Given I have neglected this blog for some months now, I thought you might need something a little more than the normal mundane title to shake you from your torpitude. Hence the somewhat misleading title. Monster and I happened to be in Singapore recently, and after a bit of research decided to stay in the a hotel named "The Scarlet Hotel". It's one of several new boutique hotels in Singapore and was, apart from our taxi drivers having some difficulty finding it, pretty good.
The Scarlet is in fact a converted row of shops that slope gently down a little crescent near the Big Red Pagoda in the Chinese Quarter. The internal walls between the old stores have been knocked out, and hotel rooms installed, creating a rather unusual hotel in which the corridors follow the slightly sloping, slightly curved path of the street outside. Each room is decorated with real attention to detail, the styling being at once evocative of a French palace mixed with modern touches. Its a little hard to describe, but picture brocades and velvets mixed with dark wood and sharp lines. Very cool.
One thing that really impressed me was the room service. We arrived in the early morning, about 3ish, after spending 7 hours on a Tiger flight (not at all fun ... more on this on a later date, but unless you are blessed with very short legs, and I do mean legs no longer than about 6 inches, or have recently escaped from several years incarceration in a mid sized esky, avoid Tiger like you would any other dangerous animal) and ordered some tea from the in-room menu. I was informed over the phone that the bar was closed and they wouldn't be able to mix me a drink. 3 minutes later the concierge called to say they had found someone who knew how to mix drinks and was it OK if they still sent it. Within 15 minutes we were tucking into a rather nice meal, grateful to have escaped bits of card mascarading as food on the air flight. Any hotel that can rustle up a decent meal at that time gets kudos. 
On our first time there we were upgraded from their Deluxe room to an Executive room. Very nice. However, they neglected to tell us this, so on our return trip when we got the room we had booked, a Deluxe room, we were a little confused. The Executive rooms are large and, well, roomy. They are very stylish and ornate. The Deluxe rooms are much smaller and simpler in style. However, they are still pretty comfortable.
One final comment. The staff didn't seem ultra keen to help us haul our luggage down to our room ... so if you do ever decide to stay here (and we would recommend it), make a point of telling the staff you want a porter to take your luggage up ... They might not think of it otherwise.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Red Light District
Friday, June 29, 2007
Now for something a bit more high brow
Too much rank silliness, really. Coffee, safaris and the weather. Nope, today we are posting something a lot more intellectually stimulating. Allow me to recommend to your perusal and careful attention a fascinating article entitled “Why does Fiat Money seemingly work?”. Even if you passionately disagree with the rest of this article, it’s a interesting read.
Now some of you will be wondering what fiat money is. I can see you all now, squinting, head cocked, thinking extra hard, with a little thought bubble above your heads enclosing a picture of a $5 note with 4 wheels and a Fiat badge in the place of queen’s head. Nope. Fiat money or currency, is money which derives its value from the fiat or command of a government or other authority. The dollar bill is a great example of fiat money. As a piece of paper or plastic, pretty much worthless. But valuable because the government says it is.
The article recommended discusses both the origin of the fiat currency, its history, and most significantly, its fragility. In the view of the author it must eventually fail. Here are a few tantalising quotes to whet your whistle (or spike your spyglass if that’s more your thing).
“Since the central bank’s balance sheet is largely composed of government debt, it has an incentive to manage the public’s ‘inflation expectations’ and inflate the currency as inconspicuously as possible.”
“…free market tends to consistently lower the prices of goods and services over time. That is the logical result of increasing productivity. This is why the widely accepted tenet that we "need some inflation of the money supply to enable the economy to grow" is a complete lie.”
“In a nation of debtors, inflation is the politically most palatable form of monetary policy – after all, everybody is focused on the short term (politicians and bureaucrats on their terms of office, consumers on their debt and their desire to buy more things they don’t need with money they don’t have, and so forth). No one considers for a moment, that in the long run, this policy means ruin. Over time, the middle and lower classes will see their real incomes and living standards shrink ever more, while the true beneficiaries of inflation – those who get first dibs on every dollop of newly created fiat money – amass more and more of the wealth that is stolen from its producers by inflation.”Have a read.
