They Don't Call It A Zoo For Nothing

As Close as I got to the Taipei Zoo

I am in the process of repacking for my trip back to Phuket from Taipei. It has been a good trip here and I have been glad to have made the stop-over. Unfortunately the last day has not worked out as planned. I had headed out early to go to the Taipei Zoo, to see the Panda's that are housed there as a diplomatic gift from China. Over my morning coffee I had read that the city has been crazy for the past 2 days with gridlock traffic on the freeways, and public attraction sites, including the zoo have been swarmed to capacity.

On my ride on the Metro, a fore teller of events to follow, I found a new definition for snuggling, as I found myself in a very very packed metro rail line car.

Kung Hsi Fa Tsai From Taipei

I am working my way back to Phuket, after a very busy, productive 2 weeks in Canada. I arrived here in Taipei at the start of the Chinese New Year. Then title of this blog is to wish you a Happy Chinese New Year for the year of the Rabbit.

As I sit in my hotel room, the streets are exploding with fireworks and fire crackers.

Moving to Rawai

After 10 months in Chalong, we decided to move further south on the island of Phuket to the community of Rawai. It is almost a flip move being about the same distance from the traffic cericle in Chalong to the south , as we were to the north. Access to our usual markets, the vet and shops are actually closer!

While we liked the house in Chalong, the issue was more to do with the landlord relationship.

Welcome Sweden

Welcome to the newest country viewer to the blog from Sweden! You are the 20th country where this blog is viewed! Thank you for visiting!

The Essential Snake Book

Having come here, we were aware that there are a large variety of snakes. I am not a particular fan, but with the sunshine, beaches and food, must come some balance, so snakes and spiders are just part of the trade off. While we had a book on the animals of Thailand, the section on snakes contains about 16 photographs. I have seen about 4 now, and none of them were in the book. I have also tried to look them up on the internet, but the phrase long, brown snake Thailand is not a very well defined search parameter it seems.

In a previous posting I recalled Grace and her snake chasing (What was that?). We have been very careful about the dogs and snakes as we have heard,  about dogs being bitten and dying instantly. Clive even went on-line and researched how to treat a snake bite in the event he ever had to deal with it. For those not caught up to the current practices, or you heard one too many jokes about a snake bite and sucking out the poison.

A New Year Begins-Reflections of 2010

It is perhaps the time of the year that nostalgia takes root and we find the time to reflect on the past year. This has been particularly true here, as the past 2 days have  been the most quiet since we came here. Even the moo shop is closed. New Years day it seemed like the world had stood still. No neighbor scrub boarding clothes at 630 in the morning. No motorbikes zipping up and down the moo at 7AM. The Burmese work camp was silent, and remained so for the next 24 hours. The reasons probably clear enough as I had seen them out with cheap whiskey and Leo beer and an amplifier at 3AM and they looked like they still had a few hours of dancing left in them.

New Years Eve in Phuket

Deb, Blaze and Gary Set Off Their Floating Lantern

It has been many, many years since we went out for New Years eve celebrations. With company here visiting from Canada, and at the invitation of our friends Deb, Gary and their son Blaze, we decided to venture out to see what it would be like for New Years in Phuket. From having often gone to bed before it was actually midnight, we went to seeing midnight in and then spent a few more hours celebrating. I was the designated driver, so I choose to bloat myself on Coca Cola instead.