boon's spot: boon's log 4209.02:Randoms - ChiangMai and Hard Rock Hotel, Penang... - family, friends, food, travels, photos, work and other tales...

Time flies when you're having fun... before you know it, the month is gone and the fun's history and remains a memory...

First of all, IL and I made a trip up to Chiangmai, like 4 weeks ago, because our aunt had some timeshare credits that she needed to burn and she had space for 2 more. So, we hunted for cheap AirAsia tickets and flew ourselves the the northern most big city of the Thai Kingdom - Chiangmai. ten ten ten.

Did loads of walking and visiting and most of all, EATING! Yeah, food is really super cheap - rough estimation, okay - 6 of us, 9 dishes comes up to sub-95 ringgits! can you believe that? Fish, chicken, pork, vegetables, tomyam soup... the works! I would really love to go back to Chiangmai again - if not for anything else, but just for the food! I Love Chiangmai.... food.

Sightseeing was also pretty interesting. Did some stuffs there that I never imagined myself doing (if I did not land myself in Chiangmai). For instance... Elephant ride, ATV (All Terrain Vehicle), eating worms (Yeah, baby!). Anyway, here are some photos from our trip... Overall, totally enjoyed the trip and would go back when the "deal is right".

Hor Kham Royal Pavillion at the Royal Flora 2006

Wat Prasingh

Dinner along the Ping River

Deep Fried worms... Yummy!

The famous long necks

Umbrella Industry

Hilltribe women folk

Inside Wat Chedi Luang

Sunday Market...

After our short-week-getaway in Chiangmai, it was back to work again for a couple of weeks - until we hit the sands again recently. And where else to hit the sands but at the brand new Hard Rock Hotel, Penang. It was pretty impressive what they've done with the place, considering the old Casuarina building was quite... well, old. The room was so-so, but I kinda like how they hid the Elvis mural behind the mirrors and how they separated the toilet from the rest of the room.

Food at the HRC was not up to my expectations, though. I think the food in HRC-KL tastes better that the one in Penang. Well, give them time, perhaps they will improve, eh? I hope so. And there wasn't much of a line outside the HRC compared to the long queue at HRC-KL when we were there the last time.

The pools... the pools were spectacular - by far, I think, HRH must have THE biggest pool area in the B. Ferringhi strip... it's got more pool space than walk space outside. Amazing. Maintenance of the pools must cost a bomb!

Overall, it seemed like Ab's the one that enjoyed the short weekend the most - so much so that she did not want to leave the hotel and she kept telling us that she wants to go back to Hard Rock to swim and that she does not want to swim in the pool back at our apartment complex. Haha!

here are some pictures...