Someone's birthday

Monday 20^th August, 2018.

Happy Birthday Trevor.

Our mate the barman at the Beach Bar the other day had a guess at how old Trevor was. It must be a game he likes to play. Anyway, he was spot on! We were both amazed. He had a guess at my age too which was a bit brave, and he was a year less, but I said that was ok, always better to guess younger when it comes to women!

 

artist's impression of the JW Marriott Khao Lak

When we got home from dinner last night, there was a letter from Management under the door. What have we done now??? No need to worry, it was regarding the Indian wedding and how other guests at the resort may be impacted. Looks like most of the festivities will be across on the other side of the resort, and someone, can’t remember who, told us that the wedding party and guests had booked out wings 3 and 4. That’s a lot of rooms!!

 

wedding decorations at the front door

viewed from below

Monday 20^th will be setup and decorations at Aquamarine Pool between 11am and 4pm, then a private dinner from 4pm to 11.30pm.

Tomorrow will see setup and sound check at the Olive lawn and Marquee lawn 11am – 2pm then from 5pm – 8pm will be Bharat – wedding procession at Olive Lawn (Privatised) so I guess that means we’re not invited! Then 8pm – 12 midnight Wedding ceremony and a party at the Marquee Lawn (again privatised) with fireworks for 5 minutes sometime between 8 and 9pm. At least we should be able to see those!

Wednesday 22^nd kicks off at 10am with another Wedding ceremony at Takrai and Sakura, the Thai and Japanese restaurants on-site (privatised)till midday. Then lunch there as well from midday – 4pm. Again, no invitation for us! The guests are then given some recovery (aka food coma) time before things get going again at 8pm with yet another wedding ceremony and a party at the Marquee Lawn scheduled to end at midnight (let’s hope so).

Management says “ It is expected that there may be some noise due to the entertainment at the wedding and sincere apologies for any inconvenience caused.”  I’m actually looking forward to seeing (what we can) an Indian wedding and definitely hearing the music. 

The cynic in me assesses the offer of ‘rainy day activity – free shuttle bus to Phuket, 20^th – 24^th August’ as a ploy to clear the resort of as many guests as possible while the wedding takes over. We bumped into the Kiwi fellas this morning and their assessment is that the weather in Phuket actually is better than it is here at the moment. It’ll be a very long day whatever the reason. The coach leaves the resort at 9.30am and delivers guests to Central Festival Phuket, a massive shopping centre, and departs again at 5pm. The distance is around 100km and travel time is approx 2 hours. “You can either enjoy your time at the mall or take a short taxi ride to visit Phuket Town (10mins) or Patong Beach (30 mins). Spending all day trolling the shops or maybe seeing a movie, seems to me to defeat the purpose of a 2 hour drive to get to the sunshine. The jury is still out on whether we’ll partake of this ever so generous offer. We visited Phuket and Patong Beach pre-tsunami and as much as we’d like to return to Patong Beach to see how it’s recovered, a big day like that also means one less day of sitting around chilling. We’re on holidays! We shouldn’t have to make such tough decisions!! Might wait and see what day Pam’s Restaurant runs their cooking class. I think I’d definitely prioritise that over a day trip to Patong. 

 

our end of the pool

The couple at the next table at breakfast today are from Wilson’s Prom, and we end up chatting with them long after we finished our meal. The food here is amazing, the variety at breakfast has to be seen to be believed. I’m astounded that I read complaints on tripadvisor about the food letting the place down. Those people must be really hard to please. Lunch today is going to be at the Deli, the coffee shop under Reception. I looked at the menu yesterday and it looks good, so we rock up and guess what? Menu has changed. “Because of the wedding”. Grrr. We choose from the menu that will be in place for 2 days and while it wasn’t what we were looking forward to, we were happy with what we got. Trevor asked if he could have the beer promotion, buy 2 get 1 free. No is the reply, it’s off “because of the wedding”. Grrr. Best thing to come from eating there was a conversation with a fellow guest who put us onto the fact that they sell bottles of wine there much cheaper than anywhere else and they’ll put their logo stamp on the label so you can then take it into any restaurant. Bargain!! 599 THB inclusive of the killer ++ taxes. You’d pay that much for a carafe in the restaurant which is about half a bottle. One of the resort’s best kept secrets! I’m not sure if the Marriott logo is the same worldwide, I guess it is. I recognised it as soon as I saw it. It’s a Wyvern, a mythical creature that I’d never heard of before until we visited the Hamelin Bay Winery in the Margaret River area in WA last year. They have the same creature on their logo, as it was the family crest of the ancestors of the winery owners. Small world!

