You can find more information, and even book tickets on-line, at the Resorts World Sentosa web site.

The Blue Bird of Happiness Gets a Balinese Reprieve

Judicial Review Team Rules that Bali Taxi Operation is Legal.
[Bali Discovery]

Angkor, Bagan, Sukhothai: Part 1: Sukhothai

South East Asia’s three greatest temple complexes are enjoying a renaissance of popularity nearly 1000 years after they were first constructed
This story was first published in Asian Geographic magazine, issue 48, under the title "The Legacy: Angkor, Bagan, Sukhothai".
Words and images appearing with the text on Travelhappy are copyright Chris Mitchell. Please don’t reproduce [...]
[Travel Happy]

Backpack Repair In Bangkok: Go See Mr Bag-Fix

Backpack broken? Luggage trashed? Go see Mr Bag-Fix in Bangkok to get your travelling gear restored to good as new.
The first time I ever went backpacking, I bought a really cheap backpack from an army surplus store. It was such a piece of crap that it fell apart within about 48 hours of me leaving [...]
[Travel Happy]

A walk in the woods: trekking in Nam Ha NPA

Just back from a one-night, two-day trek run by Green Discovery into the Nam Ha National Protected Area (NPA). The two-day trek was described as difficult and that two of our group of seven dropped out after the first day supports that this was quite a difficult trek. It was overall a bit of a [...]
[TravelFish]

Antique smuggling, travel writing and a jaunt around Luang Nam Tha

When your day starts with a bowl of offal you just know it is going to get better and better — as mine did when I found the above fruit vendor as I choked down the last of the intestines…
I’d caught up the previous evening with a researcher for another travel publisher and had swapped [...]
[TravelFish]

On Huay Xai

It has been quite some time (at least ten years) since I was last in Huay Xai and I was surprised by just how little it had changed — at least from a traveller’s perspective. The hilltop wat still has a bunch of monkeys — including one on a lease that the monks were getting [...]
[TravelFish]

The best restaurant in Laos bar none.

Title says it all. This tiny little restaurant in Udomxai has, quite simply, the best Lao food I have ever eaten. Ever.
[TravelFish]

Be sure to have the right amount, in US Dollars, with you when you arrive in Indonesia. I’ve personally seen cases of people being grossly over-charged when paying in Euros or other currencies.

Update – 9 February 2010

Having just returned from Bali, I can confirm that the 7-Day visa is indeed history. However, it will probably come as no surprise that the Indonesian government has realized there’s one little glitch in their plan – or three little glitches to be exact – the islands of Bintan, Batam and Karimun in Riau province, which get thousands of visitors from nearby Singapore each weekend. The Jakarta Post reported today that the 7-day visa will remain available for these three islands.

Sorry, there doesn’t appear to be an official web site. Well, it seems there really is a web site. See the comments.

I’m spending a few days in Khao Lak before heading back home to Bangkok. I’m staying at the Bhandari Resort, and I’m quite pleased with it so far. The location is perfect, for me. The beach is just across a small service road from the resort, and Khao Lak’s “main street” with all its shops and restaurants is only a 10 minute walk away. Most of the rooms here are in small Thai style buildings. I had reserved a standard room, but at this peak time of the season they had trouble getting the people to leave the room(s) they wanted to put me in, so in the end they upgraded me to a bungalow room. (It probably didn’t hurt to hang around the lobby waiting for a room, rather than take them up on invitations to use the pool or have lunch. It wasn’t that I was impatient, the two options just didn’t appeal to me at the time.)

Bhandari Resort Pool

My bungalow room is quite large, with a king size bed, sitting area, mini-bar, bathroom with shower as well as an outdoor tub and shower. Although, you’d have to be quite an exhibitionist to use the outdoor shower, as it’s not very private! There’s a large porch out front, and a small sala over a lotus pond just in front of the room.

Breakfast was good, although nothing spectacular. There was a good selection of items, but it was all pretty standard. There’s a large pool that is popular with the many families staying here. It doesn’t look like the pool nazis have taken over the place, as there were very few towels out when I went to breakfast.

I took a walk up and down the beach after breakfast, but I have absolutely no plans for the next few days. It’s nice for a change!

Now, I’m the first to admit that this subject requires more research and testing. Much, much more research, and a lot of repeated testing to make sure standards are maintained. Donations to support continued research can be made to the Cookie Research Undertakings Management Bureau (CRUMB).