Now for the digression. For those of you who are not Christadelphians, this could be a little much. If so, leave me a comment, and I will either explain further or not. Anyways … I’ve always wondered about fiat money. The Lord, in the Olivet Prophecy, told us that the believers would be eating and drinking, buy and selling, oblivious till the very day they were taken away to the judgment seat of Christ. This language has, to me, always implied a time of incredible economic prosperity. Why would the believers be unconscious of the nearness of Christ’s return if the times were bad. Rather, in bad times, the faithful are watching and aware of the need for and the real nearness of Christ. It’s in good times that we forget.
Coupled with my view that Christ would return in prosperous economic times, I feel that the removal of the believers will be marked by the beginning of some very bad times for the world at large … a time of trouble such as never was will dawn. I think that this time arrives when for some reason, and I have no idea about the actual mechanics of this, the world realises that dollars (fiat money) are really worthless. Such a realisation, experienced simultaneously globally, could easily destroy the worlds economy in a matter of days. And the article above shows how this could happen. As the author states
“Government mandated fiat currency simply does not work in the long run. We have empirical evidence galore – every fiat currency in history has failed, except the present one, which has not failed yet.”When then? Soon.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
All Quiet on the Wild Weather Front?
Not! I haven’t posted on this subject for some time, mostly because with the sudden hype storm around global weather patterns triggered by “An Inconvenient Truth”, it seemed a bit a bit of a moot point. Which brings me to another subject. What is a "moot"? I’ve always suspected it was a small but vicious type of canary, typically distinguished by its sepulchral colored plumage. Anyway (awkward pause), this weather we have been having. It continues to be unusual. I’ve be chronicling the strangeness of the weather for some time now (Sept 05, Aug 05, Oct 05, Mar 06, June 06 and, just to be confusing, Jun 06). Here are a few more to add the collection … More records falling.
- Flooding kills 3 in the UK – described as “unprecedented rainfall”
- Indian monsoon leaves over 100 dead
- Storms in Newcastle break 30 year records while break once in a 100 year drought
- Storms in Victoria “worst in 17” years
- Hottest June in history in Greece, hottest Tuesday in 90 years in Bucharest
Friday, June 15, 2007
Safari still all up the "WebURLProtectionSpaceProxyHTTP"
Apple have whipped up a new version of their Safari for Windows browser. This one supposedly resolves a bunch of security issues identified in the first beta release. However, it still doesn't resolve the issues that I am experiencing ... As mentioned in my previous post, the first release Safari asked for authentication to log into the WebURLProtectionSpaceProxyHTTP proxy for any page I go to. And then when I put something in it crashed in a rather ungraceful way.
Well, I've downloaded the new release, version 3.522.12.2, and given it another try ... and magically, with the smoothness and slick presentation I am coming to expect from all Apple software, it crashes again, giving me the following descriptive and helpful error messages (see image right).
To be fair, I notice that the Apple site does say that support for NTLM proxies is still coming.
All the same, for a company that prides itself on the slickness and the ease of use of it's products this is not impressive. And yes, I know this is in beta ... but depending on IE for proxy information when IE is the product you're product is trying to supplant is hardly a winning move. So far, F+. Must try harder.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Safari seems a little lost
OK, I'll be the first to admit that I'm a bit of a closet Apple fanboy. And so the first thing I did this morning on discovering that Apple had released a beta of Safari for Windows, was download and install it. On opening the app, I got the following screen. 
Not the most encouraging of starts, but hey, I'm an optimist, so on we forge.
I did a search on the goog for "WebURLProtectionSpaceProxyHTTP" to find out what sort of a proxy server it was. Nothing comes up. Wow! The Interweb doesn't know about something!
