Today I say goodbye to my friends and KTBR.  I will definitely miss this place.  On the one hand I wish I didn't have to go, but on the other hand I am glad to be seeing my friends in Penang today and I am glad to be one step closer to home.  Yesterday I took some pictures with some of my yonger friends.



From left to right is Mam, Kung, Nok, Me, Bee, and Kang (hopefully I spelled the names right).  They are all full of questions about when will I be back and telling I need to come back soon.  ...
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There was quite some excitement going on around here today, but I'll get to that in a moment.  I woke up today feeling much better.  I wasn't completely hungry, but I knew I needed to eat something.  So I forced myself to eat some breakfast.  Everybody was very glad to see me up and eating.  In the early afternoon I decided to lay by the pool and read my book.  As I am reading out of the corner of my eyes I see one of the cooks walking from the front of the hotel to the back where the restaur...
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The past 2 days I have been mai sa bai which means not okay.  The other night around dinner time I started getting ready to go eat some dinner.  As I was getting ready I was thinking about what I wanted to eat.  Strangely though nothing was sounding good to me.  I thought maybe I was getting sick of Thai food so I started thinking about food from home and surprisingly none of that sounded good either.  Next thing you know I felt a rumble in my stomach and I make a mad dash for the toilet.  I ...

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Last night I was given a short (very short) lesson of Thai.  I was taught how to ask "how are you?" and how to answer the question.  This morning I put my new knowledge to work and it has paid off already.  One of the cook's does not speak any English and so we have never really talked other than pointing at the menu.  This morning we had a actual conversation (sure it wasn't very long, but it is a start).  I asked her how she was in Thai and she answered back with a smile.  Then I noticed my...
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2 weeks from today I will be at home with my family preparing for the holidays.  I have been away now for 2.5 months.  It has gone by so fast and I will be home before I know it.  Then before too long this will all seem like a distant memory.  Like it happened in another lifetime.  I have really enjoyed my time traveling especially the last month here in Krabi.  I have definitely made some friends here that I plan to see again and again throughout my life.  In fact they told me if I wanted to...

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Following lunch today I relaxed in the jacuzzi.  After awhile I could see the storm clouds rolling in.  I wasn't ready to get out yet so I gambled and stay in the jaccuzi.  Then when I thought the clouds couldn't get any more evil looking I headed in.  Just in time too as it started to rain heavily before I even got to my room.  Then within minutes the lightning and thunder rolled in.  It was quite a storm that last most of the night.  I snuck out to the front restaurant during the storm and ...
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Today has been another ordinary day here in Krabi.  I woke up and had breakfast.  I went for my morning kayak along the south coast.  I spent a good amount of time talking with a few of my friends here.  For lunch I was treated to another local meal.  I had red curry with chicken and mushrooms.



It was accompanied with steamed rice and something that was like a Thai tuna with vegetables.



You take the Thai tuna and mix it with the vegetables and steamed rice.  For dessert I had mango slices cooke...
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After being shown how to cook a couple of dishes the last few nights I was put to the test last night.  Last night I was told I would cook Phad See-Ew all by myself.  So I stepped into the main kitchen in the back restaurant and cooked.



Of course they were there next to me offering me some guidance along the way, but I did all the cooking and some of the prep work.  When I was done this is what I made.



My first ever Phad See-Ew and it was "aroi mak mak" which means too delicious.  It was actual...
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Last night I was taught how to cook another one of my new favorite dishes.  The other night I learned how to cook Phad Si Eiw which is a noodle dish.  Last night I learned to cook Phad Si Eiw Lad Na or Lad Na which is a variety of Phad Si Eiw.  This dish is different as it is basically Phad Si Eiw, but why a gravy on top.  The gravy gives it a completely different flavor.  You cook it very similar to Phad Si Eiw.



