Spending a Few Days on MC

Derek headed to Houston on Friday so of course I came down sick this weekend. I tried to fight it off on my own but when I woke up Monday morning with a 102 degree fever I decided I should go see a doctor. I had yet to visit the doctor since moving to Singapore so this was my first experience with medical care here.

There is a group of doctors that takes care of all the expats from my company so that is where I headed. The doctor that examined me diagnosed me with a stomach virus and wrote me a few prescriptions and an MC note. In Singapore, you are only allowed to take a sick day from work if you have this medical certificate (MC) to prove you were indeed ill. She wrote it for two days and told me not to return to work until Wednesday.

The other difference from American healthcare is that I had my prescriptions before I left the doctors office. The pharmacies here only carry over-the-counter medications and so the real prescriptions come straight from the doctors office. I saw the doctor and was on my way home with my MC and medicine after only 30 minutes. That is faster than it takes just to get your prescription filled at CVS.

I'm following the doctors orders and feel like I'm on the mend. At least I have the Maddie dog to keep me company.

Phuket: Island Sailing Tour

While Phuket has some beautiful beaches, the surrounding islands make up some of the best landscapes we have ever seen.  To get the best views we spent our second day on a boat touring around the Andaman Sea.  We knew we would be in good hands when we got to the dock and met Captain Mark who had long white hair, was wearing a captains hat, and smoking a pipe.  Perfect sea captain.  He planned the perfect day for us traveling around the islands to swim, snorkel, kayak, and explore.

On our way to our first stop of the day

First stop of the day was a little cove between a few of the islands

Edge of the island

Entrance to the cove

Turquoise water under the limestone 

Exiting the cove

Next stop was one of the bird nest caves.  In Chinese herbal medicine, birds nest's are used for their healing properties and are worth a lot of money.  There are men that live in these caves in some of the islands and guard the nests made by swallow and once they are done they collect them to be sold across Asia.

The cave in the side of the island

The guy living in this cave came up to his bamboo guard rail and waved at us. I'm sure he was just happy to
see other people as he lives in the cave alone.

The next stop was a small beach to do some snorkeling.  The water was a little murky so the snorkeling wasn't very good.  It was nice to cool off in the water and lay on the beach though.

Beautiful view from the beach

Time to snorkel!

A few of the fish that we could see.  They would eat out of your hands.

They had some swings on the beach which I enjoyed. You can see behind me that there were
some homes built on this beach where a few people lived and sold drinks and food.

Enjoyed the break but ready to get back on the boat.

Everywhere you look is like a postcard

The next location was an island that is home to a 1500 year old banyan tree.

Some locals sitting on the beach

The tree was huge!

 James Bond Island is one of the most popular tourist attractions around Phuket and it
gets really busy during the day.  For our tour we just sailed by it to get the view instead of fighting the crowds on the beach.

These are just a few of the boats anchored by James Bond Island. 

James Bond Island

Near James Bond Island we came upon some old sea gypsy caves.  Sea gypsies are one of the minority groups in Thailand who live in caves and make a living by fishing.

Sea gypsy cave that had cave paintings

Captain Mark could tell us what most of the painting was.  All I can really make out is the monkey.

After a busy morning it was time to stop for lunch.  We went to the 'floating village' which is really a town on stilts.  This village is a Muslim community that lives on the edge of an island.

The Floating Village

We ate a delicious Thai lunch at the restaurant on the end.

The town even has a floating soccer field.  As an incentive to keep the ball on the field, the last person who touched the
ball has to go into the water to retrieve it.  They must have incredible ball control.

Most of the pathways in the village were lined with tables of souvenirs

Many of the villagers collect songbirds like these. 

What a stunning place to get to live.

We sailed off to some sea caves where we hopped into kayaks to explore.  Unfortunately the waterproof camera died as we entered the cave and the other camera was back on the boat so we have limited pictures.

I love the limestone cliffs.

