Goodbye to November 2009

Goodbye to November 2009

It was an amazing month indeed! In my 10 years here, I can only think of one similar time, a few years back, before my blogging days, when there was also almost no rain during both November and December.

Just looking and browsing through the November 2008 and 2007 versions gives you an idea how it usually is during November.

For the tourists that visited Samui during November, it was a great month and experience indeed, I think we had exactly one day in early November with monsoon like conditions and rain almost all day and around mid November there was some rain, when I was on an almost dry Koh Tao.

For the people living on Koh Samui, locals and expats alike, the situation is different though, the monsoon or November rain is supposed to fill up the wells and adjust the water ground levels. Obviously that didn't happen during this month and consequently there will be a shortage of ground water, which can cause problems all the way up to May/June next year.

For us living here,w e can only hope that December will bring some rain, although the forecasts don't look that good right now.

I'm glad that I could get two more restaurant reviews up this month, Tang in Nathon and Little Holland in Chaweng. November also saw the yearly Loy Kratong festival and I was also very glad to at last make it to the Magic Garden in the Lamai mountains.

Thanks for visiting my blog and hope to see you next back next month in December!

Camille

30th November, 2009

Today's weather;

The last day of November 2009 starts in a splendid way with sunshine in an almost clear blue sky with a current temp of 24.8C at 7am.

Yesterday was a lovely day, including some dives on Chaweng reef where we spotted a small Grey Bamboo shark, very unusual.
It was a warm and sunny all day long with a max temp of 31.5C.

Camille

Little Holland bar & restaurant, Chaweng north

Little Holland bar & restaurant, Chaweng north

This restaurant has since closed it's doors

After some great diving this morning on Chaweng Beach, where for the first time I saw a small shark, a Grey Bamboo shark, I was very hungry when I got back home and decided to take the children to a newly opened Dutch place in the northern part of Chaweng.

The restaurant is named 'Little Holland' and has just opened since a day or two, three or so. Since my oldest kid, our daughter, is fond of pancakes, I thought it a good idea to get her some Dutch pancakes or who knows, maybe even some poffertjes.

Little Holland is run by a Dutch couple, no surprises there, Rob and Marleen have been visiting Samui since a few years and now want to stay here permanently, hopefully with their Dutch hospitality.

Since the kids aren't that familiar with Dutch food, it was a bit of a risk to order the poffertjes, which were indeed on the menu, but with Julia, my daughter, they were a big success and she pretty much finished off both her own and her younger brother's portion, who wasn't that impressed with the poffertjes at all. There are plenty of children meals on the menu by the way.

I ordered a portion of hachee, I hadn't eaten hachee for over 20 years or more I guess, so a nice Dutch touch for me.

The menu is in Dutch and has some interesting, good and also plenty of Dutch food on it, ranging from 'broodje kroket' or frikandel to poffertjes and various other typical Dutch treats.

Go and have a look for yourself and find out what we Dutch like to eatyou may even like it. Little Holland can be found at the very Northern end of Chaweng, on the way to the airport, past the Kandaburi hotel and than opposite the Bhundari hotel.

Camille

Tarmac, here we come!

Tarmac, here we come!

Having reported earlier on the bad state and safety of the roads around Samui, there's some good news at last. Since about 6 months or maybe even longer, the Nathon beach road has received a tarmac surface.

Road construction between Lamai and Hua Thanon

This tarmac surface is now being extended all around the island and a start has been made between Hua Thanon and Lamai. Hopefully this tarmac layer will prevent the current potholes and cracks around the ring road and all secondary roads around the island.

It makes for a lovely driving experience and your car isn't bouncing along the roads anymore and on a bike you don't have to look out for potholes all the time. The only downside I can see is that because of the great surface, both cars and motorbikes will speed even more than they to currently do.

Other than, Tessabaan, congrats to a job well done and I seriously hope the progress on this project will continue as scheduled and somewhere next year the whole of the island has a nice tarmac layer!

Camille

29th November, 2009

Today's weather;

The almost unbelievable good November weather holds on with some overcast and blue spots in between the clouds and a current temp at 7am of 25C.

