Bintan, Indonesia

October 15-17th: Villa in Bintan, Indonesia

We made a quick weekend trip to Bintan with a group of friends. The boys got to play a couple rounds of golf and the ladies laid by the private villa pool. It ended up being great weather and a really good time.

Bintan is a little island in Indonesia that is only a one hour ferry boat ride from Singapore. Not much there but golfing and relaxing, but still it is a great place to get away for the weekend. We stayed at a resort called Bintan Lagoon in a villa on the Bintan Ria golf course.

Erin & I

Our private villa that came with it's own golf cart.

I felt a little like we were in a retirement community.

The neighborhood.

Our private pool with the beach just beyond.

We grilled out one night and had a chef come cook for us at the villa, it was yummy!

He did a little knife show and almost killed Alex.

These are the infamous Sparkplugs.

Three equal parts, espresso, Kahlua, and vodka.

Mighty tasty!

Cheers!

The only picture I got of the golf course.

Erin's hand.

We had a great time, really relaxing for everyone.

Halloween

October 31st, 2010: Happy Halloween

Actually we celebrated on the 30th with multiple parties. I celebrated first by working at the clinic and then got my hair curled. Started feeling pretty bad after this... think it is either the mycoplasma again or tonsillitis (lovely just before our home leave too)

So our costume theme was "Teen Idols".

Taylor Swift.

Taylor & Justin Bieber prom style pic.

Classier that is in the carpark.

Skeleton and Bieber.

Beth had a BBQ Halloween party with fantastic food and all the treats!

Our classy picture of the bottles of booze! Too bad I was feeling so bad.

ZOMBIE!

I didn't make it to the next party, unfortunately, put myself to bed and let the boys have a good time.

Halloween or October 31st is Otto's birthday. He turned 3 today! My mom sends him toys all the time so every package that comes to the house, he thinks is his. This was actually addressed to him.

Smelling the package all over!

Loving his birthday presents. The toy is a Halloween bat.

Thanks for the gifts!

Scuba Steve?

Nope Scuba Diving Kappa Delta style!

Elizabeth and I dove twice while in Thailand, first in Phuket and then on Phi Phi. Again, I will reiterate, it was rainy season meaning ROUGH seas! And anyone who knows me, knows I get really really motion sick very easily. I get motion sick in taxis in Singapore that is really not hard to do since they can't figure out a happy medium from the gas pedal to the brake. The diving wasn't the best for visibility but it was some of the most fun and adventurous diving yet.

Kappa Delta! Definitely Angloes material.

More pictures of Maya Beach and the bay.

After the storm in the Phi Phi Islands. We stopped here and ate lunch, jumped off the boat, and swam with the fishes.

This is during the storm, heading out to dive.

This boat was apparently a Canadian Scuba Dive Shop on Phi Phi. The story was he offered a really cheap rate and wasn't very detailed or safe with his company.

Looks like he got was he deserved. It happened 3 days before we passed it.

Yep, it was raining really hard!

This is what I tend to do so I don't get sick. Poor E had to fend for herself.

About to go on our first dive. This is out of Phuket on Racha Yai.

Puffer fish.

We kind of have the same expression?? hehe

Turtles were abundant on all our dives.

One swam on top of me for awhile. I love watching them swim.

The dive guide on the first trip took all these pictures. I didn't bring my camera because I didn't want to be responsible for it. We didn't get pictures of the dives in Phi Phi, they were the fun ones. We were down 86 minutes on our last dive looking for sharks. We actually saw one reef shark. It was great diving with a friend who shared a passion for the sea.


E came back to Singapore for a couple days and we managed to sparkplug Singapore before she left. Oh the goodness!

And I thought I would leave you with some fabulous pictures of the Chinese tourist on Phi Phi. I hope you get a laugh out of them, you might not understand unless you have visited Asia but I will try to explain. Please don't take offense.

We sat here for awhile taking these gems of pictures.

Notice the mathcing clothes? They took several pictures in different positions.

This one was awesome! Probably at least an hour long photo shoot with the beach ball.

