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Gracie and I hop on the motorbike this early afternoon and take about a 25 minute ride inland from the beach to the Khao Nang Phanthurat Forest Park in Cha-Am. Its a great place, especially if you like Monkeys!
enjoy.
~mikes

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This morning I went for a morning walk along the beach and wanted to check in and just share some perspective. I noticed that the beach chairs during the week have Very Few customers during the week. It got me to thinking: how do these folks stay in business?
just curious.
…being a tourist this morning.
thanks for watching!!
~mikes

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I was taking a morning walk and want to make sure I wished everyone in the US, before 12/25 ended in your timeline, a Very Meet Christmas and THANK YOU for watching and I hope I get to thank you In Person in 2020!
Live the Dream.
Peace.
~mikes

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One of the things that comes to mind from time to time while I am “over here” in Thailand is, “What will I do when I’m back in the ‘states over the summer”
and as I was taking my morning walk *this* particular morning what popped into my head was the thought of Gracie and I driving ‘cross-country’.
How cool would That be?
So, this is a bit of that mental process… Just stage one really of me thinking it through.
Thanks for watching.
Live the Dream!
~mikes

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Gracie and I wanted to see what a weekday was like at the beach in Cha-Am so we woke up one random morning and today, Wednesday, seemed like as good a day as any. We hopped on the motorbike and as we left the condo and turned left onto the Beach Road, heading north, we immediately noticed there were NO chairs. And not just No chairs like there are no chairs at night, as the break down the chairs and umbrellas after sunset and then load up the chairs on the carts to haul them off, trailering them away, hitched to a motorbike. This was a complete removal of ALL chairs!
As we rode some more, we noticed that there we no people and no vendors either.
How peculiar, we thought.
BUT, STILL – LOVING IT!
I posted on a few of the groups I’ve found on Facebook:
e.g. Cha-Am and Hua Hin Expats: https://www.facebook.com/groups/hua.hin.cha.am/
and Hua Hin Expats: https://www.facebook.com/groups/498678093646335/
and others and quite quickly, a response came back:
This happens EVERY Wednesday….
They do it to clean the beach….
AH HA! very cool.
Mystery solved.
It’s so cool being “the new guy in town” and discovering these things!!!
Thanks for watching.
Peace.
~mikes

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I found some more videos from our travels last year. And, since, for the most part, I upload these videos to keep my Mum updated on my travels so she doesn’t feel like I am so far away; as I am literally on the Other Side of the World from where my parents live.
Additionally, Facebook has been reminding both Gracie and I of what were doing/posting about “1 year ago” for the past few weeks.
They have been great reminders of just how lucky we both are and the great places be have been able to explore!
So, this is just one of those places: a beach just down the street from our hotel in Langkawi, a nice, chill, small island in Malaysia. During this trip we went to Langkawi as well as Penang and Langkawi won hands down. That said, Malaysia was our least favorite country we have explored in SE Asia so far. Main reason? The people. While they were not horrible people, they simply were really not friendly. We have given Malaysia a “fair try”, I believe. At least 3 tries. KL 3 times, both full week-long stays as well as lay-overs and even a few Transits thru KLIA (a HUGE, modern airport) and then full-on tourist areas like Langkawi and Penang. Penang is a well documented and well adopted expat area as well.
However, we both were not blown away by any of the locations.
We simply “feel” better in Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, Hong Kong, and of course, Gracie’s home, the Philippines.
** keep in mind the times we were in Hong Kong were a FULL YEAR before any of the nonsense that was occurring in the late summer and early fall of 2019 was even a distant fantasy. We could have never expected the riots and looting and damage and destruction that occurred to have occurred. From the lens of September, November, and December of 2018 as well as mid-late January of 2019, Hong Kong was frequently referred to by us as SAFE, CLEAN, and a great place for us.
Not any more.

I digress… Hope you enjoy this little walk about the beach on Langkawi.
Thanks for watching.
~mikes

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Gracie and I take the Skycar / Cable Car from Singapore over to Sentosa for a bit of a walk around.
It was super chill today – AWESOME!
Hardly any people on this 22nd day in December 2018
More info on Fort Siloso on Sentosa:
https://www.sentosa.com.sg/en/things-to-do/attractions/fort-siloso/

Thanks for watching.
~mikes

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I found some videos from last year.
This one is the afternoon that Gracie and I arrived in Singapore and explored the
Gardens by The Bay Skywalk at the Marina Bay Sands:
https://www.gardensbythebay.com.sg/en/plan-your-visit/hours-admission.html

