Lindissi

I had booked a room at the Hyatt Regency Monterey Resort & Spa on Del Monte Golf Course through hotels.com.  When I arrived at the Hyatt Regency on Saturday evening I was told they did not have a room available.  So, at no fault of my own, I found myself in Monterey, CA on Saturday evening of Memorial day weekend with no accommodations.  I had booked my hotel in advance and had been charged by hotel.com.

The solution offered by hotels.com was unacceptable to me.  I booked at Hyatt Regency Monterey Resort & Spa on Del Monte Golf Course a 3.5 star rated hotel (according to hotels.com). This hotel is situated on a beautiful golf course and offers many amenities and has a high guest rating as well.  After researching, I selected this hotel based on the high guest rating and the promotional rate offered by hotels.com.The Hyatt Regency took no accountability and suggested only that I contact who I booked it with.  Thus, I spent the next hour on the phone with hotels.com.

I was told the manger of hotels.com was communicating with the manager at the Hyatt but that there where no available rooms. The hotels.com operator offered to book me another hotel and started listing off 2 star hotels such as Super 8, Howard Johnson, Days Inn, etc...  I found this unacceptable. I would expect to receive a hotel on par with that of which I booked.  None of the hotels listed offered the amenities or had the rating of the one I booked.  I told this to the operator and she merely said these where the closest and she couldn't see the Hyatt's rating as there were no room available.  I found this absurd, I just went there and without entering dates I easily found the rating.  They  where offering hotels that where the same price or less as they didn't want to cover any price difference for a hotel on par with the Hyatt on the Memorial day weekend.

No other solution was offered by the operator expect that I could go find myself a hotel  and get a full refund.  As it was nearing 6:30pm and I was suppose to meet my family at 7. I took  the refund. I had no opportunity to relax and clean up before dinner after driving all day.  After dinner, I had to drive to hotel to hotel until I could find one that had vacancy.  I got the last room at another motel which was not on par with the Hyatt Regency.

Thus at the fault of hotels.com and Hyatt Regency my Memorial day weekend getaway did not turn out as it should have.

I question the process of hotels.com if I can receive confirmation and be charged and not have a room! Hotels.com is trusting a sent fax as fact that I have a room booked.  They seem to be naively trusting that the faxes was received and processed and that a room was waiting for me.  Shouldn't there be a response expected from the hotel before confirming and charging me.  Based on this experience I can no longer trust any room I reserve with hotels.com.   I also question why the Hyatt Regency didn't seem to "find" this fax until May 13th when it was supposedly sent on the 2nd. And why they didn't according to hotels.com tell them that there was none available. It seems they decided not to honor the rate for this busy weekend and choose to ignore it.

Needless to say I had a great time in Thailand. So, I just wanted to pass on some of the Gotchas we encountered. The Thai people are very friendly even when they are lying to your face to force you to go shopping so they can make a buck or a baht. So here they are:

In Bangkok, people mainly men approach you on the street and ask where you are going. You respond with "Grand Palace" or "Wat Pho" or wherever. They will tell you it is closed or hasn't opened yet. Typically, this is not true. Then will continue to ask you for a map and circle other sites that they recommended, these sites are farther away and require a tuk-tuk or cab to get there. They offer you a tuk-tuk for super cheap around 40 baht, but they also include a stop or two to shop either at tailor or jewelry shop. Now if you don't mind the annoyance of forced shopping then 40 baht is super cheap. Obviously, you don't have to buy anything. The big issue is when you want to see something and they say it is closed, then you are missing out. One guy told us Wat Pho was closed, which annoyed us because it was our last day so this misconception could have cost us seeing the place. Luckily we where more savvy by then and kept walking to Wat Pho which was of course open.

In Chaing Mai, they took a different approach. Men with very good English skills approach on the street saying they are visiting from out of town too. One guys said Singapore, another said Melbourne. They are all trying to suggest you go to the major shopping area on the out skirts of town where they sell jewelry, hand crafts, parasols, tapestry, etc. One went even so far as to blatantly lie that there was a festival going on with dancers and such that finished at 3pm. Of course, there was no festival only the shops.

