2002-2005 (c) GetJealous.com, All rights reserved. http://www.getjealous.com/lifesabeach08/rss.xml After a solo backpacking trip in 1989/90, where contact with home was costly and rarely easy, the potential of the internet and sites like getjealous.com to bore family and friends has come as something of a revelation! It is nearly 20 years since the first trip and it is now the Wise FAMILY on tour complete with Maisie (7 nearly 8) and Amy (3 nearly 4). No longer will friends and family escape the ooos and ahhs (and urghs) of the trip....no no, they can live the whole thing with us in glorious Technicolor. They can even have the stuff emailed to them automatically......dont do it!!!! At the time of writing, 31/08/2007 the broad itinerary has been confirmed, the tickets paid for, the insurance in place, and last (but definitely not least) a home for Twiggy secured (thanks to Andrew and Annie in Lostwithiel). The itinerary was obviously reached with a lot of science and deliberation (see map). Key questions like is it sunny? and oh, doesnt your brother live there? were overlaid on other important criteria such as a penchant for New Zealand wine and a burning desire to see a lima "move it move it" and that spot where Goldfinger was filmed. With the point of no return passed, and the flights paid for, thats my bit done so I can now leave the detail (in true Richard Branson style) to my trusted lieutenant, Wendy. It should be a doddle to sort out such inconsequential matters as what are we going to do in each country, where are we going to stay and how do we get there and how exactly do we get Amy to swallow these vile tasting malaria pills....... Maisie is getting increasingly excited about the trip and seems to be gradually overcoming her initial overriding concerns that Twiggy would be sure to forget her. Amy, on the other hand has no such concerns and keeps asking when are we going on hoyiday? and how may sleeps till hoyiday? and will there be a swimming pool on hoyiday? and will Micky Mouse be on hoyiday? She looks at me as if I have lost my marbles when I say we are going to go on an elephant trek in Thailand and simply bursts into exagerated hysterics. Little does she know....... The solo trip 18 years ago was magic but to have the opportunity to make this kind of trip with Wendy and the girls is quite frankly out of this world. We will try to keep this blog thing up to date and would love to hear from you during the trip. Tales of the british weather, congestion on the M6 and the prices of tropical fruits would be particularly appreciated. Maisie would love to hear from friends about homework, school lunches etc... Cheers, Richard. PS. Dont forget to leave a message! http://www.getjealous.com/lifesabeach08 http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=505486&go=lifesabeach08 We have now been back home for 3 weeks and the grand trip seems like another world. My apologies for not finishing the blog earlier but we haven"t had internet access at home until now and our feet don"t seem to have touched the ground! The trip back was very smooth with most of the flight at night and hence a sleep and a couple of movies were sufficient to put the journey to rest. At Ma... http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=505486&go=lifesabeach08 Wed, 23 Jul 2008 12:00:00 GMT http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=505485&go=lifesabeach08 Today was one of those days where nothing seemed to turn out quite as we expected. We started by waiting for the Singapore Airlines operated city tour bus at the bus stop recommended by the hotel staff. The idea was to get an overview of the city. Buses run every half an hour and with no timetable so we just arrived at the bus stop and waited. On average we should have waited 15 minutes and if we ... http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=505485&go=lifesabeach08 Mon, 30 Jun 2008 12:00:00 GMT http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=505484&go=lifesabeach08 The Botanic Gardens in Singapore was created by the British during the Colonial days and was apparently based on the gardens at Kew. It is less than 10 minutes walk from our hotel in Orchard Road and it seems extraordinary to have such an enormous area of stunning landscaped gardens so close to the centre of such an urban jungle. It may have been started by the Brits but the Singaporian"s hav... http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=505484&go=lifesabeach08 Sun, 29 Jun 2008 12:00:00 GMT http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=505483&go=lifesabeach08 Not much to report today. Another great breakfast set us up for a bit of retail therapy at the infamous Mustapha Centre. It"s an enormous and confusing shop unlike any other I have seen but the locals shop there and the prices are pretty competitive and it sells pretty much everything so it"s a good one stop shop. I replaced my Ipod that was stolen in Costa Rica (an 80g Ipod is £11... http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=505483&go=lifesabeach08 Sat, 28 Jun 2008 12:00:00 GMT http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=505480&go=lifesabeach08 What a great nights sleep! Mega comfy bed and AC that is controllable to make the room comfortable but not freezing cold. I got up earlier than the others and did a bit of blogging as there were a few days to catch up on after Tiomen Island. The girls emerged, also well rested, and we made for breakfast. As expected breakfast was pretty excellent and there was no shortage of things to tempt Maisie... http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=505480&go=lifesabeach08 Fri, 27 Jun 2008 12:00:00 GMT http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=497281&go=lifesabeach08 We got ourselves packed and then waited in the restaurant (Open from 08:00 to 22:00) for 8 am Malay time to arrive. It arrived at 08:40 and after a slow start which involved a very bleary eyed waiter up-dating the Euro 2008 chart after the nights action (Germany beat Turkey in one Semi and it is Russia against Spain tomorrow) he came over to take our breakfast order. Breakfast was a bit of a rush ... http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=497281&go=lifesabeach08 Thu, 26 Jun 2008 12:00:00 GMT http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=505478&go=lifesabeach08 Power Batik turned out to be waste of space. We turned up at 11.00am as agreed and after waiting around for 20 minutes or so I started calling to see if anyone was about. Rikki stumbled out of bed looking pretty stoned and after giving us some photos of possible designs to look at he mumbled something about tea and stumbled off. We were still sat there 10 minutes later and gave him up as a bad job... http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=505478&go=lifesabeach08 Wed, 25 Jun 2008 12:00:00 GMT http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=505477&go=lifesabeach08 I awoke to sunshine and I sat in the hammock and savoured the vista from soon after dawn until the others woke up. It was looking pretty calm so we confirmed our Coral Island snorkelling trip. We chatted to another family over breakfast (TC and Joy from Boston Massachusetts) and Joy and their 8 year old daughter decided to join us on the trip which will be nice for Maisie. The speed boat took us ... http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=505477&go=lifesabeach08 Tue, 24 Jun 2008 12:00:00 GMT http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=505476&go=lifesabeach08 We left the idyllic Juara beach first thing and made the short transfer along the jungle road to Tekek (the Capital if Tiomen has a Capital!). We replenished our dwindling supplies of Malaysian Ringet at the ATM next to the airport and then caught a water taxi from Tekek across the wide sweeping bay to Air Batang. In Air Batang we had booked the “Our Pick” from Lonely Planet again and ... http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=505476&go=lifesabeach08 Mon, 23 Jun 2008 12:00:00 GMT http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=497086&go=lifesabeach08 The storm had blown through but the sea had lost some of it"s clarity and the weather looked far from settled. One perk of the storm was that the humidity was right down and the temperature felt nigh on perfect. We had arranged with John to show us a little of what he does at his turtle project at the other end of the bay. We made our way down to breakfast and then carried on to the far end o... http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?action=showdiaryentry&diary_id=497086&go=lifesabeach08 Sun, 22 Jun 2008 12:00:00 GMT