So then, I put in a dummy username and password (yes, I know this probably is something to do with my local proxy, but given Safari wants to send my password in the clear, I want to know what's going on before I click "pwn me"). And here is what I get ...
A bit sad really. Sure, this is a beta. But beta is still the last software phase before a roll out ... The last gasp chance to catch any problems. I can't even get to a web page, let alone browse. One would have thought Apple would have handled the basics, like proxies and passwords. Anyway, let me know what you think and if you have a better experience, great, I'm jealous, now go away.
Other notes: See also this blog from Errata Security, this from Aviv Raff, problems also Slashdotted.
Update: gothick, a poster below, suggested that this might be something to do with an NTLM proxy. If anyone gets any closer to the truth with this, feel free to drop me a comment here. Another thing I've since noted is that when I checked the IP provided, I couldn't get it to didn't resolve.
Update 2: Sufferers ... you are not alone. Snowy_River writes of the same problem on MacRumours. Check out the comments below as well. Anonymous comments that changing the proxy settings in IE affects Safari on restart ... which if true has to be the weirdest coding decision ever ... Apple depending on Microsoft for it's security (proxy) info!
Thursday, May 03, 2007
What sort of Coffee
I'm embarrassed to report that if I were a coffee, I would be an Irish Coffee! Whatever one of those is ... It must be true because I read it on the internet. Doubtless it's based on loads of research, and is the product of a number of large and weighty documents, presented by people in white lab coats with glasses and wise looks on their faces, peer reviewed by experts in the field and blessed by Tibetan monks. Anyway, for what it's worth, here is the formal analysis of my personality ... as a coffee.
Strange note : According to this, I'm not really addicted to coffee.You Are an Irish Coffee
At your best, you are: wild, spontaneous, and outgoing
At your worst, you are: too extreme and reckless
You drink coffee when: you want to keep drinking booze
Your caffeine addiction level: low
Anyway, you can check it out for yourself here (although given it's assessment of me, I wouldn't place any more trust in this than I would the store assistant's assurances that, "No, it really suits you") . If this isn't your cup of tea, have a look at my last coffee related post.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
I've Been Everywhere, Man
Every time I look at my passport I get this kind of warm glow. I open it up and finger
the pages, feeling pleased at the number of stamps and number countries represented inside. Anyway, I was browsing the interweb the other day and came across a tool for mapping where one has been. So I did. And now I feel defeated. So many countries, so little money.
Anyway, you can create your own here. Have go, and I hope your map looks even more miserable than my own ;)
PS Drop me a comment, and let me know the coolest place you have ever been. If I get enough comments, I will post a list of them.
Friday, April 20, 2007
Making Perfect Milk with Miss Silvia
Actually, the perfect bit was just a hook. I'm not at all confident that I am yet making perfect milk with my Rancilio Silvia, but I thought that I would write down some of the things I'm doing in my pursuit of a better cup of coffee. This article is probably of little interest to those who don't like coffee, so I won't feel offended if you push off at this point ... honest.
- The first thing I am doing is trying to give myself a little more steaming time to get the milk right. I keep my milk chilled and the milk jug in the freezer. I reckon this gives me a few extra seconds to get the milk right before it's "cooked".
- Next, I am making sure that the steam is dry before starting steaming. At some point after flicking the steam switch on and before the heating light has gone off, I am turning the steam handle and letting it run into a spare jug or cup. I do this till the steam runs dry.
- Once the steam light is off, I am pouring my milk into the jug I have just removed from the freezer and beginning steaming. To start with I steam to get as much volume as possible while not letting the bubbles get too big. I'm aiming to have the steam wand just below the surface so it makes a sort of slurping noise, while having the steam wand at the lower left corner of the jug so that the milk swirls round the jug in a fast whirlpool. If the bubbles start appearing to large, I lower the steam wand a little.
- While doing this I keep my hand under the left hand under the jug to measure the heat. Once it's too hot to touch I assume the milk will be at perfect temperature with another few seconds steaming.