The nights are getting colder but the day times are still warm, yesterday 31.9C, not bad for one of the last November days on Samui!
The rain is predicted once more, late next week, let's see. Wouldn't surprise if the rain will come in December, it has to come, hopefully!

Camille

Magic Garden, Lamai

Magic Garden, Lamai

This has been on my list of places to visit on Samui since a very long time and finally I got to got there yesterday, after my visit to the Transport office Surat Thani, branch Koh Samui, renewing my drivers license, always an adventure in itself!

Magic Garden, Lamai; The road signs opposite Wat Kunaram

One of the reasons I finally got around visiting this place, is that since very shortly, it's been more accessible than ever before. Directly opposite Wat Kunaram with it's mummified monk, near Lamai is now a brand new road that leads through the very steep hills to the Magic or Buddha Garden, see the sign above. You can't really miss it. In typical Thai fashion, there are no pre-warning or other signs though, if you miss it, that's it!

The road leading through the hills is impressive but stick to the main road, I took some other roads and all were dead ends where I had to back out of with my car, which can be interesting on a very steep hill with curves in it and a drop down at one side of a couple of 100 meters.

Magic Garden, Lamai

The "Magic Garden" or "Secret Buddha Garden" is located in the hills of Samui. A Samuian fruit farmer, Nim Thongsuk, started to build the garden in 1976 when he was 77 years old.

The old road leading to the Magic Garden, coming from Nathon led through a Military section of said road but the last couple of years, the guards used to let you pass. With the new road originating near  Lamai it's a lot easier to reach the Magic Garden.

Magic Garden, Lamai

Once inside the magic garden, after having paid an 80,-THB admission fee, you enter a beautiful piece of nature with small, miniature waterfalls and small statues are all over the place. It's a fantastic transition into a different world, walking down the stairs to the actual 'garden'.

A little stream runs through the whole garden and the above picture has two stone bodies (can you see their feet?) lying in the flow of the stream. It seems that they used some imagination and created a few unexpected scenery's. Very nicely done!

Magic Garden, Lamai; This is a statue of the founder of Magic Garden, Khun Nim Thongsuk.

Magic Garden, Lamai

I'm pretty sure that all the statues have meanings but it's difficult to near impossible to find out their (Buddhist?) meaning since there are no guides or brochures with an explanation. Near the entrance is a small sitting area with the typical Samui souvenirs but unfortunately with no actual information on the Garden.

Magic Garden, Lamai; This series of statues is the 'piece de resistance' and shows a troupe of around a dozen dancers.

Magic Garden, Lamai; The group of dancers with a group of musicians in the front. A lovely sight and beautifully located in the middle of Samui hills.

Magic Garden, Lamai

After I left the Magic Garden, I rode around in the hills, passing Durian gardens, bamboo trees, looking into steep valleys and having fantastic views over Samui, all the way down to the distant ocean.

There are plenty of restaurants and view points along the way and it's well worth stopping at some of these places and have a cold drink or get something to eat and just enjoy the scenery.

The picture above shows the road block leading into Nathon, marking the Military area. Just after I turned around, a jeep of one of the organised trips around the island came down the hill and I guess that they just pass by the blockade and continue on their way down on the main road.

The road leading to the right, as suggested on the signage was another dead end road, but I enjoyed travelling back and taking the same road down to Wat Kunaram again.

Rent a car or bike and travel around the island as described in another post on this blog but don't forget to include the Magic Garden!

Please do 'like' my Koh Samui blog Facebook page and enjoy the beaches around the island or in front of your hotel or resort and get some well deserved rest and a break. If you're done resting or need something else to do, there's plenty of things on offer on and around Koh Samui, you can go snorkeling or diving or take a dive course. You can also enjoy some of the trips I recommend, like a half day gourmet lunch and snorkeling trip at the Southern part of Koh Samui or a photography trip where you get to see the most photo genetic spots on the island or go for a drinks tasting tour if you like a tipple or two.

Contact me for more detailed information on any of the options mentioned.

