A drone in the local village


A little bicycle ride for Jemma and I always finishes with a play with the drone.


Needs a lot of practice - but it was a lot of fun.



It got stuck in a tree.


It crashed a few times, the battery ran out and I decided not to take it near the marsh.


We went for a walk onto the marsh - we could see Big Buddha in the distance.


Then there were people collecting small shelled animals.


Then there was Khao Khad Viewpoint on the other side - lovely. Now if we could have a bridge to those restaurants...


What a wonderful place to spend the morning - beautiful.



Should you have a Twitter account?


The cost of Social Media is time but presence is everything if you are a business.

Twitter is something many people use.



This is me and my report for March.

Don't forget you can use FutureTweet if you are organised.




Bodhi Trees and Buddhism



Bodhi Trees are intrinsically linked to Buddhism - specifically the hours of enlightenment  that the Buddha received specific set of insights or revelations and it is a symbol of the potential that is in us all.



Buddha was seated underneath a specific tree - the Bodhi Tree.



Wonderful - many trees are wrapped in colourful fabric and then a number of different things are put adjacent to them - discarded Wats, red drinks, special Wats, Buddhist images and more.  

I have encountered these trees all over Phuket and in my travels throughout Thailand (Chiang Mai and Ayutthaya).

I encountered the Bodhi Tree recently on a walk up Rang Hill to receive my own enlightenment. Were the monks wrapping their clothes around the trees to stop further development?



This tree was in Phuket Town and had dresses hung up with it - always special.


Quake (App)





Did you feel that?


Description


QuakeFeed is the #1 Earthquake App for the iPad and iPhone!

--> NO ADS!!
--> Eight beautiful basemaps plus plate lines
--> Elegant, uncluttered user interface
--> Quick and very easy to use
--> Free alerts for M6.0+ quakes worldwide
--> Customizable alerts via In-App Purchase
--> Curated earthquake news and announcements
--> Great educational tool

Our mapping features are truly stunning. Want a unique perspective on the quakes? View them on shaded relief or a map of the ocean floor. It will deepen your understanding - try it and you'll see what we mean!

QuakeFeed offers a variety of filter / sort options to let you see the quakes that are most important to you. Beautiful UI - check out our reviews, people love our simple, uncluttered design! And QuakeFeed is a universal app optimized for both the iPad and iPhone.

BASIC FEATURES
* Choose from six different USGS Data Feeds
* Push notifications for all M6.0+ quakes
* Quakes displayed in a list or on a map
* Search, sort, or filter list
* Drill down to quake details view:
-- Map zooms to quake location
-- Magnitude, time, lat/long, distance, depth
-- Link to quake details on USGS website
-- Link to NOAA Tsunami Warning Center (if available)
* Earthquake news
* Earthquake preparedness information
* Social media integration - share via:
-- Facebook
-- Twitter
-- Email

INTUITIVE USER INTERFACE
* Color-coded map symbols with optional magnitude display
* Quake list color-coded by magnitude
* Sort list by date, magnitude, depth, or distance from current location
* Filter list or map by magnitude
* Pull to refresh list
* GPS button for zoom to current location
* Specify units for distance and depth (km or miles)
* All screens work in portrait or landscape mode

ENHANCED MAPPING CAPABILITIES
* Eight different basemap options:
-- Street Map
-- Satellite Imagery
-- Imagery with Labels
-- Ocean Bathymetry
-- Topographic Map
-- Shaded Relief Map
-- Physical Map
-- Terrain Map
* Display plate lines as a map overlay
* Pinch to zoom / drag to pan
* One touch zoom in / two touch zoom out


Previously I got asked whether I felt the earthquake in the morning and of course I had slept right through that BUT I could look it up on the App.


This is when I found that there was a limit to the amount of earthquakes which you had a limit to - this App really is quite clever.

Cost: Free
Ease of use: simple
Comment: more to it than i first thought...


Tham Phung Chang Cave - Elephant Cave



Phung Chang Cave - Elephant Cave is something that there is not a lot written about.


At the front of the cave there is a long road leading to a temple - lovely surroundings.


At the side is a long wooden terrace - not really something to photograph or write home about!


At this point you are kitted out with with a head light and a torch...
Walking down some steps you come across a number of smaller Wats in front of a big cave entrance.... The stalagmites and stalactites give the most amazing sites as you enter (carefully) in. 


It was at this point that I was told that we were not allowed to take a photograph! Why?