- I am aiming (for a latte anyway) to get milk where the volume has almost doubled, but I can see no visible bubbles. The surface of the milk should have a velvety sheen. If I get these two factors, plus the milk isn't too hot, I figure I have done a good job.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
A Real Coffee Hit
Thursday, March 29, 2007
World's Biggest Cubby House
I've often felt it would be nice to have a little log cabin somewhere, a place to get away from it all. I guess in a way, there is a touch of nostalgia in the idea of the log cabin, looking back to those fantastic autumn days building a cubby house or a tree hut. However, this gentleman has taken it to an ridiculous (and totally awesome) extreme, as reported in the Daily Telegraph! Rather than bearing any resemblance to a tree house or cubby, this more closely resembles Sarumon's Tower in Mordor, picked out in timber. Awesome. Actually, the other thing this reminds me off is the Bell Tower in Perth ... or as I like to call it, the Hell Tower. Putting WA on the map (for amazingly sinister architecture).Footnote: No picture for the cubby as I am confident that the picture out on the web is owned by the Telegraph. Let me know if you find a good picture of this so I can post one.
Also, if you got here looking for the world's largest house, follow the link.
Friday, March 23, 2007
The Bible on a Budget
As many of you will be aware, E-Sword is a fabulous tool for Bible Study, and is made even more fabulous by its free-ness. The free modules available with E-Sword are what puts it in a league of its own, many of these being costlessly available on the E-Sword site itself. However, for those of you looking for a little more, I thought I would give you the list of a few of the additional modules that I have found on my travels - the ones that I really like.
- TDNT - For those of you with no memory for acronyms, this is the Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. It's an abbreviated version, sadly, but a good start all the same.
- TWOT - Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament - This is the gold standard dictionary for Old Testament words. It's keyed to Brown Driver Briggs, so you will need that first. For this one, you will need to sign up for an account at DNSPAD.com and then, once logged in navigate to the Downloads section and from thence down to E-Sword Dictionaries. Get this one!
- Strongs with Tenses - Again, this one is to be found on DNSPAD.com. Navigate as for TWOT.
- Amplified Bible - A free version. The one on E-Sword is not free.
- Rotherham's Emphasized Bible - For those of you who want a version you can really get your teeth into.
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Diving into the Blue
I think I mentioned that while on our honeymoon, we went diving. In fact, we learnt to dive and got our divers licenses (there's a joke lurking somewhere in this but I will refrain). We did our divers course in 3 days with 1 day spent in the swimming pool of a local resort (there were some very surprised swimmers as we popped up from the deep), and 2 days of boat dives. Actually the pool wasn't very deep. Less than 6 foot at the deepest point. This made the whole diving thing a little tricky, as every time we plunged into the not so murky chlorinated depths we hit the bottom.
Our 2nd and 3rd days were fantastic. Exhausting but fantastic. We had an early start, catching a big catamaran to Koh Tao, a smaller island ideal for diving. The boat trip took about 1.5 hours each way and this provided time for us to review the theory that we had had to study the previous evening. On the final day, on the return trip we did the theory test for our Padi Open Water Diver tickets, which was an excellent use of time. The only tricky thing about doing it on a catamaran was that that particular trip was quite rough. Consequently, Mr Heroic (me) got sea sick. It's a touch distracting needing to race outside for fresh air every few minutes while trying to take an academic exam. Still, the Madeline Barnes, our instructor was brilliant and we can highly recommend the company that ran our dive course, Searobin. The course was very time efficient, and we felt like we had the complete, undivided and supportive attention of our instructor.
Diving off Koh Tao was great. Our first dive was just off the island. When we arrived at the island, we boarded our dive boat and were dropped near the beach. We did the dive and finished on the edge of the beach and walked up the sand to the island restaurant for lunch.
Our second dive was in much deeper water and was a lot more fun. The dive boat was shared with a Japanese company, and for some reason they had preferential treatment, making the decision as to where would dive. This wasn't too much of a problem though, as they were keen to dive at cool places.