It's earlier into the pool today because we don’t have to go in to KL and we’re going to Skype with Patrick and Heidi at 4.30. While we’re talking with them, the doorbell rings and there are 2 lovely staff members with a birthday cake for Trevor, a lovely and unexpected touch. We really are being taken good care of here. We met some more neighbours, again from Melbourne.

 

birthday cake number 1

Kat and Phil, the Melbourne couple who came to the resort with us on the shuttle from the airport are keen to do the cooking class at Pam’s, so we decide on Thursday, if Pam has no others booked in. We’re going there for Trevor’s birthday dinner, so will talk to Pam when she finishes cooking. It was busy there, but not really noticeable when we first arrived as all the guests were fairly spread out. There was us and 2 other couples from the Marriott, and at least another 3 or 4 other couples. We booked with Pam via facebook and if you’re within a certain area, pick up and return is provided free of charge. It wasn’t until a thunderstorm rolled in and the tables had to be consolidated under the main roof that you really noticed how many people were there. So, we had to move from our beautifully decorated table, but the staff moved the flowers for us. I had the recommended frozen mango daiquiri. It was huge, and very good.

Pam's Restaurant and Bar

our original table under it's own little roof

lobster and fried rice

We pre-ordered a lobster 2 days ago for the special birthday dinner and I think there were some envious looks from the nearby tables. It was pretty spectacular. Trevor really enjoyed eating it, every last scrap from all the legs once we finished the main body. It certainly looked like a lobster massacre after he’s finished! 

 

birthday cake number 2

We bought some food and beverage credit when we arrived and when we got back from dinner we thought we’d check the bill, the woman at the desk gave a questioning sound when she pulled up our room number. Another problem? No. It’s your birthday Mr Ellis. Happy Birthday! Phew! Another nice touch. We bought 5000 THB credit which gave us a bonus 1000 THB and we’ve nearly gone through it all already!! It’s non-refundable and non-transferable, so we didn’t buy too much and were fairly certain that we would use the 6000 and then probably more. Thought we’d have some birthday cake with a cuppa when we got back but we’re both too full.

Holiday mode

Sunday 19^th August 2018.

We enjoyed a lovely sleep in today, the block out curtains in the room are very effective. Breakfast was a bit more restrained, we didn’t stuff ourselves silly like yesterday. As it was raining when we were ready to go to breakfast and blowing a gale, we decided to walk the long way around, via the main reception building. 981 steps and approx the same on return, popping in to book our shuttle in to town at 1pm. I’m really hoping I’m working off all the food as I eat it!

We heard last night from the Indian chef that there was to be a big Indian wedding over the next 3 or 4 days and he was in charge of all their meals. So no more theme nights while we’re here which is a shame, we really enjoyed the one we went to. Bookings will be heavy at the other restaurants, so we planned and booked dinners through until next Thursday or Friday. We told the people that were on the shuttle bus in to town today about the wedding and they had no idea that it was happening. It pays to know people and get the inside goss!

Tomorrow night we’re going to a local restaurant nearby for Trevor’s birthday dinner, lobster! Pam’s Restaurant will send a tuk-tuk to collect us and return us afterwards. Apparently Pam’s runs a cooking class where you are taken to a market to shop before the cooking, and then you eat what you cook for lunch. I’m really keen to do this as opposed to the class run here at the Marriott, simply for 2 reasons. We’re supporting a small local business and we get to go to a local market. Love local wet markets.

After breakfast I prioritised the painting of the toenails, in preparation for the obligatory poolside cocktail photos.

