Trip to Ko samet (Thailand)

I blog about this quite some time after the trip but I was a little bit busy working on re-creating a software ecosystem for blogging.



Ko Samet is an island 3h hours away from Bangkok.

The bus ticket is 178 bahts (roughly 4€) one-way.

The bus leaves you in Ban Phe. From there you take a boat to cross the sea.

The cruise last roughly half an hour.

The boat ticket is around 100-150 depending on which Ao (meaning Bay) you are going to.


The boat left us at the northern part of the island (we arrived late so there was no other option).

We had to take a taxi to get to Ao Thian which is the southest part of the island.

we were looking for a beach as remote as possible to avoid the crowd. And Ao Thian looks like a very good yet affordable spot.


The taxi doesnt come to cheap (keep in mind it's an island). We shared the taxi with two other people who were not going as far as we were but it helped keep the price reasonnable, understand 300 bahts (for 2).


Ko Samet is, as a whole, a national park. I don't know what exactly they mean by that but I do know that it reduced the content of my wallet by 400 bahts EACH (9€) just to get on the island.

The "trip" to get to Ao Thian is quite long especially since the roads are the worst I've EVER seen in Thailand (and also the worst I've ever seen in the world).

This explains why all the taxis are Toyota pick-up. And since you sit at the back of the cab you better be free of any back aches whatsoever (at least when you get in the cab)


For the accommodation we choose a nice hotel just in front of the beach. We went for the VIP room (yeah I know life is cool sometimes) with a very nice bathroom, AC and TV (pretty much worthless unless you speak Thai)

That will set you up for 1200 bahts (28€).

I dont remember the name of the hotel, it was Coconut something.




We ate at the hotel restaurant. The food was GREAT and of course quite expensive (remember its an island!). But I must admit the prices are fairly decent.


Overall getting to Ko Samet is quite easy, the trip worth it and for the pictures check the next post.

For 2days, I would suggest to budget around 3000 bahts (roughly 65€) if you are looking for something in the mid-range.

Song of the day: Raul Midon

Raul Midon is one of my last discoveries over the last two months.

Let me put it in a simple way: The man is a genius.

He plays guitar incredibly well and his has a beautiful voice.

Did I mention he is blind? More on him and his life after the jump


The song title is "Sunshine" and for me it is the best song of the album with "If you're gonna leave" (which will be embedded in another post later :) )








I saw him for the first time on "Taratata" a french TV emission on music.

I was amazed by his performance. So, although I dont like to embed videos (yeah not everyone has a broaband, high-speed connection) I think this one worth the trouble.


So just press play and enjoy



So, any comment?

A market on the train rails

Yesterday I was browsing and happened to pay a visit to the blog of my friend Max and I find these amazing videos.


Basically it's a market set up on the way of a train. Well words are not enough so here are the two videos.











Now a question: How crazy is that?
Feel free to leave a comment


Thanks Max for this one.

Song of the day: Corinne Bailey Rae

It's been a long time without any song so I know you miss it.


Today let me introduce the wonderful http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif

I embed two songs which are among my favorites. Needless to say that the whole album is a gem.


It's for this kind of album that I bought my Shure 210 (will blog on them soon btw).

Listen to that album is just a wonderful musical experience. This is what i'm talkin about when I say real music

Ok enough talking, here is the first song: My choux pastry Heart






The second one is "Till it happens to u". A beautiful song too (and I mean it)






Let me know what u think in the comments

Funny thing in Thailand

While browsing, I stumbbled across this funny pic:







Yeah, I told you, life in thailand is full of funny surprise.

The Original post is here.

MAC Lover

Needless to say that since I have a MAC, like most of the switcher, I'm in love with MAC OS 10.4.9 (named Tiger).



No more bugs, blue screen of death (you know the blue screen you get when WinXP totally screw up). After weeks of use, it's just what an OS (operating system) is supposed to be.


Actually I came up with a slogan for MAC: "MAC, it just WORKS".



Another thing, are the ROFL (rolling on the floor laughing) times I have when I'm talking with my friends and that they complain about Vista or about some viruses on theirs PCs.

Guess what I tell them then, yeah u have it right "Get a MAC" lol.

I also happened to see one or two weird .exe trying to install themselves on my MAC, I couldn't be more amused.

Guys, dont u get it, they are virtually no virus on MAC so stop trying lol.



Ok, I gotta stopped, I think that my friends can't take it anymore. Here is my 2 cents to them: "Try it and we'll talk about it after that ok?"



I can't let you without a small pic:




This is what I call real MAC love, what u think?

Back with a MAC

Hi back everyone





The blog has been in a sleeping mode lately.


Sorry about that I was busy then lazy lol.


And the browser compatibility issue didn't help that much.





Anyway the thing is: I'm back. Better than ever, with a sweet sweet new laptop.

Basically it was the laptop I was dreaming of namely The MacBook Pro 15'4 aka MBP





Ok, enough word, this is what I'm talkin about










































If u wanna know more about the "beast" well, just click on the link below

The MBP on Apple




And for more pictures, help yourself


The MBP pictures gallery

Song of the day: Tkien Jah Fakoly "Plus rien ne m'étonne"

This is my favorite song at the moment.

It's from Tiken Jah Fakoly, one of the most popular african artist.


His music is a mix of reggae and african music and he speaks about the sufferings of people in Africa and about the corrupted governments too.


You can read this (short) article about him on Wikipedia


The song of the day is entitled "Plus rien ne m'étonne" which can be translated roughly into "Nothing surprise me anymore"



Click on the Play button and Enjoy

Life is not always easy in Cameroon

Somehow, during my trip in Cameroon, I couldnt help but notice the similiraties between Cameroon and Cambodia.

Both countries have some beautiful landscapes, some modern cities but also many places where misery is the best word to describe how people live.


Here are some pics took on the fly.










No comment..

Pictures of Cameroonian Food

Oki, you know I'm into pictures of Food from everywhere.



So, of course, I have some pictures of the good food of cameroon.

I will put the name of the dish (I will use the Cameroonian name and a phonetic orthograph, cuz frankly I have no idea how some name are supposed to be written)





"Ndomba" poulet/Chicken "Ndomba". You have no idea how good this is until you try.





"Sangha". It might not look that attractive, but its one of my favorite dish in cameroon and it's delicious.

I was eatin that all the time. Mum can you bring some when you come in Thailand?





(My bro holdin)The "Top". The national beverage, exist in different "flavors" (read colors, since the main difference between them is the colorant they put inside).

Click on the picture to really size how the "top" bottle looks like