On the second day of boat dives, we again did the first dive in shallowish water (less than 10m) due to having to finish a lot of the practical material for our PADI tickets.The second dive was to have been off Sail Rock but sadly, the boat broke down before it picked us up after lunch. We could see it just 15 metres away over the water from the jetty, but no boat, no dive. Eventually it arrived, wheezing and literally fountaining oil from a hole in the engine. One of the boat staff sat in the engine bay and poured more oil in the top while the other drove us just a little way from the jetty for our final dive.
Overall, we had a fantastic experience and loved every minute of it. Well, apart from trying to find masks that worked for us. Neither of us could find a mask that fitted perfectly, so we spent some of our time each dive clearing them. All the same, to see another world like that and to realise afresh the brilliance, versatility and sheer creative genius of the our God was a great experience. Can't wait till we can dive without all the Scuba Gear.
Friday, December 15, 2006
White Noise
OK, so when I left you in the lurch with this long winded and needlessly wordy story, we were in Vietnam, enjoying the amazing scenery of Halong Bay ... Actually, here is a photo that I took while on Halong Bay, from the deck of our Junk, the inaccurately named Jewel of the Bay.
After enjoying the bay, we returned to harbour and then were driven back to Hanoi. We spent a day shopping in Hanoi (actually looking for shops would be a more accurate description. Hanoi, being a Communist city in a Communist state, hides its shops, disguising them from the enemy eg me) and then back on the plane to Bangkok (just for a change). From Bangkok we switched planes and flew through the night down to Melbourne.
Of course this all sounds straight forward but glosses over the 2 uncomfortable hours spent on a park bench on a crowded Vietnamese harbourside, waiting for a bus to show up in the sweltering midday sun, an altercation with a would be extortionist bike taxi driver and the frantic race through the airport to catch the plane in Bangkok due to delays exiting the plane from Vietnam. Still, all good to have a laugh about later. Or not.
Now, about this stage you are either saying "I am sick of this honeymoon, and it's old news anyway" or "Why call this post 'White Noise'?" To the former I say, "May your olives drop off" (an ancient Hebrew curse that is all bark and no bite to those of us without olive trees) and to the later, "I'm glad you asked."
Once in Melbourne, we got through customs, exited the airport, picked up a car (managed to scam a racier vehicle than we payed for ... Yep a pumping 4 cylinder internal combustion engine rather than a 3 cylinder goat powered go cart I had payed for), did some shopping, dropped through a friends house to pick up a snow board and then off to Bright. For we are snowbound, hence the title. OK, I admit it. I'm tired and can't think of anything better to name this post. Go away.
By the time we arrived in Bright, I had been awake for something like 30+ hours (all day in Hanoi, all night on the plane, all the next day and then driving till about 12pm to get to Bright). At Bright, the directions I had been given to our chalet suddenly stopped making sense and we drove in circles, bewildered and dazed like a bird whose lost and is driving his car in circles, until I was pulled over by the Highway Patrol. The officer was probably fairly surprised to have someone so abjectly happy to be pulled over at 1am ... Luckily he knew our way, and soon after, so did we.
So we stopped for one night in the Buckland Valley just outside Bright in this little chalet. 
Its one of 4 obsessively German, beautifully appointed chalets. Modern minimalist interiors, fantastic views and great design. Nice for couples, not so good for families - ours, at least, had only one bedroom and one bed.
Next morning, after a bit of a recovery sleep in, we rose and headed in to town, picked up some snow gear (I bought my beautiful wife a snow jacket) and then headed for the hills.
The ski season at Mount Hotham this year was disappointing, but we still had a great time. My wife had never been snowboarding before, so it was all new to her. I found it a little more difficult as all the runs that I wanted to do were closed due to poor cover. Still, we had a great time.
To keep the consistency of this chronicle of ours, I include a shot of the place we stayed at while at Mount Hotham, the brand new Chalet Hotham. More precisely, a shot out the window towards the ski run. For those of you famailiar with Hotham, the Summit run in on the left there, Heavenly Valley on the right and just below our field of view (somewhere nestled amongst the cushions, is the Basin Run.