As for shopping at markets you will be over charged. Haggle! One thing that worked well was saying "your neighbor was going to sell it for X amount." Where X amount was what ever we wanted to buy it at.

Always have the taxi turn on the meter. They tend to try to give you a flat rate but you have no idea if it is fair or not. Of course, even on the meter they can still get you by taking the long way or driving in circles and you won't be able to tell.

At airports, people will approach ask where you are going and offer to drive you there. I suggest going to the Taxi Stand which costs an extra 50 baht.

We where trying to find the Airport Shuttle once and had to weed through countless number of people trying to offer to drive us where we wanted to go. Some would even say there was no Airport Shuttle which we eventually got too. Needless to say, ask multiple people to try to figure out the truth and at the Airport there is a Information desk.

Oh and for boys you'll be approached for other reasons...wink...wink....so nasty. I don't have any advice for dealing with them because I didn't have to, but I would suggest you just politely go on about your business.   I did get to play connect 4 and Jenga with a madam though...but that is a different story.  We where just looking for beer and could only find the bars that served as fronts for prostitution.  We gave in. Sat down ordered beer and the older one (i assume the madam) busted out the connect 4.  Overall good experience.  Then they even told us where we could go dancing at a real club and not a meat market.  On and boys watch out for the lady boys.

Yes you will see prostitution.  They use bars and massage parlors as fronts.  My Thai friend had the best advice.  If you want a real massage go to the massage parlor with old ladies.  I did have quite a few massage from old ladies! Haha.

Let's see any other advice...pack light there are lots of place to wash clothes and they are cheap.  Don't forget the bug spray (I used a  eucalyptus based spray that doesn't have an deet).

Just thought of this the hotels usually have card at the front desk that have the name of the hotel written in Thai with directions in Thai and everything.  They are great to hand to Taxi's in order to get you to your temporary home stay and sound.  Grab 'em.

Also, if you want to check out some more pics visit my Picasa Web Album. I had a terrific time on the overnight hike where we got to sleep on bamboo mats with bed rolls in a hut where you could peak through the walls.  The annoying beasts of the villages (chickens, pigs, dogs) woke us before day break.  I thought they where suppose to wait till the sun was rising...crazy roosters.  There are also pics of all the amazing temples we visited and the Grand Palace in Bangkok was awesome.  You can also see the beach front bungalows that we stayed at on Koh Chang.

Thailand 2008

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Besides for eating bunches of yummy Thai food, Bec and I put our cooking skilz to the test. We enrolled our selves into the Koh Chang Thai Cooking School. Sa Wat Dee Kha Kin Khai Rauh Yang? The previous statement is the first thing they taught us and it means "Hello have you eaten yet?" Useful phrase for all those aspiring Jewish mothers out there. We are taught by Leng (which means dragon), she is the owner of the restaurant and cooking school. She does all the instructions but is helped with preparations and supervision our cooking talents by Nam (water) and Lab (sleep). So, basically Dragon lady, Water girl and Sleepy are our teachers. The first page of our cook book has drawings of animals including a cow, a chicken, a pig, a shrimp, a crab and a fish. We learn the Thai words for each of these which are Wua, Gai, Moo, Ghoong, Poo and Pla. Egg is Kai and New is Beef. I believe De is vegetarian. There are 10 of us in the group. Becky and I, 2 Germans, 2 Asian Australians, 2 Dutch, 1 French girl and Canadian guy that live in Hong Kong together. They are all very nice.

We beginning by making Pad Thai. My favorite! We all cut our ingredients and then one person cooks while the other assist and vice versa. First we make Pad Thai sauce together. The recipes makes enough sauce for two servings of Pad Thai.

