Title: ATM’s are challenging
I’m baaaaaaaaaaaaack. Today so far has been pretty much a nothing day. We got up early (6:30) to head for the airport. We had to be fairly early because our travel today is of the international variety. We are going from Phuket Thailand to Siem Reap Cambodia. I am writing this during our layover in Bangkok. The layover was supposed to be three hours but our flight was just delayed an hour. We are flying on Bangkok air today and it is Asia’s “premier boutique airline”. One of its perks is supposed to be its airport lounges. Well I think its lounge sucks. There is no free wireless, no diet soda and no power outlets. How am supposed to write a novel on battery power alone? I should add this doesn’t surprise me that much because we are moving into the sucky part of the trip. The river cruise is looming and group tour travel starts tomorrow. I really don’t enjoy traveling on a group of 80-year olds’ travel schedules. I hope my ranting is premature… we will find out soon enough.
When I was given my 25th birthday present I was told that I could go anywhere I wanted to go in the world. I quickly learned what that meant was “I could anywhere in the world that I wanted as long as it was Thailand.” I was okay with that because Thailand has beautiful beaches and elephants and well, who wouldn’t want to go there (other than mom ;~)? “I could go anywhere in the world that I wanted as long as it was Thailand” quickly morphed into “I could anywhere in the world that I wanted as long as it was Thailand and a river cruise down the Mekong Delta through Cambodia and Vietnam.” All of you that have known me for more than 5-years know that river cruises aren’t my favorite thing in the world. Dad and I floated the Yang-Tze a few years back. Overall it was a very good trip. We were gone roughly two-weeks. We spent five days on a boat in a cabin that was roughly 400sq feet. It was the presidential suite. We had our own private deck that happened to be the front of the ship. I tell you the specifics of the cabin not to sound boastful but to give you a feeling for what it was like. By the fifth day I was dying to get off the boat and see someone else under the age of 60. Well this time our cabin is 100sq feet and the trip is EIGHT days. I am nervous and I am a little sad that I had to leave paradise with hot boys (clearly I didn’t send pictures of them ;~) to go on a riverboat with old smelly foreigners. In that vein before we move on to the Angkor Wat and river boat portion of our trip I’d like to revisit some thoughts on Phuket. Unlike my photo blog would suggest, there is more to the place than ill-advised swimwear ;~>
Upon arrival in Phuket dad and I were both surprised to find out that we had a forty-minute drive to the hotel. I didn’t do much research prior to this trip but I thought the whole island of Phuket was pretty rustic. That is definitely not the case. There are certainly rustic places that one can go, but we stayed in the general vicinity of Patong Beach. As previously described it has a very similar vibe to that of Waikiki Beach in Hawaii. There are lots of young people (thank God for that), lots of bars, lots of whores, and knock-off goods. There is also some real shopping and the obligatory 7-11’s, McDonald’s and Starbucks. The beach is very pretty but also pretty crowded. I was hoping we would make it out to some of the secluded beaches but dad wasn’t game for it and there really wasn’t time. In many ways Phuket was just a stop over. I’d love to go back there with the New Zealand boy that I met this morning. You’d be proud of me Bailey. I started a conversation with him all by myself :~> He was hot and his accent was super sexy. Sorry ladies I don’t have a photo but I do have a mental note that I will surely enjoy on the cruise of old people ;~>
Dad had insisted on Thai every night that we had been in Thailand so I decided that I should pick the destination of dinner our first night in Phuket. Dad is pretty chill, so my picking wasn’t a problem. I had read literally four pages (out of 400) in Frohmer’s guide to Thailand prior to our trip. I remembered reading a blurb about an Italian place over the water with great views of the sunset. We made a reservation with La Gritta at 5:30 because the sun was scheduled to set at 6:26.
The restaurant sent a driver over to pick us up. La Gritta is located in the Amari Hotel. I had no idea what an “Amari Hotel” was but dad informs that they are in the class above the Ritz and Four Seasons. What can I say… I have good taste ;~> Upon arrival we were promptly escorted by a guard to the restaurant which was located a few floors below the lobby and drop off point. At the restaurant we were met by a hostess who speedily sat us at our reserved table right along the rail by the water. The name may be a give-away but I picked Italian food. The Thai food was great but I wanted a break from it. At home I never eat the same thing for a week straight… unless of course it’s Mucho.
