Around The World 2011 Day 3: Phuket, Thailand

Barbie began Day 3 with a yoga class.  I began it with yesterday's post and then an effort to go back to sleep while she stretched and balanced her way to a better body and mind.  I failed to nap, but soon enough it was time to meet her after her class for some breakfast.

This is what a hallway looks like at the J.W. Marriott Resort Phuket.  You could do a lot worse.

Every time I pass this reflection pool, I want to take its picture.  At least this time I shot it from a new angle.

My healthy breakfast.  How dedicated are we to health?  That omelet, and Barbie's unphotographed omelet, consists of mushrooms and chicken with no cheese.  I felt ridiculous not including cheese in the omelet.  I am pretty sure I have never before eaten an omelet without the wonder fats found in cheese.  But I tried it and I liked it.  Cheeseless omelets, forever!  (Seahorses, forevah.)

Note Barbie's wel-trained skill at making her facial expression match that of the sculpture.

And soon enough... the rain came.  Some of the hardest rain I have ever witnessed.

With the rain coming down, we decided today would be a  good day to hop on a shuttle to Patong Beach, where there happens to a Hard Rock Cafe inside the Courtyard Marriott.  Considering that a shuttle goes directly from our J.W. Marriott to that other Marriott, it is as if the fates demanded we go to the Hard Rock Cafe.

Barbie took some time to work, as did I, and after a few hours the rain had stopped and it was time to walk over and get our shuttle.

That would be the reflecting pool below the other reflecting pool.  This reflecting pool is the one you saw with all the flames going above it last night.  Try to keep the reflecting pools straight, would ya?

No picture of the van/shuttle that drove us an hour South.  The ride was fascinating, seeing parts of Phuket where the locals live and shop.

A beautiful temple, somewhat marred by the powerlines.  In all seriousness, the powerlines of Phuket simply amaze me.  I have never seen such density of powerlines before.

Phuket Scooter Candid, July 2011.

Phuket Scooter Candid, July 2011.

Phuket Nightclub During Daytime Candid, July 2011.  As you can see, there is a party tonight.  And everynight.

The view of Patong traffic from inside the shuttle.

We have arrived.  Now... this part of Phuket is... not our style.  It is probably ideal for the tourist who wants to drink heavily and stumble around, perhaps buying a t-shirt that reads, "I Pharty In Phuket."  (I made that up, but that shirt should exist.)  However, we came here to add to Barbie's Hard Rock Cafe shotglass collection, and eat, and both we shall do.

Hard Rock Cafe Phuket Waitress Candid, July 2011.

Her name, if you cannot read that, is Yuri and she was sweet and pleasant as can be.  What is said of the Thai is absolutely true; they are lovely people.

Shots of the Hard Rock Cafe Phuket.  (Courtesy of the iPhone app QuadCamera.  I am trying to master this app, as I like the effect it creates very much.  It is also supposed to make an animated gif, but I have not tried that yet.)

Be honest.  That is simply beautiful.  One of the most beautiful things on this dear planet.

Barbie's pulled pork nachos, her salsa on the side, my burger, and my iced tea.  Yay QuadCamera.

I love when a design is so familiar that language in no way effects your ability to recognize it.

Yo, powerlines.  Powerlines, yo.

It is not just me, right.  Those powerlines are insane.  My working theory is that in a climate this wet, every cable of every kind has to be above ground.  But the power and phone and cable and all other lines in my parent's neighborhood are above ground, and they do not look like that.  So that theory lasted, what, twenty seconds?

Seven-Eleven and Hard Rock.  Globalization, my friends.

Time to walk by the shops and massage parlours and general filth to see the beach.

Patong Beach.  Do you believe me?  I will prove it.

Proved.

Yours truly at the Courtyard Marriott doors.  Not sure why Picasa rotated it, but glad that it did.  Since we do not enjoy touristy shopping or alcohol guzzling or filth in general, we decided to wait in the hotel lobby for two hours.

The fates shined upon us and the lobby had free WiFi.  That said, it was a boring wait and the spa was booked and we were generally sorry to have come here.  At least Barbie got to add Phuket to her shotglass collection.

Leaving the Patong Beach Courtyard Marriott lobby, never to return.  Ever.  To quote Barbie, "This place is hell for us."

Okay.  I had to take this picture from the moving shuttle.  Every hundred yards or so, one sees a group of pretty women standing in front of a massage place holding menus with the massage services.  Now, I know a lot of you suspect there are services there that involve endings of the happy kind.  I have no data to prove or disprove this theory.  But I will tell you this.  First, they offered Barbie a foot massage and did not speak to me.  Second, as we walked by a second time one them reached out and suggestively touched my arm.  Third, they do not welcome drunk, aggressive men looking for that.  When the shuttle was stopped at a traffic light, I saw two drunken Australian men clearly propositioning two such women, and the women frowned and backed away.  The men creepily moved toward them making gestures that made their intentions extremely clear, and the young women literally turned around and marched inside to escape them.

So there is that.  Which is not to say that there are not much sleazier places off the main streets where those men would have found the services that they desired.

You may like or dislike the next picture.

Ages ago I got an iPhone app called Slow Shutter that approximates keeping the shutter open.  What you see above is simply traffic.

The clock tower of Phuket Town.  Phuket (remember, Poo-Ket) refers to an island, a province, and a city named Phuket Town on that island in that province.  Kind of like having a city named New York in a state named New York, only in this case the island of Manhattan would also have to be named New York.

Phuket Traffic, taken with Slow Shutter.  I swear to you I will master this app and get great shots with it before we have returned to Los Angeles.

And... the drive back took an hour and half.  We were exhausted.  Miserable from the winding streets.  It had not been pleasant at all.  We were in a state that we skipped dinner and went to bed at 8 pm!  In fact, I am of a mind that the concierge should have warned us that what were doing might suck.  I mean, if one is choosing to stay at a five-star resort, what are the odds one also wants to take a long, miserable drive to the sleazy part of the island?  Yeah.  You get me.

The only saving grace is what Barbie said. "At least I can warn my clients to not do that."  Yep.  That is what we got out of today.  That and a shotglass.

Until tomorrow.