1/2 cup coconut sugar - hard packed (substitute palm sugar or other sugar but use less)
3 tablespoons fish sauce
3 tablespoons tamarind sauce (sour kind of tamarind, sub rice or apple vinegar but only 2 tablespoons)
2 tables chili sauce (for color only)

Mix, on low heat stir until sugar resolves.
This will keep in refrigerator for 1 month.

Next we prepare the ingredients for 1 serving of Pad Thai:
2-3 tablespoons vegetable or sunflower oil any oil except olive
2-3 teaspoons chopped shallot
2 tablespoons tofu (hard)
1 teaspoon pound dried shrimps (soak in water for 1 minutes)
2teaspoons chopped pickled white radish (sub carrot)
fresh shrimps or chicken
1gg
rice noodle or vermicelli
3 to5 tablespoon Pad Thai sauce
1/4 Chinese chives (cut in 1 inch pieces)
1/2 cup bean sprout



Cook Over med/high heat (for beginners) high heat for pros. It should take about 7 minutes
1. Heat vegetable oil until hod, add chopped shallot fry until you can smell them
2. Add tofu, dried shrimp and pickled white radish
3. Add fresh shrimps or chicken cook until done and set a side.
4. Add 1 beaten egg, move all the ingredients on top and wait until the egg is firm and turn over (like omelet).
5. Add a handful of rice noodle
6. Add 304 tables of sauce and mix everything
7. Add some chili powder
8. Add bean sprouts an Chinese chives mix well
9 Serve with lime piece, crushed peanuts and fresh Chinese chives and bean sprouts.



Yummy! It was the best. We ate this before we started on the rest. Usually Pad Thai is just a side dish and not a main course.



After our snack. We each pair made a different kind of soups. We made Tom Kha Gai which means Galangal Chicken soup. Galangal is part of the ginger family. Another group Tom Kha Ghoong and the rest made Tom Tom Yam.. Tom Yam means spicy sour soup. There are two styles Nam Sai which is clear water and Nam Khon which is creamy water.

I won' g into the recipe if you want to try it let me know, but here is me cooking it up and the the base ingredients.



For the main dish we made curry. Most of the groups made a Red Curry Paste which is used as the base for most curries including:
panaeng - peanut,
massaman - more oily,
jungle - spicy
yellow - more curry powder

One group made green curry past which is used for green curry. The only difference is that green chilies are used instead of red.

Anyways there is a lot of ingredients and time to create curry paste. The good news its that it does keep for a month. It is probably easier to buy the store's curry paste and doctor it up with shallots and garlic. 

After you make (or buy) the curry paste all you need is:
100 grams of chicken breast,
1/2 cup aubergine, coconut heart, long bean, pumpkin
1/2 coconut cream
3 cups coconut milk
1 teaspoon coconut sugar
2 teaspoons fish sauce
1/4 cup sweet basil leave
2-3 kaffir lime leave



Here I am hard at work:

How to cook:
1. Heat 1/2 cup cup of coconut cream and add 1.5 tablespoon red curry paste stir fry until fragrant and add torn kaffir lime leaves
2. Add chicken and cook until done and more coconut milk when curry looks dry
3. Add aubergine, mix well and add coconut milk slowly cook until soft
4. season with coconut sugar and fish sauce.
5 serve with sweet basil, sliced kaffir lime leaves and sliced spur chili, add coconut cream on top.
* for step 3 you add different ingredient's based on curry type. 
For mussaman add potato and onion and for go the basil.



Here we are enjoying the completed works fr the group.  We feasted on 5 types of soups and 5 types of curry.  Afterwards, we had mango and sticky rice

Elephants and Thai people have a special bond.  The elephants are revered by the hearts of Thais.  They are the symbol of the Thai royalty.  That being said elephants in Thailand face a decline in habitation, the domesticated elephants outnumber the wild ones and of course they face poachers.   These intelligent beast of burden have historically played an important role in Thailand. The white elephant is am important symbol in their monarchy and elephants adorn many temples. Even today they are have proven why we are so fascinated with them.  Recently,  BBC reported that elephants where used to record evasive tiger cubs for a documentary.