The view from our table was gorgeous. The restaurant is located at the very end of Patong Beach. Patong Beach curves, so where we were sitting offered an awesome view back toward the lights of the bars in the center of the beach. A combination of lights, palm trees, and turquoise water is pretty hard to beat. It may, however, have been beaten by the fact that up until our dessert was served, dad and I were the only patrons in the restaurant. We couldn’t understand why. Our food was awesome and the wait staff was amazing. We literally had eight people waiting on us and only us (since we were the only ones in the restaurant ;~). Evidently people eat dinner in Thailand closer to 7 pm. This would make sense other than the fact that if you show up that late you miss the fireworks of the Thai sunset. Dad and I truly enjoyed our dinner at La Gritta.
After dinner we wandered the streets of Patong Beach. Parts of it are a little sketchy. Dad was approached by a number of women offering their services. It is really sad that so many women in this society see that as their best wage earning opportunity.
A shop along one of the streets was selling Borat shoulder-strapped Speedos. Those of you who have seen the movie or maybe even just the commercials can picture the one I am talking about. That was kind of funny. What was hilarious was the next night at dinner when we saw a guy running down the street wearing that and only that. It seems clear that he lost a bet.
Another thing I greatly enjoyed was the fact that a bar along the street was showing sports on TV. Until then I had not seen more than two seconds of TV since leaving home. The two seconds was Night Court. I think they need to update their syndication contracts. The sport showing at the bar was javelin throwing. That was fricken awesome. And they weren’t just showing a highlight. They were showing each throw of each round. All you have to do to get a little love for the throwers is travel halfway around the world!
We concluded our first night in Phuket with massages. Dad got a Thai massage and I got a foot massage. Foot massages in Asia are rather amazing. They last a minimum of an hour and cost next to nothing. In our two days in Phuket we had a combined six massages for a grand total of $40. We may have to talk about your fee upon my return, Rich ;~)
Tuesday was truly a lazy day. We got up around 9:30 (can any of you believe I am thinking that a 9:30 wakeup call is sleeping in?) We ate breakfast, played on-line and then went for a walk on the beach. During this beach walk I had my first moment of “gotta go, gotta go, gotta go right now” (I hate that commercial) on this trip. I have no idea what I ate but it rocked my world. Fear of a return episode kept me close to the hotel for the next few hours. In the afternoon dad and I went for a swim in the Sea. The water is really warm. I don’t know the temperature but I would think that it had to have been in the 80’s. The views from the water were incredibly. I’m not talking about palm trees and water here but the bodies that strolled by. I seriously think that the only mirrors in all of Phuket must have been in dad and my hotel room because some of these people were straight up nasty. You all have now seen the evidence, so you know I’m not making it up.
Dad and I were floating roughly a 100 yards out (the water is pretty shallow and wave free) when I saw him stand up and say “oh hoh hoh… look down the beach at what’s coming our way”. It took me second to locate what he was talking about. When I did, I threw up in my mouth a little bit, and then insisted that he run back to the beach to take a picture. He acted like he didn’t want to but I knew he did because he thought it was as funny as I did. When I eventually talked him into doing it the lovely couple was rapidly disappearing down the beach. Dad swam in from the water, grabbed the camera and began running after them.
The whole seen was hilarious from my vantage point. I was floating with my toes up watching my dad run (that’s funny by itself) after two scantily clad nasty old people to take their picture. I think the other people near me in the water thought I was crazy. I was laughing audibly at something no one else even noticed. The three of them were eventually so far down the beach that I could no longer see them. About 10 minutes later dad came back half-grinning half-pissed. He was disappointed with his front shot but very proud of his work from the back. I performed a little Photoshop lightening magic to make his front shot show more than any of us ever wanted to see. If you haven’t figured it out yet, the lovely couple is the red speedo and pink thong pair from yesterday’s picture blog.
After our beach adventure we watched the sunset and walked to dinner. I had another round of phad thai. It was good but not as good as the one in Chiang Rai. We hadn’t showered yet at this point in the day (gross I know) so we went back to the room to freshen up before going out for another evening stroll.
