Hello again,

I've finally decided to write a report on our trip to Phuket, almost two weeks after we were there.

We flew out of Tokyo on the 22nd of November, with an overnighter at Bangkok airport ahead of us. Fortunately (or maybe not) the flight had a really cool entertainment system so we had a pretty good time on the plane. That also meant we didn't get any sleep like intended. We tried in vain to get some sleep in the airport, but failed for the most part. At 6:30 the next morning we caught the plane into Phuket. The taxi ride across the island to the airport was pretty underwhelming. We really got the impression that the locals live pretty poor lifestyles inland, while the tourists live lives of luxury nearer the coast (which is just what we intended to do!).

Our arrival at the hotel was far from underwhelming. We had been doing all but nothing in our apartment looking forward to that moment for so long. The Hilton Arcadia Resort certainly delivered on the promise. The grounds were epic, and beautifully maintained. There were palm and coconut trees everywhere, with oasis-like swimming pools and restaurants dotted throughout. Unfortunately we had to wait a few hours in the lobby to be let into our room, so we had a drink at the bar, and were shocked at the price. We paid about 6 dollars for an average sized frozen fruit drink thingy. Naturally from that point on we walked down the road to the shops.

Our room was really nice, and we had an amazing view of the Andaman sea. I reckon we almost had the best view in the hotel, from the fourth floor in the building closest to the shore. Sundown was really beautiful over the sea, which was dotted with traditional Thai junks.

On the first day (and indeed the first three) we didn't leave the hotel grounds except to get some food and drink. The onsite swimming pools were beautiful (and free, unlike the beachside loungers) so we just relaxed there reading a book and throwing a ball around in the pool.

It took about three days to discover the markets nearby, and also to discover that we didn't have anywhere enough money to see us through. Thankfully the parents answered the call and sent us a few dollars. We promptly bought them some Christmas presents with their own money!

Our final couple days were a little more action packed, and animal packed. On day 4 we went on a speedboat tour of the Phi Phi islands area. We saw 'The Beach' from the aptly named movie, which was incredibly beautiful and idyllic, but very overcrowded, which made it a slightly strange experience. Swimming out into the bay in crystal clear water was amaing nonetheless. Then we boated around to 'Monkey Beach' where we fed watermelon pieces to the locals, which I loved. A homecoming of sorts maybe. Some people gave them glasses of juice which they seemed to enjoy.

The third stop was the snorkelling island of Khai Nok. Here there were huge coral reefs, which would have been worth looking at alone, but it was the fish that were the highlight. We saw Nemo and all his friends, including a 2 metre long shark, which our tour guide assured us was completely safe to be around. I think it was on the hunt for food because it was darting around really fast, it was pretty exciting. I'm really keen to do more snorkelling now, the underwater world is really strange and fascinating.

The fifth and final day was spent on an elephant trek. We rode aboard a 30 year old female named Lala. The drivers didn't really drive the elephants, but rather just let them do theie own thing, which made it really interesting. We knocked around in pretty thick bush ripping down trees for food and climbing up and down some surprisingly steep inclines. We were fortunate to have a laidback 'driver' who jumped off and took photos of us alone with Lala and on her head.

The next day we headed for Tokyo via Bangkok again. We then spent a night in a hotel near Tokyo's Narita airport, which was thoroughly average having just sta

Hey all, can't be bothered writing a proper blog right now, or uploading the photos on Bebo's crappy 5 at a time system. Heres a link to the album I made on facebook. Everybody should join Facebook by the way, its much better for sharing photos, and it has a cool geography quiz thingy I'm addicted to. Do it.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?ai...

Hello again,

This will probably be the last update I write in Japan. Exciting stuff.

Since last time we've hosted Ryan and Tara's family friends Lil and John. We showed Ryan around central Tokyo a little bit, climbed Tokyo Tower, saw the Anime Dress ups in Harajuku and ate lots of McDonalds. We also did an all night Karaoke marathon. You pay about $20 for 5 hours (12-5am) singing and all you can drink. It was great fun, but it kinda ruined the following day. It was dark again when we woke up.

A couple of days after that Tara and I taught a couple of kids in a private lesson and got taken out for dinner by their parents. They shouted us heaps of food and I even tried sushi, given that it was expensive. Wasn't too bad, but I won't be rushing back to eat it again. I ate raw tuna, salmon, and the little red fish egg thingys. We also had cooked dishes as well, the fried fish was delicious, and the Japanese style curry was really nice. Deep fried boiled egg was an interesting one.

Lil and John came to stay and were very generous to us. We showed them around Yokohama and a bit of Tokyo, and in exchange they shouted us food for two days and most of our train fares. We were spoilt indeed. Thanks so much if you are reading this! Aside from that we had a great time looking around and hearing some of their travel stories. Had good ol' fish'n'chips for dinner which was delicious.

Somewhere in there I went to the Tokyo Motor Show with another teacher Ed and friend Yoshihiro. We had an awesome day of cars and *cough* girls! My favourite displays were Lamborghini, BMW, Ferrari, and Alfa Romeo. The Alfa 8C Competizione was the nicest looking car there in my opinion, well at least the best looking car I hadn't seen before. BMW's new 1 series coupe looks really cool. The 135i has a 3.5l engine and is pretty tiny so would be a pretty fun car I reckon. Ferrari and Lamborghini never fail to please, they were amazing, although they didn't have any new models on show. There were lots of wacky concepts to see, and girls posing with almost every car, which drew huge crowds of guys with cameras. That side of it was pretty comical to watch, and a bit sad. The guys would go right up to them and take portrait photos of the girls, no interest in the cars at all. I would be far too embarassed to do it.

That about brings you all up to date. On Saturday this week we are off to Kita-Karuizawa, a winter holiday resort town for a free holiday thanks to my student's mother Miki, who has also been very generous to us. She wants to ensure we dont leave with a bad impression of Japan because of the whole Nova debacle. We have offered her a place to stay in NZ if she ever wants a holiday downunder. I got a job interview lined up in Christchurch when I get back, so fingers crossed I can get some work quickly and start recovering from our current financial slump. Tara is reasonably sure she is going to do the Primary Teaching thing she got accepted into last year but turned down in favour of Japan. Hopefully she can claim student allowance, 'cause I aint feeding her! hehe

Over and out from Japan, might write another in Phuket!

8 days left and counting,
Daniel