold out already - they had sold out on 15 minutes. I went and sat in the lounge and sulked and then I said, "Oh FFS, next they'll tell me that Cranes are playing that week too". Now, Cranes are my Favourite Band in the World Ever. I had lived and breathed every day in the hope that I might one day see Cranes in concert. The only reason I even said something as strange as that was that I knew that it would never happen. Cranes hadn't bought out an albums in ages and they certainly weren't touring. Or so I thought. I walked back to my study and the very next email was from Cranes Fan Forum announcing UK tour dates within one week of the Pixies concert. Stephen must have seen the look on my face then (because no one knows how to have a temper tantrum like a 31-year-old woman). He scuttled off to the computer and came back and said, "if you can get tickets to the show, I will buy your plane ticket". (Yes, I know - we are married and pool finances. But it's the thought that counts). The rest is, as they say, history. My best friend Heather and I got tickets on eBay and we zooted off to London in June 2004 to see Pixies and Cranes. And in 14 days time, I'll be seeing Cranes again in Hoxton. Something else I never thought would happen. Strangely enough, my music is so important to me that I rarely blog about it on my media blog. I just feel frustrated that I can't adequately express my love for music and the bands I like.
5. I have very many interests and certainly like to be in awe of life at every moment. I just like to live with passion. Apart from music, I like everything media related: books, film, television, theatre, comedy and art. I like my husband and my pets. I have lots of friends and tend to stay in touch with people but in the past years I have sought the comfort of my home above socialising and going out. It might be more accurate to say I have become a hermit actually!
6. I'm South African. Well, I was born in South Africa and my family moved to Liverpool, England when I was 18 months old. We stayed in England until I was nine, except for about 9 months spent in Nigeria where my Dad was on contract. Then we moved back to South Africa and I absolutely hated it. At nine years old I had a broad scouse accent and I just didn't get South African kids. I came from a world where we played paper chase through the streets of Rainhill and we stayed out until 8pm or later in summer riding around the neighbourhood or climbing trees in the hospital grounds. South Africa, even in 1982, was an insular world of ten-foot high fences surrounding well to do homes in sprawling, leafy neighbourhoods. Kids didn't play in the street and you visited people's home by invitation and prior arrangement only. People drive everywhere in South Africa and that sense of community where the lady at the sweet shop knows your name was gone. In 25 years in South Africa the one thing I never, ever got used to was searing heat on Christmas Day.
7. I moved back to England on 03 July 2007. I was very, very happy at the cold Christmas last year and I loved the bright lights that I have come to associate with that time of year. I love that it is dark when I walk to work in the mornings and that it is dark again in the evenings. Winter I can deal with - if I have a good coat and ear-warmers. A rainy half-excuse for a summer is less appealing to me. I feel like I have come home, I really do. I feel alive for the first time in years and for a long time I had nothing but nightmares to remind me of South Africa. This is the reason I started this blog because whilst I feel at home, I still feel like an immigrant or a tourist. And I want to remember the wonderful sights that I see in this place. In the future, we might move somewhere warm like Australia or Dubai. Or, I might give into Stephen's desires and get a house within walking distance of Old Trafford Stadium in Manchester. But for now I am happy to be in London and I am aware every single day that I live and work in this wonderful city.

I am loathe to tag anyone in case everyone finds that they are too busy! Well, I'll tag here but not contact via email - how is that? No pressure then. :0)
Just A Plane Ride Away
Martin
Phoenix
Ivanhoe
Thomas
Bas
CK

Phuket Vegetarian Festival Videos

Here goes - my final throw of the dice for this years vegetarian festival. My camera has a basic video function. Not National Geographic quality, but I hope the little videos below will give some idea of the experience.

Face Piercing

A few clips of the piercing taking place at Kathu Shrine on 6th October, around 6 - 6:30am. It was going on all over the place, it was hard to know where to look!









A look around Kathu Shrine before starting the procession...



The Procession Leaving Kathu Shrine...various entranced people







Carrying the Gods through Kathu Village... LOTS of firecrackers





Ma Song Blessing a House



And a couple of vids of Ma Song doing things in Phuket Town.

Vegetarian Festival 2008 Photos in Phuket Town

So, on Monday after getting up early and seeing the piercing at Kathu Shrine, and heading out of Kathu Village with the procession (see Vegetarian Festival Photos Part 1), I headed into Phuket Town to pick up the procession again in the old town. The narrow streets mean you get very close to the Ma Song, and very close to the firecrackers! I was taking photos on Thalang Road close to my favourite little street in town, Soi Rommani.



 





Allow me to introduce my favourite guy! I had a photo of him last year looking rather ghoulish with 2 big black rods through his cheeks. This year looks like he used even bigger rods! Some aspects of the festival are not for everyone. If you don't like scary things or blood or the idea of ramming 2 large rods through your face, look away now!







This next guy is one of the entranced Ma Song who leap around the procession offering blessings to locals who have offering tables outside their houses. Some of these guys really are a bit spooky. The narrow streets meant that this guy almost bowled me over as he leapt around, thus the very close up photos!





And here's another Ma Song blessing a local Phuket town resident as the family look on and wai.



Meanwhile the procession of the gods continued in amongst the Ma Song.





There seemed to be more female piercings this year.. no stats to back it up, but there were certainly quite a few.



Last couple of extreme face assault photos for now... This year I had kind of intended to see more, but only witnessed one of the 7 street processions. Still, I think that's enough photos... next come the videos - will post in a few days - mostly some short snippets of the procession, the piercing in the early morning, Ma Song doing various things, and lots of firecrackers!





• Vegetarian festival 2008 Part 1
• 2007 Photos

Evening Out: Waxy O'Connors and Leicester Square

I was going through my photos on the weekend and I came across these ones from Tessa's farewell in July. Tessa ia an amazingly talented artist (as you can see from her website) but I guess it is easy to see why she would be happier in South Africa. :( I'll miss her.

Back in the day when we depended on old-fashioned cameras and film, I was loathe to discard even one tiny photograph. I guess part of it was the high price of developing films too. These days, however, I mostly post a couple of pictures and then delete the whole lot from my hard drive. Well, I didn't necessarily want to lose these pictures forever but I hadn't written up a story about them so here goes:

We went for a walk through Leicester Square afterwards. I love all the lights and colours and I love the way all of the shows are advertised at the front of the buildings. Two of the most colourful that night were the Empire and Odeon cinemas.

A parting shot of Leicester Square as we exited. Stephen was losing patience with me by this time but he has since come to accept that I walk everywhere with a camera in hand trying to find things to blog about.