Holiday - Day 3 & 4 (Part 2)

Today I went to Laem Singh beach, roughly 10k north of Patong. It's a lovely little beach that usually doesn't get too busy.
Before getting to Laem Singh, I stopped off for a quick spot of lunch at one of these road stalls that you can see in Pic 4 & 5. The Ivy it ain't... but who cares when the food is so good and cheap.
On Laem Singh, there is Ali's restaurant - Ali is a great bloke and always has a smile for everyone. His business got literally wiped away when the infamous tsunami hit Phuket a few years ago. Luckily none of his family and staff lost their lives on that tragic day. He was able to re-build his little restaurant, that serves amazingly fresh seafood, within very few months.

Holiday - Day 3 & 4 (Part 1)

Ok, I promised to post a few pics yesterday (or was it the day before yesterday?? Time flies when you're having fun hehehe), so here they are. Hardly David Bailey material, so don't say I didn't warn you if they're not your cup of tea.
The first lot refers to Patong beach, not the best beach on the island but walking distance from my royal apartment.

Holiday - Day 2 & 3

I am beginning to settle in nicely in my little Guest House. Like every accommodation, it’s got its pros and cons. Let’s go through them quickly... Pros: 1) it’s central – less than 10 mins walk to the beach; 2) it’s rather cheap – less than 10 squid per night; 3) it offers free wifi. Cons: 1) it’s located in a dark back alley, populated by a few dodgy dogs and stray ladyboys (or the other way around, maybe?). In all honesty, its location makes Khaosan Road in Bangkok look like feckin Mayfair. Anyway the room is clean and spacious enough, it’s got almost virtually everything you need for a stay in Phuket, plus the Guest House owners are a friendly bunch so altogether I’m happy with my choice of accommodation.

Last night I visited one of my favourite restaurants in Patong (Chiang Rai, at the back of Soi Tiger) to get my Thai food fix. One tom yam kung, 4 big fried prawns and 2 Singhas later, all I was ready for was... the bed! I suppose that a mix of jet lag and sleep deprivation finally caught up with me as I made my sorry way to my room, yawning like a hippo just as everyone else in town was about to go out and have fun. There are some malicious rumours going round that I accepted the kind offer of a blanket and a cup of cocoa by the Guest House owners before retiring to my royal apartment but they are totally untrue.

One minor annoyance is the big number of touts plying their trade in the main streets of Patong. Besides the tuk-tuk mafia, one of my main gripes is with those guys that hold some sort of big lizard (or is it a small iguana??) in their hands, giving you the fantastic opportunity (NOT) of having your picture taken whilst holding such exotic creature. Now don’t get me wrong, I am no tree hugging vegan and I understand that everyone has to make a living... but I can’t help feeling very sorry for those poor blighters (the animals, that is, I’d shoot the touts). Those poor animals look absolutely petrified to me – in fact, surrounded by all those humans and all that noise, they almost definitely are.

Another nuisance is provided by the ubiquitous tailors. Again, they are there to make an honest living for themselves and their families... back in Nepal or Burma (none of them are Thais!!) but why, oh why, do they all have to shake your hand and ask you ‘where are you from boss?’..?? A few years ago I made the mistake of telling a few of them that I’m from Italy so their usual retort would be either a cheerful “Buongiorno, como stai amigo mio?” or a mood-darkening “Ciao Napolitano”. As 1) the mere option of being taken for a Neapolitan would spoil my entire day, and 2) I am a grumpy unsociable b@stard (by my own admission...) and don’t want to shake more hands than a diplomat at a UN conference, now I either cross the street to avoid them altogether or tell them that I’m from Estonia, which seems to shut them up. It’ll take them a while to find out how to say “Fancy a nice suit?” in Estonian.

Today I went to the beach and I’m pleased to report that it’s been a scorching day so far. Apart from a few clouds in the sky, the sun has been shining all day long and the temperature must have been in the early 30’s. I’d like to think that I learnt from previous mistakes so I only spent less than an hour in the sun - I’d rather spend the next few days under the parasol sipping a fresh coconut than in my room licking my badly sunburnt wounds.

Off for a nice shower soon and then I’m going to see an English-speaking pharmacist - my lower back / leg pain doesn’t seem to get any better and, after 2 weeks of unsuccessful treatment, it’s not funny anymore. Fingers crossed.