We went in the same cave as these kayaks.

Entering the cave!  It was absolutely gorgeous inside and I wish I could share more.  Must get a backup battery.

After enjoying the sea caves by kayak we headed to some more caves to explore on foot.

We had this beach all to ourselves

Entrance to the cave

Derek near the other side of the cave

We emerged from the cave in the middle of the island.  We were surrounded by
high limestone walls and the cave was the only way in or out.

Four walking fish

In the center of the island was a patch of mangrove trees

I love how the water has worn away at the limestone.

It was getting to be late in the afternoon so we headed off to some calm water to take a dip and cool off before heading back to dry land.  The water was so salty that you could almost float standing up.  It was a refreshing end to a fantastic day.

Derek jumping off the boat into the water.

We saw so much in one day and it was hard to take in all the beauty.  I tried to take as many pictures as I could but I still don't think many of my pictures do this trip justice.  It was absolutely breathtaking!  

Phuket: Beach Day!

We may only be a couple weeks into the new year but we have already been on our first trip.  Last weekend we headed to Phuket, Thailand for a three day vacation.  We stayed at a resort that was just outside of Patong.  If you haven't heard of Patong before, it isn't the classiest of beach locations.  Think of it as the Cancun of Thailand.  It caters to the tourists and not in the way Derek and I typically appreciate.  I can't tell you how many times we got offered massages, tuk tuk rides, custom suits, flyers to the boxing matches, pirated DVDs, and fake designer goods.  We even got offered marijuana once. Thankfully our hotel had a private beach and several restaurants so we didn't have to go into town very often.

Our hotel was one of the biggest and busiest resorts we have ever been to.  Despite the crowd, we were able to find open beach chairs and an umbrella to spend our first day soaking up the sun and enjoying the gorgeous view.  This resort apparently attracts mostly European clientele so there were plenty of speedos, topless little girls, and skimpy swimsuits to avoid looking at.  We spent the day reading on the beach and swimming in the crystal clear water.  As you can see we made great use of the new waterproof camera.

The beach early in the morning

Derek enjoying the cool water.  The weather couldn't have been better.  It was cooler than Singapore!

A view of the resort from the water

Just before lunch this guy came out to play!

Me, pre-burn.  I tried to wear plenty of sunscreen and I reapplied but it didn't help.  I was crispy by the end of the day.

It was a perfect, relaxing day in Phuket which was just what we needed!

2013: The Year of Travel

Derek and I aren't ones for making New Years resolutions but we do have a goal for 2013 and that is to travel as much as possible.  We have over a dozen trips that we are planning and it will definitely be an unforgettable year if we are able to get all of them in.

Our plan is:

In addition to traveling around Asia Pacific, Derek has a business trip to Houston, I have three business trips to Houston, and we have a trip to GA, SC, and TN for a family visit.

These are a few things we hope to do everywhere we go (not including the USA):
1.  Learn about the people's culture everywhere we go.  This means going off the beaten path and doing things that are different and maybe out of our comfort zone.
2.  Bring back a decoration that reflects the culture and art style of that country.
3.  Eat mexican food.  I realize this is strange but as we ate mexican in Bali, we remembered we also did it in Bangkok and decided we wanted to keep the streak going.  We will be able to truly say that Houston has our favorite mexican food in the world (and I'm so glad I will get to eat Houston mexican three times next year!).
4.  Capture every moment on camera and share it with all of you.

We have so much to plan and I know doing this much in a year will really test our planning skills.    Because we are engineers we have obviously created a detailed spreadsheet to assist with the planning and tracking cost.   Usually we would spend several months planning just one of these trips and now we only have a couple weeks to get each one booked.  Needless to say, I spend the time I'm not working or blogging looking at travel websites and hunting down airfare deals.  I know we will run into unplanned issues like the Bangkok taxi drivers and almost not having enough money with us to pay the 'airport fee' at the Bali airport but its all part of the adventure.