Commanding fantastic views out over the Mount Hotham and being situated literally, a slip, a swift slide, and solid thump at the end from the start of several good runs at Mount Hotham, this place couldn't be situated better.
Anyway, we spent 5 days, up the mountain, loving every minute of it. Well, apart for the acute pain brought on by a hard days snowboarding ;)
Well, gotta go. Said enough for tonight. Loads of love to everyone. Or not.
Monday, October 16, 2006
A Load of Junk
Where then? Back on another plane, through Bangkok (actually in all, we went through Bangkok 4 times) to Vietnam. Flew in Hanoi late in the evening, caught a taxi into the city and stayed the night at one of the world's ugliest hotels. The Hotel Melia looks, from the outside, much like one of those blue, red and white woven plastic bags vagrants use when collecting cans from bins ... Classy! Inside the decor is even more horrific, managing to mix ugly extravagance with chaotic bad taste almost effortlessly. Impressive. 
Next morning we caught a bus to Halong bay and spent two nights out on the bay sleeping on a junk. The accomodation was a little more rustic than some of our other digs during our honeymoon, but not appalling. There were a total of 10 guest (including us) on the boat, and 5 staff, so we were pretty well looked after
And the bay is absolutely ravishing. Hundreds of small but precipitous limestone islands jutting out of the sea. Absolutely fantastic ...
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
It's Been A While
I promised I would inform you of our next destination, yet somewhere along the way, everything got a bit busy and the rest of the story got postponed. The next destination was ... Thailand again. We headed back up to Bangkok and from there hopped on a little plane down to Koh Samui.
Koh Samui is a small island in the Thai sea. Lots of white sand, palm trees and very blue water. Nice. We stayed at this little place. Actually, this could be a photo of our ... not sure what to call it ... hut, chalet, compound. Called the Sala Samui and highly recommended if you're anywhere in the vicinity, or even amywhere within say 10 hours flying..
This hotel is built on a little beach with 5 or 6 restaurants on the beach front and little else. During the day one can swim in one of the hotel's pools, swim in your own pool, or even throw caution to the wind and swim in the sea. Alternatively, one can lounge on the beach, have a massage (not quite as relaxing as it sounds, I found. Thais seem to see massage more as a full contact sport or an opportunity to take revenge for some imagined grudge), or sit in a restaurant and drink cold cokes or bad coffee. In the evening, the restaurants put little tables out on the beach, and you can spend a very romantic evening eating great Thai food while wriggling your toes in the sand.
While here we spent a lot of time on the beach and the rest of the time learning to Dive. We did our Padi Open Water Diver certificates which was fun but utterly exhausting.
So all in all, this place was probably the highlight of the honeymoon. Well for me anyway. And then on to ...
Stay posted ;)
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Next Hot Commodity? Arabica Coffee Beans
Forget oil! New York, home of the $4 cup of coffee, may be where the commodity gets its next price jolt. Prices for arabica coffee beans on the New York Board of Trade could climb more than 20 percent in the next 12 months and outperform some of this year's best commodities investments, including copper and silver.
read more | digg story
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
In Need of Some Renovation
From Bangkok we flew off to Cambodia, Siem Reap to be precise. Flew in through the evening deluge, walked in through the gates of their brand new and very cool International Airport, and were picked up by limo service ... oh and my wife was almost crushed by a falling tree ... same old, same old.
Anyway, stayed at the Hotel de la Paix. Definitely the most mod, funky, cool, art deco, cool, funky, mod hotel we've ever stayed in (but I repeat myself). Ipods in every room, wireless internet, hanging table swings in the outdoor restaurant, and bowls of fire at night.