One of the many things I've wanted to do during my travels is ride an elephant. After failing to do so in India I was looking forward to it on my Thailand trip.  Some people including myself have mixed emotions about riding a elephant particularly in regards to how they are treated.  It is hard to tell whether the elephant you are riding has been treated well or not.  But, we must keep in mind that elephants like many animals have been domesticated for a long time. A mahout is the elephant trainer.  A mahout is with an elephant for his life, since typically the elephant outlives the man.  Like with training dogs the mahout has to establish dominance. Since elephants are much larger and more dangerous than dogs more precautions are taken.  I remember when I was on a jeep safari in India and we encountered a herd of wild elephants.  The driver and guide got very nervous, shut off the engine and made sure we were all very quiet.  Given their size elephants are not to be taken lightly.



While in Thailand I rode two elephants.  The first is below.  Becky and I where in Chaing Mai, Thailand which is the northern territory.  We along with 8 others rode a group of elephants for one hour and then continued on our trek to a village.  Our elephants was the lead elephant and the largest.



We bought bushels of banana to feed the hungry snout that came back to great us.



The rest of the group behind us! 



Our second elephant adventure was on Koh Chang which means Elephant Island.   "Koh" means island and "Chang" means elephant.  Chang is also a beer.    This time we where with the elephants for two hours and we got to take turns sitting on its head.  Which was a little unnerving but completely safe. 



We also got to bath with the elephants are the ride.  Becky wasn't wearing her bikini but didn't want to miss the experiences so she went in with her clothes on. 



These pictures are when I almost got ran over by the elephant exiting the poll.  It was quit rocking there so I didn't think it would exit that way. Needless to say I escaped unharmed....



Here we are at the end of the trail.

Yes I rode an elephant....twice!

During my vacation in Thailand, I spent a few hours talking to a few young monks. I found two temples in Chiang Mai that offer "Monk Chat." At these temples they set a few hours aside a few times a week where monks and visitors can chat. The monks come typically to practice English. The visitors come out of curiosity or to learn more about Buddhism, the lives of the monks and Thai culture. I found the experience altered my preconceived notions of monks. You know, peaceful and non judgmental and all that stuff..





I spoke with two monks. Primarily, Ugone who is from Loas and spoke excellent English. The other monk spoke very little English and basically just listened to Ugone and I talk. He giggled quite a lot too. Ugone became a monk when his mother died, he was under the age of ten then. It is customary for male children to becomes monks when their mothers die. He is now 20 and studying environmental studies. Mr. Giggles was a little younger maybe 18. The 3 of us sat at some tables under umbrellas at Wat(Temple) Chedi Luang. Other monks moved the umbrellas to make sure I had some shade. Very appreciated! It is hot!





Wat Chedi Luang is about 6000 years old. It used to house the famous Emerald Buddha but that is now in its own temple in Bangkok. Wat Chedi Luang is famous not only for its history but for the elephant status that decorate the base.





Our conversation begin just like most would with introductions and personal stories. I also learned Ugone had just got a laptop and he was having some trouble installing a driver. So, I somehow became monk tech support. I offered him my e-mail in case he had more questions. After learning about where they came from and what they are studying. I asked some basic questions about Buddhism and the like. I learned the color of the robe doesn't have anything to do with the rank or age of the monk, the colors that are used by different sects of monks are arbitrary. The groups just pick there colors. The orange robes are worn by the city monks who focus on learning and education and the burgundy robes are worn by forest monks that focus on mediation. I also learned that Buddhism practices in Thailand are stricter than Chinese or Japanese Buddhism. Apparently, Chinese and Japanese monks may marry and touch women and all that fun stuff while Thai monks can't even touch women. He described Thai Buddhism as the "Catholic" of Buddhism practitioners.