Like yesterday, we planned to eat lunch in town as today we pay our last visit to Tony the tailor for my clothes. We arrived too early, my clothes weren’t quite ready. They had a blackout for 3 hours yesterday so he was running behind. We went to Lauman Seafood Restaurant for lunch while we waited and I ended up buying a cheap pair of sandals from the lady I bought the scarf from yesterday. When we went back, even the top I ordered yesterday was ready, but then I did say to him if you make it exactly like the one I left with him, it would be exactly right! We mentioned that we had come to KL to celebrate our birthdays and bless him, he gave us a ‘souvenir’. He pulled out 2 big boxes full of ties that Trevor could have his pick of and for me, a pile of scarves to choose from. How nice of him.

A routine is developing but I don’t know how we’re going to fill the 2 ½ hours tomorrow that we have used to go into town and visit Tony! Hopefully, we’ll think of something! I might even get to start reading the book that I brought with me! When we got back from town, there was a letter under our door informing us of the wedding and the potential for disruption. But on the upside, at some point, there will be fireworks! They can’t keep us from seeing those.

It’s Happy Hour now, so that must mean we’ve been for our swim! We had planned to swim around until Happy Hour started at 5pm, but by 4.30 we’d had enough and it was actually a bit cool, even for us, so we bailed and went and got dried and dressed. Don’t know where all the people are today, yesterday the Infinity Bar was so packed we couldn’t get a seat. Suffering for my (photographic) art, I sat on the edge of the pool to take my cocktail, toes, pool shot and got a wet arse for my trouble. 

The pool towel station isn’t far but I couldn’t see anyone in attendance but I thought there might be some towels tucked away under the counter so I wandered around. To my absolute surprise, I heard a voice from under the counter, : “can I help you madam?”  The pool towel dude had set himself up a little nest under the counter, warm and dry! I got such a surprise! I got a towel and scurried back to the pool bar, laughing my head off!  

Dinner was back at the Waterfront for a burgers and ribs type night. The meal was nice enough, but the real entertainment was when Trevor tried to surprise order me a cocktail. While I was away from the table, he asked the waitress if there was a cocktail that was like a chocolate milkshake, thinking back to the mudslides we’d had on a cruise. Somehow this gets interpreted as a mojito, the resort’s signature Mojito, the Thai Basil Mojito, mother of all Mojitos!!! It came as a total surprise to both of us and the poor girl thought she’d done the wrong thing and we had to reassure her it was ok. You could have used this drink as paint stripper! Even adding half a glass of water only made it tolerable, and barely that! It was good to try something different and I won’t be left wondering what that one was like! When we went to leave, we got another good laugh – the drink bill. The staff present you with an account of the drinks you’ve had, you sign it and it gets added to your bill. It only took 3 attempts to print off the correct bill and we all had a good laugh.

Making ourselves comfortable

Saturday 18^th August.

Actually managed to sleep in today! Yay! Finally slipping into holiday mode. Again, breakfast is in the Waterfront, and develops into a marathon. After all, we’re on holiday! The main area is where the breakfast is arranged and seating here is for anyone.  The north wing of the Waterfront is reserved for adults only and is a haven for a quiet breakfast. And still 85 or so steps to the food. There is such a variety of food, all cultures are catered for, it’s amazing. And so tempting to try it all. I finished breakfast with a Nutella crepe! Treading dangerous ground here! We took so long with breakfast today it was nearly time to get ready to go in to town.

fruit and yoghurt to start

While we were getting ready there was a dip in the power which we didn’t think much about. It knocked out the air con and the TV which we had on for background music (Thai Channel V) then the water pipes started making a funny noise and we couldn’t turn the cold tap right off. What now!!??

We went to report the problem but it wasn’t just isolated to us, it was resort wide. Phew! I’m sure the beautiful staff at reception cringe a little inside when they see us approach. They’re so lovely and helpful. ‘Is there anything else I can do for you?’ Well, since you’re asking…………… is it possible to get a firmer pillow? They must think,OMG, first the bed is too hard, now the pillow is too soft!! But no, they give a slight bow, very graciously and pull out the ‘pillow menu’. Subject to availability, I can have whatever pillow I think might suit me. And they’re in our room when we get back from town. Bliss!