And why come to Siem Reap, we hear you breathlessly query? You may well ask. Temples. Big ones, little ones, old ones, new(er) ones, treesy ones, ones with big Buddhas, ones with Buddha masquarading as Vishnu the Hindu Everything god, ones with Vishnu cunningly disguised as Buddha ... Angkor Wat is huge and awesome, Bayon with its serene Buddhas is cool, and Ta Promh (the Jungle Temple) was our favourestmostest. It looks like Mansions of the Gods in Asterix (for you lovers of fine literature) ... As if the marauding jungle has just eaten the Temple. Trees grow out of roofs, through walls, around stairways, as little by little, the jungle reconquers its own territory.
Spent two days touring the temples with our own private guide (thank you Samnang) and then ... on to our next destination ...
Monday, July 31, 2006
A Room with a View
We left Margaret River behind us, and drove back through the rain to Perth. We stopped for the night at a little place called The Outram (thank you JL for putting me on the track with this one). Little as in only 18 rooms, but very funky and nice. We mentioned to the Concierge (who later turned out to be the owner) that we would be leaving at the crack of dawn, and he arranged for a couple of choccy brownies and lattes to be delivered at 5am. Nice touch!
Then down to the airport for a flight to ... Bangkok (and yes, we know that some of you are not surprised. Well done!) Spent 3 nights at another little hotel called the Sofitel Silom. Think a room 300m plus up in the air with a wife who is scared of heights! We were on the 26th floor in room 2607 and there were another 12 floors to go till you hit the top. Got upgraded to a very nice room with an awesome view, and what with the included breakfast (read 'feasting session'), did quite nicely (read 'fatly'), thanks.
Day 1 - Shopping at the Happy Birthday King of Thailand 20 - 60% Off Sales (I think that's what they were. Not real good at reading Thai script yet.)
Day 2 - The markets ... A gazillion little booths selling everything from fairy lights to oil paintings. Loads of fun, in a very "I'm so lost and can't speak the language" way.
Day 3 - Went to the Blue Elephant for a course in Thai Cuisine. Took a tour of a Thai market, watched 5 cooking demonstrations and cooked Phad Thai, Green Curry Chicken, Tom Yam Soup and had heaps of fun. Tasted fantastic! Incidentally, the Blue Elephant Restaurant and School in Bangkok is in this very cool, colonial style building that looks like it washed ashore back 2 centuries ago and somehow became trapped amongst the highrise and sky ways of Bangkok. Weird.
Saturday, July 29, 2006
Got Married
This post is for those of you who know us ... So the rest of you, keep moving, nothing to see here, OK. 
Anyway, as you know (and as already noted, if you didn't already know this, this post is not for you so saddle up and move on, pardner), we got married recently. As in very recently. So we are currently on our honeymoon and thought some of you might like to know where we got to. While attempting to keep somewhat of a shroud over proceedings, our honeymoon is going great! Our first couple of nights were spent here, and while it bills itself as an "Eco Resort" there aint nothin eco about it. Not ecological (not a greenie in sight as burnt our way through excessive quantities of old growth logs on the big wood fire) or economical (wince) ... Still, very very nice ... Think big wood fire, low lighting, spa, candles, hammock and listening to the rain in the forest outside and no one else in sight ... Priceless.
We then headed down to Margaret River for a few days. Stayed at this place for those of you who care. You know how some places look better in the advertising than in real life? Not so this place. The pictures are pretty accurate ... except for the somewhat middle aged looking couple in the spa ... No middle aged couple in the spa in our lodge anyway. If there had been we would have had to ask them to leave I think.
Again, think fireplaces, rammed earth, big spa under a huge sky light, in easy driving distance of about a brazillian wineries, cheese factories and other culinary emporiums. And did I mention the spa?
OK. Enough for one day I think. I'll drop you all a note later. Hope you are all jealous ;)
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
The New Blak
Despite the fact that I am reliably informed that pewter is the new black, while black is the new grey (ok, I have no idea what that means either), Coke is forging on with their release of Coke Blak (I guess a label like Coke Pewter might be a bit much to swallow). Just thought you would want to know ... especially after I told you about it months ago here.