Dad and I both wanted another round of massages to conclude the day. In order to do this we needed to stop at the ATM to get more cash. I’m not really sure how a person can be a highly respected eye surgeon and yet struggle to use an ATM machine. To fully appreciate the next story you need a little background.
Our family is just concluding a bank change. This change required us to get knew ATM cards. When my dad got his new card in the mail he wanted to change the pin to match his previous pin. This is a simple enough task for most people. Well my mom and dad went to an ATM two days before we left on our trip to begin the process of changing the code. I wasn’t there but somehow Dumb (mom) and Dumber (dad) (mom came up with these names… I didn’t) managed to get the card eaten by the machine. This created a lot of drama because my mom had to retrieve the card in the remaining 24 hours before we left. She managed to save the day by having our banker friend Jami get it back for us. Mom successfully changed the pin and dad was a happy camper. Below is an email exchange I had with Jami yesterday. Please keep in mind that I was looking at bootleg CD’s while this ATM visit occurred.
“from Kathryn Polansky
to “Skiver, Jami”
date Feb 19, 2008 6:16 AM
subject Dumber is at it again
Hi Jami,
Greetings from Thailand. I’m not sure if you know that my dad and I are in Thailand but we are… and well Dumber went to the ATM… he managed to leave the ATM without recollecting his card. After returning to the ATM a mere 30 seconds later it was gone. Needless to say we need to cancel the card. He thinks he has his paperwork for it here in Thailand but you may want to check as soon as you come in this morning that it was cancelled. The last thing he did with it was remove money from the ATM at 6:10 am (PST). Any charge after that is not our family’s. Sorry for being a pain in the butt yet again. I’ll try and keep a better eye on him from here on out ;~>
Have a wicked day at work.
Katy ;~>”
“from Kathryn Polansky
to “Skiver, Jami”
date Feb 19, 2008 6:56 AM
subject (read me first) Dumber Again
Jami,
Dumber found out that if you walk away from the machine without taking the card, then the machine eats it. He talked someone into getting it out for him. Therefore we no longer need you to cancel the card. In fact please DON’T cancel the card because I don’t want to have to pay for the rest of the trip ;~>
Thanks again and I’m sure I’ll see you soon,
Katy”
“from Skiver, Jami
to Kathryn Polansky
date Feb 19, 2008 8:18 AM
subject RE: (read me first) Dumber Again
mailed-by siuslawbank.com
hide details Feb 19 (1 day ago) [image001.jpg]
HA HA! What fun you have had! I cannot believe you guys actually talked someone into giving the card back! Especially in another country. Normally they absolutely refuse, and destroy the card. NICE WORK! Your Dad must be a sweet talker :P
Have a good week, and let me know if you need anything else! However…. I regret to say I will be in SUNNY ARIZONA starting Thursday….. YAY. So if you need anything after tomorrow, you may have to resort to emailing Jeff. Good luck with that….. Kidding.
Talk to you soon,
~Jami”
Overall I really enjoyed our time in Thailand. It is definitely a place that I would visit again. I’m thinking that if I ever meet a nice guy I might hit you (Pete and Jane) up for the Marriott Timeshare in Phuket. Phuket would be a great place to go with a significant other… but it was pretty fun with a dad too :~>
Before I conclude I will leave you with the Doctor P. fun fact of the day. My parents have been married 32 years in September. My mom has never seen my dad throw up. At one of our meals the subject of barfing came up. I asked my dad if he actually knew the last time he vomited. He says that he threw up once in college. He thinks the year was 1961 and he assures me it wasn’t because he was drunk. Evidently he was roughhousing with his roommate and he got smacked into a wall. (I still haven’t really figured out why they were wresting in the first place). He hit his head so hard that they feared he had a concussion. His roommate took him to Franklin and Marshall’s “infirmary”, called the Dr. Apple Infirmary. He threw up there, spent the night and evidently had a full recovery. I personally, however, wonder if that head trauma damaged the part of the brain that allows us to use ATM’s properly.
Tomorrow we are off to Angkor Wat. If you have no idea what this is, then you should Google it to get an idea. I expect it to be pretty cool as long as the bathrooms aren’t terrible and I don’t get eaten by any Malaria carrying mosquitoes.
Have a great day.
Katy
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