Friday, September 24, 2010

Koh Samui, Thailand daily weather update; 25th September, 2010

Today's weather;

Samui woke up under a heavy rain shower around 6am, immediately followed by sunshine! Right now it's a bit of a mixed bag shortly after 7am and the fight for sky supremacy is on. Current temp at 7am is 26.5C

Yesterday saw pretty much all day long sunshine. Max temp reached 31.5C

Camille


Thaa Yai 2010 in Wat Plai Laem

Thaa Yai 2010 in Wat Plai Laem

Back to a home game for this years Thaa Yai. Last year saw us celebrate and participate in Wat Chaweng but this year it was back to the roots so to speak.

Busy preparations

It seems like I have lost track on how many Thaa Yai's I've attended but it must a quite a few by now. The last four years, since I'm blogging I've always attended.

Home made food selection for the monks

It's always an early day though, my wife gets up at 3 or 4am to start preparing the food, but she's already gathering ingredients, talking about it and getting all excited about it a couple of days in advance.

One of the food baskets with a lovely heart!

One of the nice tings about this event is that you get to see many relatives and friends that all gather once a year for this event. Each year I see more and more familiar faces.

The food baskets as pictured here, are part of the tradition of welcoming the deceased back again amongst for a few weeks each year. This particular basket has a nice food made garment layer over the rest of the food.

Some of the baskets are a real treat to the eye and later also to the stomach!


A display of various food baskets with candles burning. Always an amazing view.

If you have the opportunity, try to visit one of these local events, they're interesting to experience.

Camille

Koh Samui Jazz festival 2010

Koh Samui Jazz festival 2010

Sometimes you don't see the most obvious things when they're staring right at you. Like the Koh Samui Jazz festival 2010 which started today! Thanks to my fellow blogger Talen, who blogged about this event living in Pattaya, my eyes were opened and apologies to him, but I copied his content into this post, so I hope you enjoy a visit to one of the venues all around Samui next week.


The annual Koh Samui International Jazz Festival kicks off this weekend and will last for one solid week of jazz filled fun. The party starts on Friday the 24th of September and will go on till Thursday September 30th.

Over 20 international jazz acts will join local Thailand jazz bands on 11 stages throughout the island for a total of 42 shows, and best of all it’s FREE!

The objectives of the Samui International Jazz Music Festival are to bring the joy of Jazz Music to this fabulous location and inspire young Thai Jazz musicians by granting them the chance to perform with international artists. The event also promotes Koh Samui as a tourist destination during the Green Season.

The 2010 Samui International Jazz Music Festival is being brought to you by Amsiam travel in cooperation with Bangkok Airways, together with its main sponsors the Surat Thani Provincial Administrative, Thai Hotels Association (THA) and the Tourism Association of Koh Samui.

Cool jazz music along with the beautiful sun and sand of Koh Samui is a combination that can’t be beat, especially when it’s free…so, don’t miss out.

More information on the 2010 Koh Samui International Jazz Festival can be found at Samui International Music Festival. The full event line up including dates and times is posted below.


Camille

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Koh Samui, Thailand daily weather update; 24th September, 2010

Today's weather;

A bit later than usual this update because I was attending the Thaa Yai ceremony at Wat Plai Laem. Pictures and a post later today since I'm off diving on Chaweng Beach, also with a post and pictures later today.

Samui woke up under an almost clear blue sky and it's looking like it's going to be a hot one today! Current temp at 7am is 25.6C

Yesterday was a nice day, some sunshine, partly cloudy most of the day though and around noon there were some raindrops. Max temp reached 31.8C

Camille


Grand Continental Hotel at Kuah, Langkawi Island

Grand Continental Hotel (N6 19.666 E99 50.233) is one of the Three (3) stars hotel which located at Jalan Pantai Matsirat of Kuah, Pulau Langkawi. It's just in between the Langkawi Parade Shopping Complex and Sky Eagle Inn Hotel. That will be convenience for us to buy some daily necessity and beers at the shopping complex. :)

Hotel Grand Continental Hotel at Kuah, Langkawi Island. (HDR)

We booked the hotel through the AsiaWebDirect.com, and the rates was MYR150.00 per day, the total was about MYR330.00 for 2 days included booking fees and tax (c/w breakfast for 2 person). I was impressed with service provided by AsiaWebDirect.com !

