Wordless Wednesday ~ 4: The Peter Pan room

Click here for more Wordless Wednesday participants

Contacting Emm

I’ve noticed over the past couple of months that people are often trying to get hold of me but struggle to find a way.  So, given that I actually like chatting to people, I thought I should make it easier.

The best way to contact me is to leave a comment on my blog.  The reason this is the best way is that I have a general rule to reply to comments before I post a new post!

The next best way is to send an email to missus dot emm at gmail dot com.  My job and corresponding moods vary greatly from busy and harassed to bored and talkative so please bear with me if you don’t hear an answer straight away.

Meeting up, getting together, having lunch

I am always keen to meet up with people (and don’t worry Mum, I’m pretty street savvy so I do hope I won’t get stalked or anything like that!)  If you find yourself in London or ever want to spend a Saturday afternoon running around taking photos then feel free to drop me a line.  If you’re in the London Bridge area, you’re also welcome to take part in the national campaign to get me to take more frequent lunch hours!

Blogging tips

A lot of people contact me asking how I’ve done this or that on my blog template.  I’m always happy to answer questions (and might even start up another blog in the new year for all my tips and hints).

Guest posts

I’m always happy for other bloggers to write guest posts and the HostelBookers post on New York Hostels is a great example of this.  In fact, I’d love someone to post about Italy or Portugal as I struggle to make up my mind which to visit next year.  I have three conditions though which usually chase potential guest bloggers away.
1). Your post must have pictures or photos and can’t just be text.  As you can see from the photo above, I am just about unable to make a post without a photo.  It can’t just be video either.
2). It is fine if you are endorsing travel sites or tools (or even your own blog) but you must make your post relevant to this site and of course, interesting to my beloved readers.  
3). I will need to see and edit your post before it goes live.  If it is tacky, spammy or offensive in any way, I won’t post it.

I do like to do guest posts on other people’s blogs too but I often find I go blank when trying to think of a subject so it doesn’t often happen!

Advertising on this blog

This is always a possibility but this is a not-for-profit blog that is primarily written as a hobby.  If you do want to advertise or push your product, it must take none of my time or effort at all – I definitely don’t do endorsements or paid posts. 

The best way to advertise a similarly not-for-profit blog would be to follow my affiliate links to CMF Ads or Entrecard and you can then advertise using the slots on the left hand side.  Neither of those programs requires an actual buy in and you can use the credits you earn to advertise.  I don’t accept ads from paid or non-relevant sites on my blog (unless you’re a good blogging friend of mine).

Blogrolls, link exchanges

The best way to get on my blogroll is to introduce yourself and comment on my blog.  “Meeting” people and getting to know them means I inevitably go over to their blogs and start reading them.  My blogroll feeds from categories on my feed reader so shortly after I subscribe to your blog, it will show on my blogroll.  My favourite type of blogs are photography, travel, expat, city and regional blogs.  Oh, and media and political blogs but those go on my media and political blogs.

Offering me a couch to sleep on when I visit your city

I thought I’d sneak this one in.  And why yes, that would be lovely, thank you!

Just Saying Hi

You’re most welcome to drop me a line just to say hi but because of the aforementioned job / mood situation, I’m often not in a position to reply to messages straight away.  Don’t be offended, I’m just like that.

Snail mail

Drop me a line if you’d like to send me a postcard or anything of the sort.  Naturally, I am more likely to give my address to people I know!

I think that’s all!  Hopefully this should reduce the number of “contacting missus emm” and “contact emm in london” queries I’m seeing in Google!  And hopefully the people that did struggle will now be able to say hi.

Hotel Recommendation: Avista Resort (Kata Beach)

The absolute peak season is coming very soon - the period around Christmas and New Year is very very busy for me at the dive shop.. already busy now! Personally, I think home is the place to be for Christmas, but seems that thousands disagree and want such strange things as sun, sea and sand. And of course, a nice place to stay. It's odd that with the so called global recession over the last 2 years there are still new hotels popping up in Phuket. It's hard to keep up sometimes with the new hotel names.

I had already read about the Avista Resort and noticed that it was due to open in November. Some customers from the dive shop were staying there a couple of weeks ago. I drove them to the resort, only a few minutes drive from the dive shop and my first thought was "wow, this really does look new!" I reckon the paint had hardly dried, everything was immaculate. Our customers might have been the first to use their room! Also I was struck by the open plan of the hotel, lots of space, lots of fresh air - it's slightly up the hill from Kata beach, built into the hillside.

My customers were impressed by Avista, said it was very modern and technologically advanced with very friendly staff. The reviews on Agoda (only a few so far) are decent, though mention a few flaws that will surely be ironed out - and I think the early customers can't complain too much as the hotel was doing a rather good soft opening offer. Looks like a top choice for a hotel around Kata Beach.

