After Phuket’s Big Buddha, our next stop on the way to the airport was a store called SuperCheap. It was a huge mistake to go here in the middle of the day as there is no air conditioning. The place felt like it was over 90 degrees and humid, not exactly a pleasurable shopping experience.

The inside was sort of like a Costco in the states…

…only it was much bigger…

…and the selection was different…

…and included a carcass of something which you could order a piece of if you like.

We didn’t actually buy a thing. Instead, we looked and looked. When we could stand the heat no longer we went to a nearby restaurant for smoothies and shakes to wait for our cab driver to come back.

Given the hustling and outright scams in Thailand, we couldn’t fully enjoy this day with our cab driver. Not only did he try to drive us to a bunch of places we didn’t want to go (so that he could get a commission if we purchased anything at these places), but he had all our luggage in the trunk of his car. Until we made it to the airport my heart couldn’t rest easy.

We did eventually make it to the airport, with luggage too, so we did finally relax. The sunset out the plane’s window was fantastic.

We pulled into Tokyo the next morning to a glorious sunrise. Even though we had some great times in Thailand, and Tokyo is far too cold at the end of December compared to Thailand, I was happy to be “home” in Tokyo. I like living somewhere with a decent infrastructure, where you aren’t asked every two seconds to buy something, and where you don’t have to worry about your safety and security as you walk the streets. The streets of Shinjuku, when we returned on December 29, were very peaceful compared to what we experienced the prior nine days. Actually, they were peaceful compared to most places in the world as most businesses were closed (for the New Year holiday which lasts about a week to 10 days beginning the 29th), many people had left town, and those Tokyoites that were still around stayed warm by staying inside.

Posted on January 24th, 2010 under Thailand. Tags: aerial photography, clouds, phuket, skywatch, Travel. Comments: 1

The Big Buddha of Phuket is big, giant even. If you have seen the Daibutsu of Kamakura, imagine one more than three times as large on a hilltop. Personally, the Kamakura Daibutsu is more awe inspiring to me, but it had 750+ years to get that way. The scaffolding doesn’t help Phuket’s Big Buddha win this comparison at the moment either.

It’s a bit of a pilgramage to get to the Buddha’s base. The road leading to the parking lot includes at least a dozen speed bumps (and we scraped across each one in our driver’s Toyota loaded down with five people and luggage). Then there are the stairs up in the heat and humidity.

The views from the top, of the Buddha and of the surrounding area, are well worth the effort.

Posted on January 23rd, 2010 under Thailand. Tags: buddhist, clouds, phuket. Comments: None

Our flight back to Japan, from Phuket through Bangkok, was a “red eye” so we didn’t need to arrive at the airport until late afternoon. We hired a taxi to take us to a few places before dropping us off at the airport. The first place we went was to the south, to the top of Mount Nagakerd, where Phuket’s Big Buddha is being constructed.

The bronze Buddha on the left is dedicated to the queen of Thailand. The Big Buddha is, you guessed it, dedicated to the king.

This is what the grounds are supposed to look like when everything is finished. Like most things we encountered in Thailand, I’m guessing this place will be partially finished for years to come.

Ellie, once again, couldn’t enter without covering up.

Posted on January 22nd, 2010 under Thailand. Tags: buddhist, ellie, phuket. Comments: None

The Sea Hag was our favorite restaurant on Phuket. We went two nights in a row. After the first night I took the above photo of Ellie enjoying the warm evening.

I made friends with this guy. He set up our chairs on the beach. Later on he noticed I was reading a book in Japanese so after we chatted for a while I ended up teaching him some phrases in Japanese that he could use on Japanese tourists. He practiced them every time he approached me the rest of the day, but I don’t think they were sticking too well.

Posted on January 21st, 2010 under Thailand. Tags: beach, ellie, people, phuket. Comments: 1