Holiday - Day 1 & 2

Yippee... finally I’m on holiday! A long-awaited holiday! Currently I’m in Phuket, however I arrived in Bangkok yesterday morning (Tuesday 27/10) but I flew again today to get to the southerly island of Phuket.
The first leg of my flight was not that great as The Qatar Airways aircraft was not one of the newest in their fleet. The In Flight Entertainment (IFE) was slightly defective and my window seat had a fairly big metal box (something to do with the IFE, so I’m told) placed right underneath the seat ahead of mine, which meant that I could not stretch my left leg at all. This worked wonders for my already dodgy left leg...
The in-transit area of Doha airport is nothing to write home about but luckily the 3-hour stopover went relatively quickly as I had a good book with me (Starting Over by Tony Parsons).
The second leg of my flight went even quicker as I took full advantage of Qatar Airways’ superb catering and gurgled two (small) bottles of wine with my dinner. In other words, I had barely managed to finish my food that I was already in the Land Of Nod.
No matter how many times you have been to Bangkok as a visitor, probably you will never get used to the hustle and bustle of this city. The traffic is atrocious at almost every hour of the day and night with all those cars, motorbikes and tuk-tuks competing against each other for the next square inch of asphalt with scant regard for the road rules. Yeah, I know, a bit rich coming from an Italian...
In the afternoon, after visiting my favourite tailor and buying far more shirts than I really need (histiry has a penchant for repeating itself...), I opted for a good massage to see if they could alleviate the pain in my left leg. Knowing only too well what sort of comments my mention of a ‘good massage in Bangkok’ can raise, I’d like to stress that ‘good’ means a massage not of the dodgy variety! In this city it’s much easier to get a massage with a few extras added on (wink wink.... and the letter I can be replaced by an A) than a traditional massage for the infirm and the needy like yours truly.
I’m pleased to report that – in time-honoured fashion whenever I’m in this part of the world – the seafood and the coconut industries got a bit of a boost last night. Had an early night as I was rather tired due to the flight, plus this morning I had an atrociously early Air Asia flight to Phuket.
Got to Phuket about 9am and I was (once again) quite surprised by the pace of change that this island is experiencing. Every time I get here there are new buildings being erected, new roads being built.... maybe a bit too many? I wonder if Phuket one day is going to experience a Spanish-style economic bubble.
Patong (the main town in the island) is busier than I thought. Reading some reports on the Net, I would have thought that I was coming to a ghost town but this is far from the truth. Sure, there are ‘Vacancies’ sign almost everywhere but seeing how busy some of the streets are you wouldn’t think that we are in low-season (and in the midst of a recession!).
Back to my Guest House now as the heavens have opened big style. So today in Phuket we have seen clouds, heavy clouds, sunshine, hot sunshine, rain and heavy rain - all in the space of few hours. It’s just like being in London, innit.

No rest for the wicked

It was a hectic week last week. Final week at my Japanese employer so had to tie up all the loose ends before my departure... Roma away at Fulham on Thursday.... leaving drinks on Friday (thanks a lot to all the lovely people that turned up)..... flying to Rome at the crack of dawn on Saturday morning.... coming back to London on Sunday night (got home at 11pm)....and now at 3am on Monday morning I have just finished packing up for my 10-day holiday in Thailand!!
Have to leave home in 2 hours at 5am as my Qatar Airways flight leaves Heathrow at 8am. Qatar Airways enjoy a great reputation, therefore I so hope they’ll leave up to it as I’m sick and tired of crappy airlines, like Alitalia just to mention one.
I’m planning to stay awake for the first leg of my flight (London to Doha) and then have a good snooze on the second leg (Doha to Bangkok). The idea is to try and adapt to local time as soon as possible. Staying awake on the first leg shouldn’t be a problem at all as allegedly the In Flight Entertainment on Qatar Airways is top notch... we’ll see!
I plan to post daily updates on my holiday in Phuket... with hopefully some great pictures as well. Please feel free to send your comments. Speak soon :)

Mrs Mastella

Scoppia lo scandalo dell'Arpac e coinvolge anche la presidente del consiglio regionale, Sandra Lonardo Mastella. Secondo la procura di Napoli, all'Agenzia regionale per l'ambiente le assunzioni clientelari, messe nero su bianco in un file, sono state per lungo tempo la norma.
Nell'inchiesta sono indagate ben 63 persone ma il provvedimento più eclatante assunto dal gip per la presidente del consiglio regionale Sandra Lonardo, moglie di Clemente Mastella (leader dell'Udeur e noto porco democristiano) è il divieto di dimora in Campania e in sei province limitrofe (Latina, Frosinone, Isernia, Campobasso, Foggia e Potenza).

E che e’ una punizione?? Io pagherei di tasca mia per non risiedere in quei posti...
Nell'abitazione di Sandra Lonardo a Ceppaloni si sono presentati cinque carabinieri in borghese. Successivamente la moglie di Mastella ha lasciato la villa e si è diretta a Roma. La presidente del Consiglio campano si dice sconvolta. Prima in un lunga dichiarazione e poi in una lettera, nella quale si legge: “Mi è crollato il mondo addosso”.

E MAGARI FOSSE VERO, diciamo noi....

The Tories' best ally

Yesterday Harriet Harman warned that companies with men-only boards will fail to win government contracts if they fail to appoint more women.
Is there any limit to the sheer stupidity of this woman?
Call me old-fashioned but if I had to make an appointment to the board of directors, I would tend to choose the best candidate for the job, and I could not care less if this person is a man or a woman (or a South African athlete).
If Harriet ‘chip on her shoulder’ Harman is really so desperate to get more women on companies’ boards, maybe she should try and offer some form of tax incentive to those companies that appoint a female director, rather than threatening an embargo on said companies.
Long live Gordon Brown if this lefty feminist is the best candidate that Labour can offer to the nation in case of a leadership challenge.