Now I know how to cook 2 of my favorite Thai dishes.  I am very excited to try th...
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Yesterday was another relaxing day here in Krabi.  I did a lot of reading as I was trying to keep my foot dry.  I was treated to another new local meal for lunch.  We had rice salad with chicken and chicken soup.



Pictured above is the rice salad.  You just mix all the stuff and eat.  It is kind of like fried rice except the rice if not fried.  It is just steamed rice that is mixed with anchovy sauce giving it the brownish color like fried rice.  It was okay.  I am not a huge fan of anchovy fla...
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Yesterday a few of my friends here had the day off.  So they invited me to go along with them to a few local tourist spots.  I went with the cook of the front restaurant, her husband, one of the reception ladies, her husband, and two little daughters.  I was told we were going to the hot springs, but what I found out by the end of the day was that we were actually going to many more places.  We went to the Emerald Pool, the hot springs, the Krabi Passenger Port, and to Tiger Cave.  It was a v...
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This morning I got up early and went to the big local morning market in Krabi Town (which is the main town and therefore market of the area).  I was invited and accompanied by the owner and the main cook.  They were going to do there weekly shopping for the hotel restaurants.  The market is huge.



This picture only shows about 1/3 of the market.  The market has everything you could possible need to cook and more.  It is like a giant grocery store, but the individual products are not owned and s...
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I have shown you the trees that seem to live in the middle of the ocean during high tide.  Here is another picture of the trees during low tide.



You see how shallow the water is and how many rocks there are everywhere along the coast.  During low tide one day I decided to walk throught the trees.  Doing so I found the little island to be filled with these guys.



These little crabs were everywhere on the island and that is an understatement.  Whenever I moved near them they ducked into their hole...

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The past couple of days have been like reruns of my favorite TV show.  I have not seen or done anything new, but I have enjoyed doing things I have already done.  I have been eating good meals, kayaking, swimming, and reading or watching movies when it rains.  I have made a couple of new friends.  This is my friend who I always run into at the back restaurant.



This is the momma cat.  She always comes up to me when I eat at the back restaurant.  She will start headbutting me or meowing at me to...
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Lately I have been eating one delicious meal after another.  There is definitely no shortage of good food here.  While waiting for breakfast I watched the mom cat play with her 2-month old kitten.



Everyone here calls the cats "Meow."  Somehow I don't think that is Thai for cat, but that seems to be the what they call them.  Every morning I watch these two play and interact with each other.  They are so cute.  Today I had my other usual breakfast, the "American" breakfast.



It starts with a bowl ...
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Well you can't control the weather.  It rained on and off all afternoon so I didn't get to go to the market today.  Fortunately I still have plenty of time to go to the market another time.  Although in the end it didn't matter anyways as I soon learned I was not going to the market anyways today.  Today there was a birthday at the hotel.  One of the girls was turning 25 today and they were celebrating her birthday all day today.  So as I emerged downstairs today around lunch the cook was tel...

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After going to town for some art supplies for Mae I went to have lunch at my new favorite restaurant out front of the hotel.  After the best cook in town is out front and it is cheaper than eating in the back.  Usually when I go to eat I kind of let them decide for me what I am going to eat.  Sometimes they make me something new and sometimes they give me the  option of a few dishes.  Today for lunch the cook asked if I wanted Phad Si Eiw (because I wanted it last night, but she was out of th...
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Today began like every other day.  I got up relaxed in bed for a little bit while reading my book.  After a while I got up and worked out a little bit.  Then I cleaned up and had breakfast.  When I finished breakfast I went for my usual morning kayak along the southern coastline.  It was high tide so the water was a little more active than normal.  I got in the kayak and started heading south.  After about a half mile I noticed that there were a lot of storm clouds in the sky (actually I noti...
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Last night I was invited to the nightly "family" dinner that the staff always has.  The owner asked me if I would like to join them.  Of course I accepted her offer.  We sat out front at the other restaurant where two ladies were cooking up a storm.  To start we had fried zucchini and a shrimp/chili sauce.