Ugone talked about being "Clear" or knowing your path in life and how to reach to any situation put in front of you. He found himself to be very "Clear" and that I and Mister Giggles are not. Hmmmm...okay. I am sure it is great to have your entire life planned out and to be prepared for any situation but unfortunately for all of us shit happens and no matter what your plans is something is going to have to change and no matter how much you train or plan or study there will be challenges that may overwhelm you. But he has his life planned out for now. He also told me to look in for happiness and don't convent people's Mercedes.


Ugone told me that he plans to stop being a monk after his studies and to maybe go into computers or something where he can make a lot of money. Coming from someone who just told me not to want someone else Mercedes I found this humorous. Then he asked me if I had any secrets. I'm thinking like what? Do I have someone buried in the backyard...mmm...no! So, I say something like, "mmmm...not really." He then states everyone has secrets. Ok, what kind of secrets are we talking about here.... I don't go off spouting every thought that comes to my mind but typically if someone asks me a direct questions I will *usually* answer honestly. As a after thought I thought he may considers some things secrets that I don't like sex. Yes, I have had sex! My mother knows this so big fucking secret. I don't go introducing myself to people and include that but hey it really isn't a secret. After this continued for awhile he says I am dishonest. I think everyone is somewhat dishonest or has been dishonest to someone at some point in their lives but I don't find dishonesty as one of my primary characteristics. So, I ask why do you think I am dishonest. He replies because he studied psychology . So, from a psychology course and talking to be for a brief time he decided I was dishonest. At this point I felt like leaving but I don't. I also think that if you are trying to get me to agree with is point of views insulting me isn't going to help, his psychology class should have taught him that people will more likely get defensive and attach back or build a wall against him and his ideas.


It was almost time for me to leave because I told Becky I would be back at the hotel before then but I didn't want to leave on a bad note. So, we go one to talk about more things. like American politics. He says he likes Obahma but thinks McCain is going to win because the American people are afraid. This is his opinion but I hope we prove him wrong.


He also said that he thinks men are better than women because men rule. I am thinking why is a monk who in my view should be non-judgmental declaring men are better. Because the rule!?! I think many people in ruling positions have huge character flaws like being greedy or power hungry so I cannot classify these people as better.


Additionally, Ugone likes war movies because soldiers know how to react to every situation. I spoke to my office mate about this statement, she is an marine. She basically says that training helps but they didn't always know how to handle everything. Anyway, I digress to my point that the monk like WAR MOVIES!


Eventually, I really had to leave because I was super late to meet Becky. They wanted me to come back to talk more but I told them it was my last day in Chiang Mai. Mr. Giggles teased me and asked if he could come with me. Then he told me he would be thinking about me....I am sure he meant something like he will be praying for me or something.


All in all even with the insults. I found it to be a worth while experience and decided that these where young men just like most young men around the world and becoming a monk for them is a way to a better education and opportunities in life that they otherwise wouldn't have had in their villages. Most monks, like Ugone, do not stay monks forever and they can leave whenever they like. I think it would have been a different experience to talk to a life long monk. At least it would be interested to be able to contrast them. I do recommend the "Monk Chat" experience to any visitors of Thailand. It is one of the few places you can talk to locals and learn more about Thai people and their cultural.


I didn't get any pictures of this but I also saw monks on cell phones, monks smoking cigarettes and monks with Starbucks cups!

I am renting a detached studio or "granny flat" which is located behind my house. It is available February 1st; however, the move in date is negotiable an earlier date may be possible. 6 month lease minimum. Rent is $795 a month plus $800 deposit. Also a $20 fee will be charged for credit check payable with submitted applications. Rent includes utilities.

About the Studio:

* ~350 square feet
* LARGE kitchen with newer stove/oven and cabinets, new refrigerator.
* Its own independent structure -- no noisy neighbors above, below, on top of or beside you
* PERFECT for a graduate student: 1 mile from SDSU. Conveniently located a couple blocks from Starbucks. Very quiet.
* FREE washer and dryer on the premises -Shared
* HUGE backyard with bbq
* Ample on-street parking
* One Person Maximum only
* No pets

Please e-mail at lstocks@acm.org or call Lindsay at (619) 890 - 1000