Who can evade his capture?

http://www.nozomionline.com/media/avoider.html

Don't let him capture your mouse!

From the Missus

Tales from the EarthSea

Tales from the EarthSea

Studio Ghibli's latest offering: Tales From The EarthSea
Download the trailer here:
http://s21.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0A0T7FTIS2P3E2PUZNDQ0BK975

The music is super nice! Now I can't wait to watch it. Anybody wanna watch? Hee.

Coming out 7/7/2006 (in Japan I think)

Travel Insurance Info

UTHi!!

Shirley here.. first time to post. Not sure how to send the info to the person... haha.. dun even know who to send to. So i'll jus post here. :)

Full Name : Lim Shea Li Shirley
NRIC : S83******
DOB : ****

Contact : 9*******
Address: *******

Email : springclassics@hotmail.com

Place(s) : Krabi (?? Everyone is the same for this right? or put Bangkok?)
Departure date : 14 May 2006
Return date : 18 May 2006

Hope that's enough. Anything contact me directly at the number above.. hehe... easier lah. :P

Editor: Please look at the comments for more info. I just omit some stuff for privacy sake.

Travel Insurance

Hi. Boys and Girls ... I need the info as follows:

• Full Name :
• NRIC :
• DOB :
• Contact :
• Address:
• Email :

its for the insurance man.
:)

And also for the trip:

• Place(s) :
• Departure date :
• Return date :

Just leave ur details inside the Comments. I will consolidate. Huifang get Shirley's details k?

Cheers to my Krabi Kakis !

Homo Sapiens VS Cockroaches

Homo Sapiens VS Cockroaches


Mini Documentary at night: Homo Sapiens VS cockroaches

Growl. That was the sound of the female homo sapien's stomach. It was way pass midnight and was time for her nightly forage into the dense jungle stocked with edibles known as: The Kitchen.

As she gingerly took out the remnants of a tub of yogurt, ready to devour it, out of her eye, she spots a sluggish cockroach across the floor. The homo sapien, can be said to be one of the most cunning animals ever to lived on Earth.

Previously, she had let the cockroach go off on its own business without ever harming it, but seeing that its storage of food maybe threatened by it, a form plans in her head.

Nonchalently, she starts to head off towards the dining room, heading towards her tools of destruction. Newspaper. Rolled.
Insecticide. Checked.

By then, the cockroach had sensed the human sensing its presence and has gone into hiding in the shadows.

The human continues to check out the cockroach to and fro. Unknown to the cockroach, her powerful sense of vision can still detect the cockroach in the shadows regardless of how camouflaged the cockroach is.

Slowly, steadily, stalking the prey, the human inches her way nearer and nearer. She gets ready the insecticide.

Psssssst!!
The cockroach scrambles out into the open in panick.
WHAM! One cold blow to the cockroach has flinged it into the air landing smack right in the middle of The Kitchen. On further observations, the abdomen has split with some innards spilling out. Victim is still fresh, twitching about.

Using her analyzing skills, she links the cat not eating the roach to a foul taste. Hence, it is decided to leave the roach as rich pickings for tiny scavengers called Black Ants.

Flick! Flicker, flicker!
The smart roach, sense imminent danger from the toxic fumes, started to panicked, moving its way zig zaggedly, in a blurred manner.

"Ahuh! Easy pickings" thinks the homo sapien. Patiently, she watches as the newcomer scrambles up the kitchen table, went up the sugar and salt containers, trying to fly but cannot succeed, finally scrambled down the pole near the toilet. Once it reaches near the wall, WHAM!

This time, the impact is even greater. On landing, the wings seperated from the cockroach. The cockroach lay there in its pool of greenish ooze.

The Human had won over the Roaches.

enneagram test

enneagram test

Courtesy of Silmoon:

The Quick and Painless ENNEAGRAM Test

I find it holds true for me. Below are my results:

the Adventurer

"I am happy and open to new things"

Adventurers are energetic, lively, and optimistic. They want to contribute to the world.

How to Get Along with Me

* Give me companionship, affection, and freedom.
* Engage with me in stimulating conversation and laughter.
* Appreciate my grand visions and listen to my stories.
* Don't try to change my style. Accept me the way I am.
* Be responsible for youself. I dislike clingy or needy people.
* Don't tell me what to do.

What I Like About Being a Seven

* being optimistic and not letting life's troubles get me down
* being spontaneous and free-spirited
* being outspoken and outrageous. It's part of the fun.
* being generous and trying to make the world a better place
* having the guts to take risks and to try exciting adventures
* having such varied interests and abilities

What's Hard About Being a Seven

* not having enough time to do all the things I want
* not completing things I start
* not being able to profit from the benefits that come from specializing; not making a commitment to a career
* having a tendency to be ungrounded; getting lost in plans or fantasies
* feeling confined when I'm in a one-to-one relationship

Sevens as Children Often

* are action oriented and adventuresome
* drum up excitement
* prefer being with other children to being alone
* finesse their way around adults
* dream of the freedom they'll have when they grow up

Sevens as Parents

* are often enthusiastic and generous
* want their children to be exposed to many adventures in life
* may be too busy with their own activities to be attentive

You're a Dim Bulb (And I mean that in the best possible way)

You're a Dim Bulb (And I mean that in the best possible way)
Email This Entry

Interesting short article about human brain by Carl Zimmer:

I have a fondness for collecting brain lore--memes about the wonders of the human brain that race around the world for decades. The classic of brain lore is the "ten-percent myth." As I wrote here, people often claim we only use ten percent of our brain, implying that we'd be supergeniuses if we could just switch on the rest. But that's just based on a misinterpretation of some studies in the 1930s. Actually, the energy consumed by the cortex is only enough to power one percent of its neurons at any time.