The sauce smelled bad and tasted even worst.  You couldn't smell it from far away so luckily I only took a little bit of the sauce.  It was tasted and smelled like old shrimp that had been g...
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Just the other day I found out the hotel has another restaurant out front.  Actually I am not sure if the hotel owns it or if one of the employees of the hotel owns it.  I had seen it before, but they just opened it yesterday.  I am not sure why it was closed before.  The cook at the restaurant is one of the cooks from the other hotel restaurant so I know the food will be good.  This new restaurant is more for the locals.  It is along side the road and serves more local food at a cheaper pric...

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Last night I had Thai sweet and sour chicken with steamed rice.



It was very good, but nothing you haven't seen or probably eaten before.  It is your basic sweet and sour chicken, but Thai style so the vegetables are fresh and lightly cooked so they still have a little bit of a crunch to them.  This morning after breakfast I decided to go out kayaking again.  The seas were a bit rougher today making for a wildier and more enjoyable ride.  I have been in much rougher seas in Hawaii so it was dan...
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Today I decided to head to the small nearby tourist town of Ao Nang to do a little souvenir shopping.  I walked around for awhile looking for a container that represented Thailand or Krabi and that I could use to fill with sand from the beach at Krabi Tropical Beach Resort.  Unfortunately Ao Nang is a small town so there is not a lot there.  If I was lucky there would be a Hard Rock Cafe where I could buy a flask that said Ao Nang, Krabi, or Thailand on it, but Ao Nang is way to small for tha...

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So here is what today looked like for me.  It was just another typical day at Krabi Tropical Beach Resort (KTBR).

7am - Woke up
7 to 8:30am - Read my book in bed
8:30 to 9am - Light workout and cleaned up
9am to 10am - Ate breakfast
10 to 11:30am - Kayaking along the coast
11:30 to 12:15pm - Used internet
12:15 to 1:15pm - Read some more on the ocean front balcony
1:15 to 2pm - Ate lunch
2 to 3:45pm - Relaxed in the ocean front Jacuzzi
3:45 to 5:30pm - Read even more
5:30 to 7pm - Watched TV, played com...
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

I just wanted to wish my mom a happy birthday today October 7th (that is the date over here for me).  Mom I hope you have a wonderful birthday today and I can't wait to see you.  Be home soon.

Love,
your son
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So this morning at breakfast I was invited to try a local specialty.  A particular mushroom and pepper that only grows here in the south of Thailand.  I was told to come down around noon for lunch.  So after breakfast I retired to my room to sit on the balcony and read a book.  It was very peaceful and relaxing out there especially with the sights and sounds of the ocean along with the ocean breeze.  So I headed down to the restaurant about noon.  I waited on the deck overlooking the beach wh...
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Today is moving day.  I am moving from my standard room to a deluxe sea view room.  Why?  Because when I booked the hotel they did not have any standard rooms available for the next 5 days so I had to make 3 separate reservations to cover the entire month.  So for the next few days I get to stay in a bigger, nicer room with an ocean view and I can even hear the ocean.  Here is my room.



Here is the view of the balcony from my room.



Once I step onto the balcony I am treated to views like this.



I a...
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Sitting in my room in Indonesia with the click of my mouse I signed away my life for one month.  I booked a one month stay at the Krabi Tropical Beach Resort.  What did I do?  Was I sure about this?  Not at all.  Have you ever gone somewhere, done something, or eaten something and thought to yourself that was great, but then the next time you realized you were just starving or it wasn't as great as you remembered?  Well I was afraid of that here in Krabi.  What if my stay last time just happe...
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Well I finally made it to Krabi Tropical Beach Resort my home for the next month.  During the taxi ride from the airport to the hotel I noticed the driver was going the wrong way.  So I had to tell him how to get to the hotel.  It was kind of funny that I was giving the local taxi driver directions on how to get here.  Once I arrived I was greeted with smiling faces as they were glad to see me again.  I really like this place and I am looking forward to really relaxing over the next month.  T...
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Today was my last day here in Krabi.  After enjoying another delicious breakfast I took out of the free kayaks the resort has to offer.  I kayaked south down to a private little beach.  I walked around the beach looking at shells, sea snails, crabs, and other local wildlife.  It was a nice day.  Warm and not too sunny.  I really enjoyed the kayaking as it was refreshing to get splashed occassionally by the warm waters.  Unfortunately I do not have any pictures to show you as I didn't want to ...
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Today was another great day here in Thailand.  The storm had passed and I awoke to a bright and sunshiny day.  In fact the weather was perfect today.  After breakfast I walked down the beach from the hotel and went to the longtail boat stop.