Sarah Cranberry Pecan Oatmeal cookie

Herewith are my preliminary results, not necessarily in any particular order:

Walnut White Chocolate Cookie – Java Gallery, Phnom Penh – These were quite the surprise. A cake-like walnut-filled dough surrounds a solid chunk of white chocolate. The earthy taste of the nuts forms a nice counter-balance to the flowery taste of the white chocolate. Java also sell a chocolate-almond cookie that’s quite good, but not as distinctive as the white chocolate creation. Java’s main shop, and gallery, is located on Sihanouk Boulevard near the Independence Monument. They also have a tea shop in Monument Books on Norodom Boulevard.

Chocolate Chip – Joma, Vientiane – It’s positively deplorable, the abominations that have been created using the name "Chocolate Chip". Most of them should be called "crumb bombs with bits of brown stuff." That’s what makes the Joma offering so great. Tucked away in sleepy little Vientiane, this little bakery café makes some amazing cookies, made with real butter, eggs, and chock full of real chocolate chips. Not far from the Fountain.

Macarons – Blue Pumpkin, Siem Reap – I had never encountered these marvelous French pastries until moving to Southeast Asia. Even here, with all the French influence, they’re somewhat rare. Blue Pumpkin has by far the best – large glossy cookies with creamy fillings. It would be hard to pick which of the six flavors is the best – and you’ll have to try all six to find the right one for you – but I would probably pick the lemon. The sourness of the lemon provides a balance to the otherwise very sweet cookies. Blue Pumpkin has several branches all over Siem Reap. If you’re in Bali, Bali Catering in Seminyak makes a pretty good macaron, among other things.

Cranberry Pecan Oatmeal Cookie – Sarah, Bangkok – The Thai capital is quite devoid of decent cookies, or maybe I just haven’t been able to get past the mangoes with sweet sticky rice to find them. My one consistently edible find is, oddly enough, a health cookie. Sarah’s Cranberry Pecan Oatmeal cookie is exactly what it sounds like: a chewy oatmeal cookie with dried cranberries in place of the more mundane raisins. These "health" cookies contain no sugar, but they are made with Malititol syrup, which some nutritionists argue is not good for you. No eggs are used, and sunflower butter is used in place of real butter or margarine. For the first time ever, I really can’t believe it’s not butter. Sarah’s cookies may be purchased at Villa Supermarket near Sukhumvit Soi 31.

Now, I’ve never suggested that Phnom Penh was a destination in itself. You wouldn’t fly all the way from North America or Europe just to visit Phnom Penh, but as part of a trip to see the temples of Angkor, the Cambodian capital makes a nice "decompression stop" to relax and take things easy after several days spent exploring the ancient temples. There are things to see and do in Phnom Penh, but it’s more a place of atmosphere, where you can take it easy and just soak it all in.

Granted, there are other places that might fit the bill, but here’s my five reasons why I like Phnom Penh:

1. It’s not Bangkok
   Bangkok is a crazy, maddening place that never sleeps and nothing ever makes sense. I love it. As much as I’ve tried to wrap my head around living somewhere else in the last few years, I just can’t do it. Still, I am a traveler, so as much as Bangkok is my "home", the urge to go someplace else for a while is never far away. While I may like to get away from Bangkok from time to time, I’m still something of a city-person, so my preferred getaway destinations are still cities. But as cities go, Phnom Penh is, figuratively, as far away from Bangkok as you can get in an hour. Vietianne also fits this bill, but not quite as well.
2. Architecture
   A long time ago, I planned to be an architect. I even spent the five years in university to get a degree in it, but that was several careers ago. However, I still have an interest in architecture, which probably explains my fascination with every pile of stones that dots the region. But it doesn’t have to be old to interest me, and Phnom Penh has probably the best collection of pre-modern architecture in Southeast Asia. There are some lovely old colonial era villas, in various states of decay, as well as some fine art deco and modern public structures built in the post-independence years. There are, as yet, no high rises in the city, although I don’t think that will last much longer. There’s even an organization that offers Khmer Architecture Tours.
3. Boutique Beds
   Phnom Penh seems to exist in some kind of strange hotel chain-free zone, devoid of any international hotel brands, save for a single Intercontinental hotel and the Raffles affiliated Le Royal. This has left the market wide open for a cornucopia of small hotels and guesthouses. Many of these places make use of the old villas and shop-houses that dot the city, especially the quay-side. I’ve stayed in several of them now. Each has its own charms, and all have the pleasure of staying in a small hotel with character.
4. Fantastic Food
   Southeast Asia is a foodies paradise. It’s hard to beat the native foods of Thailand, or Cambodia for that matter. But variety, as they say, is the spice of life. Phnom Penh is second only to Siem Reap in the number of great restaurants, cafés and coffee shops. There’s probably the best Khmer restaurant, Malis, as well as what may be the best cookies in Southeast Asia at Java Gallery.
5. Dancing in the Park After Dark
   One of the things that struck me on my most recent trip in December 2009 is how much the locals seem to enjoy the city’s many open spaces at night. Once night falls, almost every park is filled with locals hanging out, eating or dancing. Yes, you read that right, dancing. I found this activity happening at the park in front of Wat Botum, near the Royal Palace. The park was filled with people, and projection screens showing the photos from a year in Phnom Penh as the result of the Photo Phnom Penh festival. But near the end of the park, close to the Independence Monument, I heard music. As I approached I spied rows of people dancing to the music. This was not aerobics mind you, this was… line dancing. It was a strange, and quite endearing sight.

