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Post by spindrift on Dec 28, 2009 15:50:55 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Dec 28, 2009 16:14:53 GMT
Thanks for this, spindrift! Love to hear more about your journey.
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Post by spindrift on Dec 28, 2009 16:31:27 GMT
Deyana - nice to see you again! I'm busy re-sizing my pictures and have an interesting story to tell!
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Post by imec on Dec 28, 2009 16:39:05 GMT
Oh, now this is gonna be good! Great start spindrift - looking forward to all of this!
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Post by spindrift on Dec 28, 2009 17:59:16 GMT
My girlfriend (we'll call her 'J') met me at Phuket airport which is situated in the north of the island. She lives in the south-east at Chalong Bay. She seemed delighted to see me and whisked me off to her house Now is as good a time as any to show you pictures of her house and garden ~ My bedroom - please excuse the mess but at the time I was packing to leave The house was roasting hot. Only 2 bedrooms had aircon and there were no ceiling fans. As I was there during the winter season I cannot begin to imagine how hot it must be in summer before the monsoon starts. Considering that there was no vegetation at all when J bought the property eighteen months ago, the new plants have grown at a tremendous rate and look very pretty. This house is in a gated-community not far from the sea but it's in the middle of nowhere so, without a car or scooter, it's difficult to move around.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 28, 2009 18:57:26 GMT
Beautiful house, but gated community? I am anxiously awaiting photos of your empty plate. I love the way the 'rehabilitation centre' is so prominent on the map. Must be important!
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Post by imec on Dec 28, 2009 19:52:50 GMT
What a beautiful house spindrift!
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Post by Deleted on Dec 28, 2009 20:14:05 GMT
Am so looking forward to Spindrift. Am highly amused as well by map with rehab center clearly designated Climate so similar to NOLA . Am anxious to see the flora.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 28, 2009 20:16:25 GMT
Of course, it is only for criminal gibbons. They take the people to the mainland, probably.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 28, 2009 20:22:17 GMT
Of course, it is only from criminal gibbons. They take the people to the mainland, probably. AH......yes,have one here on North Shore.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 28, 2009 21:45:10 GMT
What a lovely house, do many people have swimming pools in their back yard, Spindrift?
Your friend has done really well with all the plants in such a short time.
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Post by cristina on Dec 28, 2009 21:57:21 GMT
Beautiful house and garden, Spindrift.
Is air conditioning uncommon in middle-upper income housing?
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Post by spindrift on Dec 28, 2009 23:07:46 GMT
When I say 'gated community' I mean that there is only one entrance into the housing estate (which is surrounded by high walls) and this is guarded by two security people at all times. I do not know why more aircon wasn't provided. In each room there was an option to have ceiling fans fitted but my friend does not like fans. She kindly bought me an electric fan that I kept near my bed and used all night. It was stiflingly hot when one had to keep the screen doors closed to deter the most enormous mosquitoes I've ever seen. It is a great-looking house but unfortunately lacked some things that I would consider necessary. For instance there was only provision for cold water in all the sinks including the kitchen sink and no dishwasher or washing machine. I think it would be impossible to install them because the houses are not on mains water supply and the septic tanks are too small. I can foresee problems arising. Although the houses have 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms and are quite spacious I think it was a mistake to cram them so close together thereby leaving little or no room for a swimming pool if one also wanted some garden or more privacy. We were also subjected to our neighbours noise for they tended, during the evenings, to live outside with doors and windows open with predictably high levels of music, conversation and infants' wailing. Luckily there were no barking dogs to disturb our nights. I expect to hear noise when I visit Asia and indeed the Phuket noise levels were as nothing compared to those of India but my friend had 6 sleepless nights due to celebrations in the local temple (half a mile away) in honour of the King's birthday. I expect this lack of sleep contributed to her gradually increasing nervous state when she could no longer bear to be near anyone including me But we haven't reached this part of the story yet. I thought her garden was well-designed and remarked upon it. Apparently in Phuket it's the norm to be able to choose and buy any tree at any size, when they are then dug-up and planted in your garden at an exoribitant price. She spent a lot of money on her garden and it made an enormous difference.
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Post by bixaorellana on Dec 29, 2009 7:24:23 GMT
Oh Spindrift! I am off to bed but I'm so glad I found this gem of a thread. It's classic wonderful Spindriftian reporting, and I'm eagerly awaiting more of this story. The house & garden are quite beautiful. The situation with water, amenities, etc. you describe is very familiar to me. For instance, I have a washing machine, but they certainly don't come with the house, nor does one ever expect houses to be plumbed for a washer. (mine is on wheels, & has separate washing and wringing drums) After experiencing the noise at your friend's, you will appreciate the many times I've commented on how quiet it is where I live. Can't wait to see how this situation evolves!