You can't see it but she is holding it in front of her and would pose provocatively with it. It is funny because Dirk's dermatologist in Singapore has pics like this of his wife up in the office and sends them out on Christmas cards to all the different clinics too.

This one was probably the most painful. Maybe only 30 minutes long but she made him do this in front of a whole group of people, even the local Thai's were cracking up. She would make him do a different pose but it wasn't different. He would only move his hands further down on his knees about an inch every time. She probably has 100+ photos of him standing like that.

I hope these bring you some laughter! Have a great day!

Kata. Phi Phi. Railay, Thailand

October 1st-8th: Kappa Delta Reunion Number Two

Elizabeth and I met in the middle in Thailand for a week and traveled to three different islands. She came from Beijing, China during their National Holiday time. We basically back packed through Phuket, Phi Phi, and Railay.

Kata Beach, Phuket

Elizabeth's friends were also in town staying on this beach in a fabulous house that we got to stay at on the last day. I have never stayed on Kata beach but it is definietly better than the other beaches. It had surfing and a great relaxed atmosphere. I would totally go back here if going to Phuket again.

So the first day we went scuba diving and it was interesting, to say the least... first of all it was rainy season still so the water was really rough. I managed not to yack by overdosing on Dramamine (you think 4 was too many?) and willing myself not to, for the mere fact that three guys were throwing up their guts at the back of the boat. I swore I wouldn't join them, and thankfully didn't. I felt much better after getting in the water.

First night drinks at the Reggae Bar.

E enjoying her Thai beer.

Pineapple Rice!

Beautiful sunset on Kata Beach

Loved the Clouds

Everyone loves fruit art?

Phi Phi Island- Bay View Resort

So onto Phi Phi Island, which is another place I haven't stayed. It was actually really relaxing and not too many tourist yet since the low season. But TONS and TONS of Chinese tourist, it was rather funny. We spent a whole afternoon taking pictures of their photo sessions on the beach. E lives in China and she still doesn't get enough of their antics.

We scuba dived here as well. It had to be some of the most fun diving I have done in awhile. First of all the boat was basically all ours, we had a nice American dive master, AND the dive sites were basically deserted since the storm. It was really cheap too ($30 USD a dive). My favorite part was jumping off the boat in Maya Bay with no one around.

Arriving on Phi Phi Island.

The storm we dove in, it actually wasn't that bad and passed right over us. But it LOOKED really scary, I was questioning if we were going to really dive in this??

So this was one of the reasons the dive sites were empty.

One private tour.

Phi Phi Scuba, was great!

Oh Thailand!

Maya Beach, where The Beach was filmed.

Water was so awesome! This is the same day as the storm.

Long Tail Boats

Papaya Salad, Red Curry, and Coconut Rum Drink, YUM!

Railay, Thailand

Lastly we stopped at Railay, a place I have been before and just LOVE! It is so majestic, I was questioning if I should have even taken E there but after we got there, you can just feel how beautiful the place is. I especially love other peoples reactions.

Railay West Beach

E and I on one of the prettiest beaches in Thailand!

The rock formations are just amazing!

We saw a Komodo Dragon in the cave just behind me too!

Supposedly this beach is known for its sunsets.

Everyone comes here to watch it and take pictures.

We were really only in Railay for one night, not even 24 hours. We managed to see the sunset, get some fabulous pictures, eat at Mom's (same place as I ate with Katy & Sarah) complete with a lady boy waitress (the same one as last time), and get some much needed rest.

We checked out early and made our way back to Kata Beach to meet up with E's friends. In Kata we spent the day lounging at E's friends private pool, taking naps and reading. We had a fabulous dinner complete with a special Thai dance. E and her friends introduced me to sparkplugs and I don't think I will ever be the same! We ended the night every early in the morning back in Patong Beach. Our flight was at 9AM so with some help of hotel staff we made it safely back to Singapore.

The view of Kata Beach from their private house.

The house was massive!

Slept 12 people with a full service staff and staff quarters plus gym and kids playroom.

Thai dancers

Everyone say Sparkplug!