We ate so much for breakfast today, we may not need lunch! On the 1pm shuttle again to go back in to town to the tailor for a fitting. Dress is great, slight gape on the arm but Tony can adjust that, no need to have worried and the top is spot on. I’m so happy that I order another shirt in a different style, a copy of the other one I brought from home. It’s a blouse I loved so much, I literally wore it out, and have had copies made on our trips to Vietnam. Now I’ll have one from Thailand too. Only need a light, late lunch, that we get at the Happy House Restaurant that we had a beer in yesterday. Just some chicken satay and spring rolls. Although it could turn out to be an expensive meal, I accidentally bit the fork and chipped a bit off a tooth. Bloody hell. Great trip for shit to happen! Filling in some time before the shuttle was due to pick us up, we browse in a shop we walk past. The shop keeper is on us like a seagull on a hot chip, eager to sell us something. You like t-shirt? No thanks. Hmmm, you like scarf? Oooh, scarf you say? Ok, what do you have? Ended up buying a hot red scarf, actually just what I had been wanting for a while. The shuttle arrived at 3.15 and we were the only ones to pick up so the driver offered to drop us at the Bang Niang markets for a quick visit because that was the next pick up, scheduled for 3.45. So of course we say yes. And of course, I buy a dress!  

Dinner tonight has been booked for 7pm so we have time for a longer swim, maybe ¾ hour, and we explored further than yesterday, all the way around to the Aquamarine bar, the swim up bar between wings 3 and 4. The Pool Bar is so busy at Happy Hour, we couldn’t get a seat and ended up going down to the Beach Bar. Blowing pretty hard and some rain, so we had the place to ourselves, except for one other couple. Great chat with the 21 year old barman and I went to take a couple of photos and when I got back, the conversation changed to photography. He’s very interested in photography, has a good camera and offers to take our photo. 

bit windy

Dinner is kebab and curry night in the Waterfront. Persian, Turkish, Moroccan and Indian kebabs, Indian curries, Lebanese and Greek mezzes.

I get chatting to the Indian chef, as you do, and pick up another great idea to go with the garlic and spring onion tip from our dinner at Sakura the other night. Deep fry garlic cloves on low heat. Drain and toss in mixture of salt, mango powder and chilli. It’s his mother’s recipe and is quite special to him, he learnt to cook at his mother’s side and he says some of the best recipes you will never find in a cookbook. He's really proud of his work and appreciates people who appreciate his work.

He also gave us the heads up about an Indian wedding taking place here over the next several days. He's quite excited about it. People have started arriving already, but the main festivities will take place from Monday through until Wednesday, taking the Waterfront Restaurant out of action.

Settling into the JW Marriott

Friday 17^th August 2018.

Yesterday seems like a bad dream, and like it all happened so long ago. We went for a walk after breakfast to check out the local places on the beachfront just outside the resort. There used to be many more, but the government in their wisdom, moved them all along several years ago. Maybe the Marriott didn’t like the competition for food and beverage? There’s several taxi services out here as well, and closer to the road coming in to the Marriott are several little shops, including a tailor, massage/spa service, convenience store, and a couple of restaurants, one Italian and one local. We buy some drinks and snacks although I have no idea when we’re ever going to be hungry enough to need snacks! 

I have read very good reports about a tailor in KL, so I have brought with me a couple of tops I’d like copied and some fabric in case there’s nothing in the shop that I like. The Marriott runs a shuttle bus into town, for a price naturally, but 100THB return pp seems ok, even compared to the local taxi man outside the resort. I think he’s charging 300 THB one way. It’s a 15 min drive to KL town and a bit less to Bang Niang where the night markets run 3 nights per week. Looks like we won’t be able to fit them in until next Wednesday. So much to do, so little time! Good job we booked for 10 nights! 