"Tham Phung Chang is a cavern on Khao Chang or Chang Hill (Elephant Hill) within Phangnga Municipility. The Cave has two entrances, one on the West and one on the Eat of the hill, inside Wat Tham Pung Chang. The cave houses beautiful stalagmites and stalactites of various shapes, as well as contains sparkling calcite crystals on some parts of it's wall. A stream flows through the cave all year round with deep water in some parts. The distance from one entrance to the other is approximately 1,200 metres.

According to legend, Yomdung, a wanderer, sought refuge at Chongdong's house. The couple moved out of the house to establish their own family, earning living by farming. Towards the end of the harvest season, a herd of wild elephants trampled their crops. Disappointed and infuriated, Yomdung got a spear and pursued the herd. He encountered an elephant that belonged to a man called 'Ngum', mistook it for for the one in the wild herd, speared the animal to death through it's belly, gutted it an cooked the guts for food and lso cut the tusks - unaware of the animal's innocence.

The dead elephant became Chang Hill and the speared belly became 'Tham Phung Chang', the elephant belly's cave.

This was written on a board.


The cave length is about 1,200 metres and you first enter on foot and are swiftly put onto the canoes. Carefully canoeing along you look everywhere and as you are told by your guides the shapes are actually the shapes of animals - I am very lucky having a Thai wife as she was able to translate everything for me!


This made me thing of the oddness - what would the caves look like on film? Despite this we were taken in by the atmosphere and I did not mind in the slightest... Then there was a raft - now this was a little scary to say the least and I was glad that I was not trying to take photographs....

Returning was easier. Leaving the canoes was a relief...


We then left a different way on foot walking past a Buddha footprint where we left some money - we don't see many of these.




Mee Ton Poe 3 (Phuket) Visit ?




Fabulous Hokkien Noodles for me at the end of the day - or any other dish!



Good Night.......


 

Approximate price: $$$$$ 
Address: Soi 1, Sakdidejana Road, Phuket Town
Hours: ? - 21:00


Luggage for your flight


Rant of the day - my apologies...

Checking onto the flight and I followed this...


But the sign said this? I hope that they are not going to sit next to me!
(update: they didn't)

Street Food - Insects



Come to a different country and Eat some Local Food.


As part of my job working in Phuket I try to explain many things to visitors to this wonderful place with such a myriad of things to discuss.




But I cannot talk about the reality of eating bugs!

A question that I am always asked by the visitors and I have to admit that I have tried twice.



Once (about 10 years ago) at the Cape Panwa promenade when there was a temporary infestation of the Giant Water Bugs and the second time when I visited Sapan Hin market with a food critic from the United Kingdom.


 I have decided to take a fresher look at this type of dining – and the fact that the UN recently produced a report that Bugs may be our next diet.
(http://www.fao.org/docrep/018/i3253e/i3253e00.htm)

Willy has the best site to outline all the different tastes that these special animals have so I would have to say that he is my mentor with this - all hail to Willy. Have a look at his post for a description of all them.


Giant Water Bugs (Mang Da Na)


Silk Worms (Nhon Mhai)


Grasshoppers (Takatan)


Mini Crickets (Jing Reed Khai)


Bamboo Worms (Rod Duan)

There are more insects but I could stay around long enough to take photographs - Crickets (Jing Reed), Red Ants and Eggs (Mod Daeng / Kai Mod Daeng), I am sure that there are more though.

A visit to England



Just come back - we had a lovely trip.

Photographs iPhone6 + App Slide X Pro 


Things to do in Phuket - John Gray Sea Canoe


John Gray Sea Canoe - the best Canoe Company.

It cares for our Environment.

Accept no other company - TripAdvisor.


I forgot my charger...


You are out for the day and yes your Social Media Device / Camera is flat. Then the cable to your portable charger is wrong...



Well there is now an answer for you - it is at Central Festival just outside Phulet Town in PA Phone Accessories...

This is your salvation - why are there no more of these in shopping complexes...






The best fence in Phuket - Boare


Cool - found this during Earth Hour


Feet and the Public bathroom

Image from Phuket Gazette
Have I ever washed my feet in a Public sink? Yes. But not in Thailand

In Thailand the feet are viewed as a lower part of the body (sic) and by this it means that you must be aware of this when you enter into a Wat. This is reflected throughout the country but has origins here - don't point your foot at someone, don't put your feet up so that the soles are pointing at someone else....


  1) Was it a scam by an authority to get money?
  2) Was the rest of the toilet so disgusting?
  3) Was it wrong?

Well whatever you believe (and you are entitled to your belief) it is Thailand and this is the sort of thing which we must tell visitors to lovely Thailand. 

There are many - do you need those gems? should you hire a jet-ski? should you give your passport to someone you don't know. This is in the hands of the people selling these holidays - no?