with a cup of coffee...

Friday, October 31, 2014

Koh Tao, Thailand Trip

Destination... Koh Tao, Thailand

Duration... Oct. 3rd~12th, 2014 (10Days)

Purpose... Get certified in scuba, relax & have fun!

My first trip ever to Thailand... and it turned out to be an awesome trip. It has been a very long time since I took a trip abroad and it was about time I did take a trip.

So Koh Tao...
It's a very small island situated in the southern part of Thailand. A great place to go scuba diving.. so I hear... and as it is said... it was great.

Day1 - Oct. 3rd: Inchon Itn'l Airport to Bangkok to Kaosan Road

Our plane to Bangkok

So going back to the beginning of the trip.. we - me and my sister - left our house on the airport limousine at 5:30 to catch the 10:45 plane to Bangkok... It wasn't such a long flight and it was quite pleasant. (We took Thai Air) It was quite humid and hot when we got to Bangkok, took us a bit of time but we soon made our way to Kaosan road, where we had to take the night bus to Chumphon or Chumporn Bay, the bus left around 9pm and got to the bay around 5 in the morning. It was a double decker and the seats were quite alright. We reserved everything with Lomprayah (http://www.lomprayah.com) and I'd definitely recommend it.

Lomprayah double decker

Champhon Bay

Lomprayah High Speed Ferry

Day2 - Oct. 4th: Chumphon bay to Mae Haad bay
The speed boat ride from Chumphon bay to Koh Tao was wonderful, it was a perfect clear weather and we got enough share of sun on the way to the island.

Once we arrived, we were picked up by our resort car and drove all the way to the Pinnacle Resort. It's a lovely resort by the edge of the island, if you like secluded quiet time then it's a great place but if you like to be in the centre, then no. We were looking for something quiet so it was perfect for us.

The first day in Koh Tao was spent browsing around the island, getting a massage and booking our scuba diving lessons.

Pinnacle Resort in Koh Tao

Koh Nang Yuan

Day3 - Oct. 5th: Taxi boat to Koh Nang Yuan & studying for Scuba
On our way to the little island off Koh Tao, we saw the jet boat that we'll be riding to learn our scuba.

It started to get a bit cloudy by the time we got there but we did get a good look around the area.. it's a very tiny place... :)

Day4&5 - Oct. 6th&7th: Scuba diving
The next several days were spent studying and scuba diving; it was just the two of us with our great instructor. The first time for me was a bit difficult since I had a bit of a hard time equalising but I got the hang of it and we got certified.

Day6 - Oct.8th: R&R
was "Do Nothing" day, literally we were too exhausted to do anything so spent the whole day in bed and in our room doing nothing but sleep relax and do nothing.

Day7 - Oct. 9th: ATV around the island

Day8 - Oct. 10th: Snorkeling around the island

Day9 - Oct. 11th: relax in pool & bye-bye Koh Tao

Day10 - Oct. 12th: Home sweet home!

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

:(

Yup.. 3weeks without any posts!!

Need to do something about that now, don't we...

Friday, October 03, 2014

Myungdong or Myeongdong (명동), the shopping mecca

I like and dislike Myungdong. It's a great place to shop but it really has just way too many people. So, if you're living in Korea and have a chance to go and would LOVE to avoid all the crowd.. I suggest you go early in the morning. However, all the action does start late in the day so I do suggest that you experience it if you already haven't. I came to Myungdong yesterday and today to do some last minute shopping before I leave for Thailand. Yes, I probably could have come here just for yesterday and skipped today if only I had not forgotten to take my passport and my duty free membership card.. Oh, and talking of duty free, if you're leaving Korea and/or going on a vacation do check out the duty free, they have great deals. Also online duty free is awesome as well.

Anyways, going back to my original topic - Myungdong, yes it's a wonderful place lots to shop, many places to visit near by and some wonderful shows to see. It's amazing how much has changed though.. It's mostly aimed at Chinese and Japanese tourist but still it amazes me how it has upped the variety in choices of food on the streets.

Here you have the Korean-Chinese black noodle Jajangmyun (자장면) it's called black model because the sauce is black. Some call it Jjajangmyun (짜장면) but the peoper way of writing and pronouncing is JAjangmyun (자장면).

Below is a picture of what it originally looks like...

One thing that totally caught me off guard is the pig feet... Yes, you may easily see them on the street at a local market but I hadn't realize they had started selling them on the strew of Myungdong.