ACTUALLY, Facebook has been reminding Gracie and I with photos of where we were 1 year ago today in our daily feeds and I had completely forgotten that 1 year ago we were in Singapore… THREE TIMES from December 2018 through January 2019 for various reasons.
Once in December for several days of “vacation” and “exploration” and then another 23 hour-ish layover in early January and then again in mid January as I was heading home from my vacation w/in SE Asia I went to the Microsoft Ignite: The Tour conference at the Marina Bay Sands Hotel and Convention Center in Singapore. Truly an awesome place!
For sure, the ‘Sands has US prices of at least $300 USD room/night.
Equal to if not more than the cost of a hotel in San Francisco. A bit more than the “suite experience” you get when staying at the Venetian/Palazzo right next to the Sands Convention Center in Las Vegas BUT for me, Singapore is ONE OF THE BEST CITIES IN THE WORLD!!!!
I do indeed Love Bangkok but if I was to work and do significant business, Singapore would be it for me! The hot/humid weather, the cleanliness, the easy of doing business, the Strong Singapore Dollar, the global respect the city/state has, the incredible public transportation, the Incredible Safety… AND THE HEAT!!! 😉
Now, for sure there is a down side. And a quite large one for many. THE COST.
Singapore is arguably THE Most Expensive City In The World.
*Especially* if you were to try to live in Singapore with a lifestyle similar to that of one in Southern California, meaning; 2 cars, 3-4 bedroom single-family home, etc, etc… The cost of the cars alone are that of a small house in San Diego because of the import duty.
At the end of the day, its an island that imports nearly EVERYTHING.
Now, for sure, the “import” some stuff from a few kilometers away and its not like China can’t ship items there faster than they can to Long Beach BUT there is significant import taxes on many things. For the most part, I consider it to have the same cost of living as Coronado, California… at latitude 1.
LOVE IT!
🙂
Thanks for watching.
Enjoy.
~mikes

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I don’t know about You but, for me – and it seems like for most people I speak with – I would take about 2 vacations a year. Usually one Big one, maybe 2 weeks and if it was to a place I *really* liked, I might go back to that place (location) again. The following year. For example, I have friends and every Thanksgiving, the rent a house for about 10 days to 2 weeks in Kauai and go there. I’m sure you know of friends or families that do a similar thing. I know it was very popular where I grew up for families to rent a house and/or have a second home in Cape Cod, Massachusetts and then would do there every summer.
So, If I were to go on my first trip to Thailand over the Christmas/New Year holidays and love it so much and then share that I will do that, again, next year – people likely would not find that peculiar.
What is DID do after this first trip to Thailand, because I loved it So Much, was I booked another trip for Another 2 weeks there, less than 90 days after returning from my first trip there.
Sure, this was my first big trip over to this “ASIA” place that was indeed quite different from just heading across the border to Canada or Mexico and labeling that as “International Travel”. This was the big time. This was a 12+ hour flight. This was flying over the Pacific Ocean. This was a culture so different that *anything* I had experienced before in North American. I LOVED IT.
So, after less than 3 months back in the US, I was back on a plane and back to Thailand in April of the year. This time to experience the Songkran, “Thai Newyear” a.k.a. Water festival. That I had only heard about up to this point. only seen a few videos and photos. Since experiencing my first one, Youtube is littered with a TON of videos of Songkran but also of the certain type of crazy that occurs in Pattaya for Songkran.
It essentially lasts a full week.
When Songkran is starting anywhere else in Thailand it is in full-swing in Pattaya. If you think you have been to a Songkran water festival in Thailand and you have NOT been to Pattaya for it then you have NOT experienced the most intense/crazy water festival nonsense… E V E R.
For me, at the time, it was AWESOME.
For me, now, its a very cool memory but not something I purposely attend.
In fact, like a lot of expats who like in Thailand, it is something that I purposely Avoid.
You can always get a great deal on condos in Pattaya for the week of Songkran because the guys who live there, get out of town for about 2 weeks around the whole Songkran-week in Pattaya to escape the crazy.
BUT at that time, it was just ONE MORE thing that made Thailand, MY THAILAND… my place to be… my Home.
So, wanted to share a bit about why the heck I chose Thailand and what added to that decision.
Thanks for watching.
Please, SUBSCRIBE, Like ..:: Thumbs Up ::.. and Share
Live the Dream!
~mikes

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Today Gracie and I decided to take a ride north of Cha-Am beach. No real destination. As it came upon us, I decided to head toward the fishing boats. As we got to the first jetty, I started motoring out and realized that with a motorbike you can ride the whole way to the end.
Then, as we were riding I noticed a stature of some kind. I then remembered that I saw “Squid” something on a Google map when I was searching for something a while ago. Sure enough, there are these 2 giant squid at the end of the jetty.

Here’s a link to the Google Map for the Squid Monument: https://goo.gl/maps/1fcVqLgTvkR7y6Vk9

There was a TON of wind and the waves were splashing over the end on the jetty today. I can see why the poor statues are pretty worn and the re-bar is exposed on the extremities of the squid.
Still, it was a cool thing to do to pass the time today.
Thanks for joining in our little adventure.
Live the Dream!
~mikes