If you like to donate to this blog, use this secure link PayPal.Me/CamilleLemmens. 

Camille

28th November, 2009

Today's weather;

This month went by like a flash, it's already the last weekend in November and the amazing weather holds on with once more a lovely blue sky over Samui however with a 'chilly' 23C current temp at 7am.

Yesterday saw the same ol' same ol', sunny and warm, a max temp of 30.5C.

Camille

Renew or obtain a Thai drivers license, an experience

Renew or obtain a Thai drivers license, an experience

Besides an adventure, it's also a lesson in keeping a smile on your face and remain patient, regardless of what they tell you or sometimes not tell you.

In all the years that I've been visiting the Transport office Surat Thani, Branch Koh Samui area supervisor, which dates back as early as 2002 when I obtained my first drivers license, I went back a couple of times to renew my drivers license, two times for a one year renewal and now the second time to renew for 5 years.

As in each country, public service offices tend to like red tape but the Thais seem to take the strudel, the first time still has to be seen when everything goes smoothly and I didn't 'forget' anything, whether it's not sufficient copies of this or that, bringing a motorbike or bringing pictures, there's always something.

The office itself is in Lipa Noi, a bit further down the road from Nikki Beach, coming from Nathon, pass the crossing where Samui immigration is located and take a right at the next red light. It's the crossing that leads to the old and still functioning Raja ferry pier. The sign on the previous picture hasn't been up for too long, so it's not too difficult to miss nowadays but if you didn't know where it was before that sign was put up, it may have taken you a while to find it, since the building, as pictured above, is completely hidden from the road.

One of the things you need is a letter from Immigration, stating that you behaved well and hence can apply for a drivers license. Cost; 500,-THB. If you don't know anybody at immigration, this may take a couple of hours to get sorted, renewing your license is something for the next day.

Since I'm applying for two different licenses, one for driving cars and one for driving motorbikes, I needed a copy of that letter made by immigration. All other paperwork and copies were fine! Not too bad, in my early years at this office I had to drive back to Nathon on my motorbike to get more copies sorted which was rather time consuming. At last, somebody had the bright idea to start a copy, oops sorry, a coppy shop in the middle of nowhere but with a steady supply of people in urgent need for copies; each copy 5,-THB, so one copy wasn't too bad but that shop is a copy gold mine. The shop also acts as an insurance broker for cars and motorbikes.

Inside the building nothing had changed much, since my last visit 5 years ago, except the new purple signs with English translations, a nice touch and helpful.

I arrived shortly before 9am and after picking up a number and handing over my paperwork and quickly getting one more copy of my immigration letter sorted out, I was told to sit down and wait until 9.30am. Mmmm, that would be an early day than, in and out and rather efficiently.

Well, not to be! At 9.45am, whilst I was reading my Dirk Pitt novel, I was approached by a Thai guy who was apparently sent down by the office staff because he could speak some English and he came to tell me that I needed to go to the 2nd floor. Following him I ended up in a classroom where a lady immediately went into an explanation in Thai about what was going to happen, what I could make out of it was that we all, a group of 27 people, 24 Thai and 3 Westerners, where to take a 'simple' test on some kind of machine, do a test for recognising colours (red, yellow and green, sounds familiar in relation to traffic?) and once that was done take an exam. Hold it, take an exam? I had done mine 7 years ago when I got my first drivers license. What is going on here. During the colour test, I finally got a chance to ask the lady in charge and found out that I just needed to complete the two tests but not the exam. Thanks for explaining straight away.

The color chart is visible in the background but the machine in front is piece of work! There are three tests in this machine, one that tests field of vision, by looking at a point in front of you, colors appear left and right of you and you need to state the color codes (red, yellow and green), it also test field of depth, by which you need to line up two white plastic tubes with a remote control and last but not least, it involves a reaction test, push the gas pedal and when green lights start to appear, hit the breaks before they lights turn red.

Do each test twice and you pass. Fail one test, do the test again, fail the test again, come back Monday and try again!

Since I had no probs with all the tests, I was home free but since we Westerners were the last in line, it was near 11am before we finished this.