The Reception and the Hotel Lobby

The staffs at the Check-in counter were very friendly and we had done the check-in less than 10 minutes! Great!
Before I show the photos of the room, let's look around the environment of the hotel...

The Restaurant area. This was the place we had our breakfast.

The swimming pool was just situated beside the restaurant...well, it was just enough space for you to cool down from the hot weather of Langkawi Island.

The Swimming pool of Grand Continental Hotel of Langkawi Island. 
The kids said 'Peace' to the lens...:)

When we walked through the corridor along the rooms, I saw a special dustbin just sit beside one of the room...this was unaccepted mentality by the guests! You have to learn to take care your own rubbish.

The corridor in the hotel

The room was spacious enough for us (2 adults & 1 child). But during the online booking, I did stated I need a queen bed rather than 2 single bed! Seems like the hotel staff was Not seriously take care on our reservation.

The room of Grand Continental Hotel, Langkawi

Every rooms are provided with the 21" Colour Television and Hair Dryer.

The attached bathroom

And the bathtub, but the Stains.....

The view from the window, the lower building is the Langkawi Parade Shopping Complex.

The other view from the window...

Overall, we were OK for the hotel. Even the stains look uncomfortable, but we were not here for the bathtub. The breakfast provided was average like a normal fried rice, fried noodle and nasi lemak.

From the cost we paid, I rated : 3.8/5.

Well, I will wanna try other hotel in our next visit to Langkawi Island. It's because there are Too many choices in the island...

After everything settle, we drove to Cenang Beach (Pantai) and started to Explore the island! Haha!

You might get a good room rate by booking online through http://www.holidaycity.com/grand-continental-langkawi/index.htm

Hotel Grand Continental Langkawi
Lot 398, MK. Kuah, Keilbang,
07000 Kuah, Pulau Langkawi, Kedah, Malaysia.
http://www.langkawi-resorts.com/grandcontinental/


Related post :
My Trip to Langkawi Island on September 2010
Underwater World of Langkawi Island
Sunset Of Cenang Beach (Pantai), Langkawi Island
The Lighthouse Restaurant at Tengah Beach (Pantai), Langkawi Island
The Langkawi Cable Car at Langkawi Island.
The Famous Sky-Bridge of Mount Machinchang, Langkawi Island. 
Restoran Nasi Kandar Tomato at Cenang Beach, Langkawi Island 
The Kilim Geoforest Park of Langkawi Island 
The Eagles Feeding at Kilim Geoforest Park of Langkawi Island 
The Fish Farm at Kilim Geoforest Park of Langkawi Island
The Bat Cave at Kilim Geoforest Park of Langkawi Island  
Wonderland Seafood Store at Kuah Town, Langkawi Island 
Hole In The Wall Floating Restaurant at Kilim Geoforest Park, Langkawi Island 



Location map of Grand Continental Hotel, Langkawi


Wednesday, September 22, 2010

New addition to the family

New addition to the family

Yesterday was a big and exciting day for our kids, the reason being that we were about to pick up a cat that is going to live with us.
She's about 8 weeks and ready to move away from her mother.

Here she is, Thuung Thong or Golden bag as she has been named by my wife, or Tee tee for me.

The kids are over the moon with our new family addition and she's busy exploring her new surroundings, tumbling over her own feet once in a while and being distracted about every two seconds whilst wondering around.

It's great to have her around!

Camille

Koh Samui, Thailand daily weather update; 23rd September, 2010

Today's weather;

A nice blue sky with a beaming sun in it woke Samui up this morning, there are some clouds but the sun is prevailing. Current temp at 7am is 27.2C

Yesterday saw a dry day with a mixed bag of clouds and sunshine. Max temp reached 33.2C

Camille