What is a longtail boat stop?  Well it is the same as a bus stop except instead of waiting for a bus to take you somewhere you wait for a longtail boat to take you somewhere.  Today that somewhere was Railay for me.  I waited about 20 minutes and paid $2 f...
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I don't know how it is possible, but this place just keeps getting better.  And I didn't even do anything new today.  I just had fun and adventure basically repeating my footsteps from yesterday.  So today I got up and had my usual breakfast.  After breakfast I spent the morning on the internet researching my next move after Malaysia.  I then got the free shuttle to Ao Nang so I could take pictures of the pathway I discovered yestersday.  As you can see the weather today started out a bit clo...
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I just can't say enough about this place.  This place is perfect for anyone wanting a relaxing vacation in a tropical beach setting.  Just a few minutes away is Ao Nang which is more lively and there are plenty of tours to do here.  I would not hesitate to come back here by myself, with someone else, or as a family.  This place is perfect for just about everyone and it is cheap.  I pay on average $5-$7 per meal at the hotel and they are filling meals.  I only eat 2 meals a day because they ar...
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Today had to be one of the most random, interesting, and fun days I have ever had in my life.  I got up late and went to breakfast.  While eating breakfast I was joined by my Parisian friends.  We had another wonderful meal together.  I am really getting to like this couple.  They are very nice, friendly, and we get along good.  Today is there last day in Krabi and when I asked what they were going to do today they said that they were going to film a short movie.  They are both artists back h...
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I think the title says it all.  I had another magical day in a magical place.  Each day I fall in love with this place more and more.  This place reminds me a lot of Hawaii, but the locals might be nicer and better looking (on average).  I already told you about my perfect breakfast.  Well after that I went to the town of Ao Nang.  I hung out at the beach for a little over an hour.



I just sat there taking in the breathtaking scenery and the sounds of the ocean with the occasional motoscooter p...
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This place is just so relaxing.  After sleeping in today I got up worked out a little and cleaned u before breakfast.  Breakfast was just perfect.  I had an American style breakfast with eggs, bacon, toast, juice, fruit, etc.  It was just delicious.  But what made it so great was the perfect weather, the wonderful view and the relaxing soundtrack.  I sat at the open air restaurant enjoying my breakfast while looking at the beautiful blue-green ocean with karst style islands in the middle of i...
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Today was such a great and relaxing day.  After checking into heaven I had a wondeful lunch.  Then I watched some American television.  Next I relaxed in the ocean front jacuzzi.  There was a beautiful sunset tonight and it created a nice red sky.  In this picture which I took from the balcony of my room you can see the red in the sky just above the karst mountains.



I also got to see some local wildlife today at the hotel.  This interesting bug was on the screen door of my balcony.



I bet it can...
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Well it rained last night in Phuket and it was raining again this morning in Phuket.  So I knew I made the right choice to leave Phuket early before I even got to Krabi.  The thought of being stuck inside at Phuket was horrible.  I got out just in time.  I am sure there are some very nice places to see in Phuket I just didn't think Patong was one of them.  So I took a nice ride through the jungle and karst mountains to get to Krabi.  If you look closely you can see the morning fog on top of t...
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