Now it was off to pay the fees (increase of 100% since 5 years ago) and get my licenses, however, since I lost my motorbike license (needed to give it as deposit on Koh Tao for a bike rental and upon returning the bike the next day, the guy with the deposits had run off, incl my motorbike license), she somehow couldn't find me on the system so I only left with my brand new car drivers license. Price 655,-THB.

The lady who I was dealing with was actually nice and very helpful and she gave me her phone number in order to call her back on Monday so she could do some more research and give me the result since I wasn't listed on the ID # that was on my old drivers license and as it turned out, once I could double check back home, my first set of drivers licenses where issued on a different passport #, a way older passport. Well, most likely time for another run down to Lipa Noi early next week.

Something I didn't want to with hold, the practical part of the Thai drivers license exam. Drive around the building, park on the curb and park backwards. When I did my exam, after passing the written exam, I was asked to do exactly this with my rented car. Back in those days I didn't have my own car yet. However, than they found out that I didn't bring a motorbike and if I wanted to get a motorbike license, I needed to have a motorbike to complete the practical test. OK, off I went to Nathon to rent a bike and upon returning I was asked to drive twice around the building. That was the practical test.

I wasn't done yet however, since some Thai guys showed up without a car. I was more or less summoned to give them my car for their test.

My explanation that my car could be rented and if they wanted to use my rented car they would need to pay for the privilege didn't go down very well but since they had me go all the way to Nathon to rent a bike for just driving around their building, this was the perfect opportunity to cover my combined rental costs of the day.

In typical Thai fashion, the Thais that came to the exam with a car where never asked to hand over their car to the people that showed up without a car.

This is the highly modernised and computerised classroom where the written exams take place. A far cry from the simple wooden table that I had to sit at 7 years ago.

This is the final result, my brand new Thai drivers license, valid for another 5 years. Now I just need to get my hands on a new motorbike license and all is good again for the next 5 years on the license renewal front.

All in all less stressful than expected but a lot more time intensive than I expected with a rather friendly and helpful desk person. If you need your license sorted out, make sure you got time and make sure you know what to bring, makes life a lot easier.

Hope you enjoyed this rather long post.

Camille

27th November, 2009

Today's weather;

Fairly cloudy with plenty of blue spots this morning. Current temp at 7am is 26.3C.

Yesterday saw a lovely sunshine filled day, once more not a single drop of rain. Max temp reached 29.5C.

Camille

Tang Restaurant, Nathon

Tang Restaurant, Nathon

It's been a while again since I posted a restaurant review on one of Samui's restaurants, but today it's time again for an all time fave in Nathon. Tang restaurant is simple, has good tasting Thai food and is cheap. What more could you want.
Many times during the daytime when in Nathon and we need or want to eat, we come to Trang's.

It's a pretty standard Thai place and it seems that every time we are there, there are just about two or three tables occupied.

Looking out to the street, on the right hand is the 'a la carte' part of the restaurant and come to think of it, never ordered from yet!

What we order from is the very typical ready meals, just sitting and waiting all day long for somebody to come along and point at it, so it's dished out to you on a plate. As we're in Southern Thailand, plenty of spicy curries, but they don't do it for me, most of the time. I usually go for some soups, veggies or Penangs etc. The price says it all, all meals here are pretty much 40,-THB, for those amongst my readers that don't speak Thai, just point and you get a plate of it for just 40,-THB, don't like it, get a different plate!

Here's what I had today, on the bottom a lovely pork Penang curry, on the top two different veggie dishes, one with squid and some mushrooms on the bottom right from my wife's soup. More additional veggies come on a separate plate at no extra cost, top left! All of this, my wife's soup, an additional soup to take home and a bottle of water for 115,-THB, can't go wrong, right? The taste is also very good. There are plenty of similar places around the island but probably only very few that have the comfortable seating arrangements inside in contrast to sitting at a table on the road.

Last but not least, this is how Tang's looks like from the outside. When in Nathon, I can highly recommend this place if you need some simple, easy and good tasting food.

Camille