Avista Resort - Booking & Reviews

• Avista Resort - Info and Reservations at Agoda.com
• Avista Resort - Hotel Reviews


Avista - Photos






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

Wordless Wednesday ~ 3: Remembrance

Click here for more Wordless Wednesday participants

Weekend Snapshots ~ 1: Winter?

Sometimes I see something that I’d love to share but don’t really have a whole story for.  That is why I started taking part in the Wordless Wednesday group and I thought I’d occasionally share a little something on a Sunday because I often want to show people a snapshot of my weekend.

---

Despite being exceptionally grumpy on Wednesday, I have to concede that it is not quite winter here in London.  This was taken in Bexley on Saturday and although chilly, it was a beautiful, sunny morning.  We woke up this morning to a soaking wet and grey day; a typical one where I get nasty little looks from my cats as if I purposefully arranged a soggy day to irritate them.  But now as I sit in bed enjoying a cup of tea, I can once again see beautiful blue skies and sunshine outside.

See? Evidence.  According to Wikipedia, it makes more sense to regard winter as taking place from Winter Solstice to Spring Equinox because those are the coldest months even though meteorologically, the winter solstice should equal mid-winter.  This is all very confusing for my South African brain where I considered summer to start mid-August and to end on my birthday in May. 

By the way, I’d like to state that I don’t often spend the whole of Sunday in bed in my pyjamas but that would be an outright lie.  I often do it.  I have made a concerted effort to spend less time on the internet lately though, especially on weekends.  That is going pretty well.

Today, however, I am consciously spending the day in bed as my back is really sore.  I have an old whiplash injury that flares up from time to time and I went for an emergency remedial massage last night and so my back is tender from all the work my therapist had to do.  She is really good though and I must go more often.  This is her website: Tranquility Spa.  She deserves a medal for being available at short notice in the evenings.

---

So back to yesterday then.

We went through to Bexley to watch Planet 51 at the cinema (which I reviewed over at Emm Media). 

I’ve always found this little display fascinating and it makes me wonder how many more unexploded bombs and fragments are lying around England.

Hmmm.  Is it time for an afternoon nap yet?

Wordless Wednesday ~ 2: Grumpy

Click here for more Wordless Wednesday participants

Phuket Philatelic Museum (Post Office Museum)

Now I'll admit that a post office museum may not be top of many peoples top 10 things to do in Phuket list, but 'tis the nature of this blog to avoid the crowds, plus this little museum is in Phuket Town, which I like, and .. come on, admit it.. who didn't have a stamp collection when they were little? Within the history of stamps you can find the history of a country. Kings heads, famous people, historical buildings and even countries changing their names - before 1939, the word Thailand did not exist - the country was called Siam, and this of course is reflected in old stamps. Yes, as a kid I had stamps, inherited from older family members, and I do recall the name Siam.. but could not find it on a map.

Phuket Town has several small museums - there is the Thai Hua School museum, and a neat little collection of old stuff at the Thavorn Hotel. I like the town, a welcome break from the tourist beaches. The old town is great, lots of old buildings, small cafes, interesting shops, alleyways and markets, Chinese shrines and Buddhist temples. Phuket Town always has something interesting to find.

So, some weeks ago, while on a mission to get a new internet connection from the C.A.T office, I had a spare 20 minutes, and took a 3 minute walk around the corner to the main post office in Phuket town, on Montri Road, just east of the old town, or a block west and north of the main bus station. The old post office is right next door and houses the Phuket Philatelic Museum (see location on Google Earth).





Now, in some way this is a "let's put some old stuff in some old rooms and call it a museum" kind of place. First room I looked into had the following exhibit...



Yes, a "Writing People Table"... a wooden desk where people can write their letters or postcards or telegrams. Worthy of a museum? You be the judge. There are a couple of rooms full of old junk, old phones, scales for weighing parcels and even a (fairly modern) teletype machine.





But where are the stamps? Well, there is a sizeable display with old stamps and a history of the Thai postage stamp. History buffs and philatelists will enjoy. A reminder that Phuket does have some history... tourists only appeared at 11:55pm on the history clock.





The museum is open Monday - Friday, 8:30am - 4:30pm; Saturdays 9am - 12pm. Closed on Sundays. If you happen to be in town, well, why not. Entry is free, as it is for the Thai Hua museum and Thavorn Hotel. Have a look around town, I do recommend getting off the tourist beaches sometimes. Life is happening all around.

A few related pages on Jamie's Phuket:

• Old Phuket Town
• Thai Hua School Museum
• Phuket Town Photo Walk
• Explore Phuket Town
• Thalang National Museum