So, there you have it, five reasons to consider Phnom Penh, whether for a long weekend or as part of a tour to Angkor.

While most of the many memorable sights of Thailand are still around, there are still images in my mind – fortunately not many – that I’ve come to realize I most likely will never see again. The first came to mind as I was sitting on Dongtan Beach one afternoon, when a man came along selling some hill-tribe hats and other trinkets. My mind went back to my first visit to the Meo village on Doi Pui, near Doi Suthep in Chiang Mai province. This was back in 1987, I think, when the village was first being "promoted" as a tourist destination. At that time, you had to be pretty intrepid to go to the village, as it was only reachable on a long, rough unpaved road. It took an hour or so to travel the roughly 10 kilometers from Doi Suthep to Doi Pui. The village wasn’t as commercial as it is now, although there were still stalls selling trinkets from Nepal and elsewhere.

What sticks in my mind most about that first visit to the village is what I encountered once I got past the souvenir stalls. As I walked along the path through the village I passed a group teen-aged boys coming the other way. They were all strutting – and jingling – along in their traditional black felt jackets, each of which had rows and rows of coins sewed onto the front. The coat of the boy in front was completely covered in old coins. It must have been quite heavy.

These old coins were collected and sewn on the jackets over many years, and represented part of the wealth that a family passed down from father to son. You also saw women with coins sewn to their vests and hats as well. But you’re unlikely to see any of these distinctive items today. The coats were so unique that tourists offered the families large sums of money for the jackets, and I haven’t seen a single one in more than ten years. Nowadays they use mass-produced chrome plated bells instead of coins. It’s just not the same.

The second wave of nostalgia came over me when I was having dinner with a Thai friend, and we somehow got onto the subject of old Thai movies, which lead to accounts of seeing movies in our younger days, which for my friend, who grew up in Si Saket province, meant the old outdoor traveling theater. In Thailand, most provincial towns didn’t have movie theaters. Many still don’t, but they did get the occasional traveling cinema that would come to town and set up their gas-powered projectors and a screen in an open field just outside of town, or in a temple. If you’re an American, think of drive-ins and all their associations, especially for teenagers, and you’ll have an idea of what the old outdoor theaters meant for Thais.

Now, I suspect that if you looked real hard, you might still find an outdoor theater somewhere in Thailand, traveling from temple fair to temple fair, showing some old Thai scary movie classic, but I haven’t laid eyes on one in years. I used to even see them in Bangkok from time to time, but not any more. I suspect that between the prevalence of DVDs (real or pirated) and the plethora of big cineplexes featuring air conditioning and no mosquitoes, Bangkok has just become too sophisticated for such entertainment. It’s a bit sad. With the cool weather here, seeing a scary movie with a hot date and a warm blanket sounds like a really good idea.

Following the success of his past exhibition in London, Jean Marc Louis will present his Art work for the first time in Thailand, where he now resides.

Jean-Marc Louis’ choices of sober colors and refined lines, unexpected materials and captivating combinations made him well established on the international market with permanent representations in Brussels, Paris, St Tropez, London, Amsterdam, New York, Los Angeles, Dallas, etc. His abstract expressionism is the reflection of his numerous traveling experiences, love and interest in cultures, and research of minimalism.

The exhibition will comprise paintings and sculptures presenting Jean-Marc Louis’ latest inspiration, which will immerse the public in a shimmering universe where art arouses atmosphere and emotions.

The Sofitel Bangkok Silom combines the value of modernity, refinement and comfort, the V9 bar and restaurant, hosting the exhibition, is imbued with the French art de vivre and the Thai genuine haven of peace. Located at the 37^th floor of the hotel, the place offers one of the best views of Bangkok, reinforcing the charming of the urbane ambiance.

The exhibition runs from 20 December 2009 to 20 February 2010.