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Post by bazfaz on Dec 29, 2009 12:46:07 GMT
The house loks nice inside. It is a shame they are all crammed so close together.
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Post by spindrift on Dec 29, 2009 17:13:05 GMT
I'm sorry to keep you all waiting but I've had a houseguest for 2 days and I'm out at a party tonight...so I'll get busy later. ;D
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Post by Deleted on Dec 30, 2009 1:33:06 GMT
Spindrift,please do when you are relaxed and ready.
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Post by tillystar on Dec 30, 2009 9:49:20 GMT
Oh I have been waiting for this. Can't wait to see more when you are ready
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Post by bazfaz on Dec 30, 2009 12:33:56 GMT
Spindrift should stop making excuses and get on with posting. I may have to threaten her with a spanking.
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Post by spindrift on Dec 30, 2009 17:41:56 GMT
You know I had my tooth extracted this afternoon Don't be mean to me
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Post by Deleted on Dec 30, 2009 17:53:52 GMT
What does that have to do with your typing and your uploading?
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Post by bazfaz on Dec 30, 2009 21:48:15 GMT
Who says spanking is being mean?
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Post by hwinpp on Jan 4, 2010 6:38:45 GMT
More pics, SD!
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Post by spindrift on Jan 5, 2010 23:10:54 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jan 5, 2010 23:47:49 GMT
My goodness,a real paradise there...your "friend"going to the hotel daily to sit in the shade reminds me of some character,in a Paul Theroux novel or maybe even Tennessee Williams,Truman Capote... Is indeed a lotus...post bloom. I love the pods every bit as much as the blooms... The mynahs are wonderful.I went through a brief tropical bird phase which I'll tell some other time. I just could not deal with the captivity thing. Great post Spindrift,thank you,look forward to more.
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Post by spindrift on Jan 5, 2010 23:56:56 GMT
On one day J daringly drove me to the other side of the island which entailed driving over a steep hill and down the other side. It was a very wide road with at least 3 lanes but she's a cautious person, nervous really. On arrival at Kata Beach she settled down into an uncomfortable wooden chair, well we all did, under an umbrella and ordered tea. Three Australia men in their fifties couldn't take their eyes off J's beautiful daughter but this made J very cross. The very presumption of debauced-looking men presuming to ask her daughter to dinner! my word.The daughter went off in one direction to look at the beach and I went off in another to take photos and J remained at the table looking very dull and schoolmarmish. Kata Beach is horribly crowded and commercialised, I woudln't go there by choice; I took these pictures. Boat rides were offered everywhere. Tempting to some but not to me. The December seas were not calm and idyllically blue, they were choppy and greyish green. That's the sort of beach that's a nightmare to me. It is long and crowded with four or five rows of beach beds & umbrellas laid out. Everyone is watching everyone else. There is no sense of relaxation or ease. You have the foreign men looking at/for Thai women and even if they're sitting on the beachbeds with them they are still looking at women. I got the feeling that everyone was on the make and I bet the town strip behind the beach would be 'jumping' at night and noisy as anything. I was very pleased when it was time to leave and go home.
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Post by spindrift on Jan 6, 2010 0:01:47 GMT
Casimira - I'll find a pic of a lotus pod tomorrow. I didn't know what it was until you described it above I've taken hundreds of pictures so there's a lot to look forward to and my message to become crystal clear. What message? I hear you ask
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 6, 2010 5:48:46 GMT
This is a fascinating story, Spindrift, and your pictures are great, as usual. Your mind must have been teeming with questions you couldn't ask, such as why, since she had enough money to stay in a fancy hotel for a year, would she buy a house with no pool and too close to the neighbors.
I'm afraid that, thanks to HW, when I looked at the second photo in Reply #23, all I could think was, "Ooo ~~ wonder how those water lily stalks would taste!"
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Post by Deleted on Jan 6, 2010 5:57:35 GMT
So many spots in Thailand have been "ruined" by tourism. And yet what is ruined for some of us is considered to be a paradise by so many others. Mingling with as many other people as possible (future sexual partners?) is the main attraction for a lot of these holidaymakers -- the same as on the Mediterranean coast.
But your photos do not manage to make it all look ugly, Spindrift -- you'd have to go photograph some of those back street bar scenes for that!
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Post by bazfaz on Jan 6, 2010 10:02:57 GMT
Like you, Spindrift, I find beaches like that an abomination.
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