The shuttle bus departs the resort at 1pm so all too soon, I have to pack up the tops and fabric and we grab some lunch before we head off. Monty the Tailor is about 500m further on than where the bus drops us so that has worked out well. Tony is the tailor, a lovely Indian man who has stories that make us laugh and win our confidence. He tells us he no longer sews for his wife because she won’t take his advice and nothing turns out how she wanted, even though he told her it wouldn’t.  I think Monty is/was his father. He certainly knows his stuff,  gives some great advice regarding my fabric and plans and I end up arranging for one of my shirts to be copied and one piece of fabric made into sundress. I have no worries about the top, but I’m concerned about how the sundress will turn out. Time will tell. I have to come back tomorrow for a fitting. We’re all sorted well before the shuttle is due back so we wander back to the pick up point, seeking out the supplies we always stock up on when in Asia (insect repellent) and the things we have discovered we need. Plunger and coffee is supplied in room but Trevor is an instant coffee fella and instant is hard to come by in the rooms, so Trevor buys a small jar and we get some longlife milk too, as there’s only powder coffee creamer in the room. Funniest thing happened. Trevor wanted to go into a pharmacy to buy the travel sickness pills we bought last time we were in Thailand, so he walks up to the door, and waits for it to open! I wondered what he was doing as it seemed obvious to me that it wasn't an automatic door. Anyway, he stands there, looking, and the assistant comes an opens the door for him!! I needed a good laugh after the trip over here! 
Still time to spare and there is a restaurant called Happy House right at the bus stop, so we sit and have a beer to pass the time.

It’s been go, go, go since we got here and when we get back from town we finally allocate some time for a swim in the amazing 1500m plus pool that winds it’s way through the resort. 

12+ pool area

Words don’t do it justice, you should take a look on the Marriott website. There are 5 wings of accommodation and all the ground floor rooms have direct pool access, ours included. There's a children's pool with water slide and 12+ area with private 2 deck chairs in each space. Trevor has planned ahead and we have some blow up pool noodles to float around with. Of course the pool shop here sells all manner of wonderful blow up floating accessories, a white unicorn with rainbow wings obviously being a big seller, judging by the number of them we have seen in the pool. We did a circuit around the loop closest to our room and it took about half an hour, not rushing. The plan at some stage is to traverse it all, but who knows if that will happen? And really, is there any need? 

It’s a real wrench to get out of the pool but happy hour starts at 5pm and dinner is booked for 6.30 so I really have to drag myself out.  

There are 2 themed dining nights at the resort and the first one is tonight – Tokyo Nights, featuring handmade sushi, maki rolls, yakitori, teppanyaki fresh seafood and meats, tempura, salads and more, to quote the “Food and Beverage Happenings” issued on arrival. We are on an all inclusive package, breakfast, lunch and dinner and to attend this dinner there will be a 200THB surcharge per person, about $8 AUD, so we book a table. The cost to guests not on a package is 1200THB per person, so 8 bucks sounds like a great deal. Booking for dinner is highly advisable here, a bit strange, but when in Rome…………….

teppanyaki, yakatori and tempura

amazing variety of sushi, this one couldn't decide!

pretty desserts, but no thanks.

The dinner is fantastic and we manage to try a bit of everything, even octopus sashimi. It’s a good chance to try things that we normally probably wouldn’t. The lovely waitress Ben from Sakura is here and stops by for a chat to see if we are enjoying ourselves. We struggle towards the end, we have eaten so much, but I manage to find a little bit more room for a dessert sushi, mango sticky rice, so good! I wish I had 2 stomachs! We have managed to score the same table in the Waterfront Restaurant that we have eaten lunch at both days so far, a window table overlooking the beach and the Beach Bar and while we’re eating we notice the horizon has disappeared and gradually so does the surf. It’s being swallowed up by a tropical downpour. That would explain why the attendants had been busily closing the beach umbrellas and arranging the sun lounge seat pads to keep them dry. After all, it is the wet season here and it’s fascinating to watch the showers roll in and over us. They seem sudden and torrential, but very short and they’ve passed by as quickly as they have come. We saw people in town today battening down the hatches and when we looked skyward there was a big, black cloud rolling in. It’s probably not PC to compare the people to ants but if you pay attention to them, you can avoid being caught out and getting wet! There’s a serious drought back home, moreso out in the bush. There are school age children who have never seen rain. Stewart House used to bring kids from the bush into coastal towns so they could have a beachside holiday because these kids had never seen the ocean. Maybe they’ll have to start taking them to WA where they’re still getting rain!

I can’t figure out how I’m still clocking 10 000 steps + on my fitbit, until I decide to count the number of steps from where we’re seated to the buffet. 85 or so steps each way, so I’m working off the food as I eat it!! Hopefully………….. I haven’t counted the number of steps from our room to the Waterfront but we guesstimate it’s around 300-350.