In a press release descibing the work of Stanford bioengineer Kwabena Boahen, I stumbled on another meme:

According to Boahen, the brain is capable of performing 10 quadrillion (that's 10 to the 16th) "calculations," or synaptic events, per second using only 10 watts of power. At this rate, he says, a computer as powerful as the human brain would require 1 gigawatt of power.

I searched for the origin of this meme, and discovered Paul Valery, an early 20th century poet and essayist. He declared:


The ultimate "computer," our own brain, uses only ten watts of power -- one-tenth the energy consumed by a hundred-watt bulb.

It's a claim that falls in that gray zone, the intersection of cool and crazy. So to see if it was actually true, I asked Bill Leonard, an expert on the evolution of human brains at Northwestern University. He responded thusly:

This is really interesting. The 10 watt estimate looks pretty close to being correct -- perhaps a bit on a the low side, but certainly in the ballpark.

In terms of calories, here is how the 10 watts translate:

10 watts = 10 joules/sec = 207 kcal/day for the brain

At 200-210 kcals, this is enough energy to support a brain of about 1000 grams, at the low end of the modern human range.

For an average size human brain -- 1300 -1400 grams -- the costs would be a bit higher -- between 250-300 kcal/day. However, this would only up the "wattage" to about 15.

So there you go. One urban myth survives the cold scrutiny of reason! Pass it on in the full confidence that it's true (not to mention amazing).

Some places i wanna go

Some places i wanna go

BKK:

I am thinking of paying a trip down to Siriraj hospital museum. :D anybody up for it? I think it won't take up much of the whole day right?

Excerpt from a forum:

on Friday, I went to Siriraj hospital museum ALONE. It's freaking scary in their anatomical museum! I wanted my bf to go with me, but he's not interested in museums, so I made the trip down myself. I almost wanted to run out of that museum, but I forced myself to stay calm and examine the exhibits. It contains different preserved body parts, lots of dead babies (unsuitable to view if you're pregnant), and 2 preserved human bodies. There was no one in that museum except myself! Inside is a smaller room with lots of human skeletons. There're a row of hanging human skeletons at the back with the picture of their deceased owners, I quickly walked past, and dare not really stare hard at the exhibits in case they move or something! Moreover, hospitals are known to be unclean. Aaaahhh! Go if you like such creepy stuff!

Their parasitical museum is also damn gross with jars of preserved dead worms found in human bodies like hook worms, whip worms, pin worms, round worms, tape worms. Yucks! I lost my appetite after viewing all these gross worms! Lots of worms, different sizes! Yucks!

I'm also thinking of going to RCA Plaza for the go-kart. According to the same person who wrote the above excerpt, she made 10 rounds in 10 mins. Dunno whether is it cos the tracks super short or what... but can go take a look right?

Also she recommended checking out the clubs near RCA like Route66.

Food:

Someone recommended buying Bologna pork with chilli. It's a round ham with chilli slices embedded in it. Yum! Much better than the paprika ham in sg (no kick that one) Even the non-chilli fan also recommend it. :)
Can buy at Siam Paragon or at Villa Market.

She also recommended ChokChai Farm Milk. Yummy! I will sure want to buy my Meiji Pandan flavoured milk too (not available in sg)

Anybody wanna add to the itenary of going where?
(Sorry ladies, I like kinda spoil sport hor, din want to shop the whole day :p I'm sure we can shop 1 whole day and reserve the next day to view some places of interest otherwise no point going to other countries for the sake of shopping right?)

Maybe we can take Yunxi's suggestion of going to the zoo too hee

I went to Dusit zoo on Saturday, surprisingly, I like it! I thought it's gonna be smelly and there'll be nothing much to see, and I wanted to go there to for boat paddling. But instead, the animals came out with quite funny antics. The orang utan knows how to beg for food, and hid when I was trying to take his picture. We saw a pair of monkeys grooming each other, checking each other eyes, noses, and teeth. Even the hippos were quite active and the baby hippo looks quite cute! We didn't have time to paddle boat since we arrived late.

What do all of you think? Others don't go is ok, but i wanna see my parasites and dead bodies! hahaha

Cafe Mutiny!

Cafe Mutiny!

Let's Strike! Protest! Riot! Havoc!

Krabi Trip

Activities we can do at Krabi

Provided the weather permits.

Sport activities

CANOEING
There are various establishments particularly on Ao Phra Nang and Railey beaches where you can hire canoes, either by hour or by day. A few charter companies in the area also offer canoeing expeditions along the coast or around the islands in the area.

SNORKELING, SCUBA DIVING and FISHING TRIPS are organized from most beaches, some offering canoeing in two-person kayaks, sailing and windsurfing. If some sport is not offered at your beach, you can easily take one of the regular long-tail boats to the next beach and probably find it there.

ROCK CLIMBING
This is a popular pastime in Krabi and the limestone cliffs in the area seem to have been created by nature for this very purpose. World renowned for the spectacular views and accessibility the cliffs of Krabi see flocks of tourists and avid climbers annually. One of the more popular, particularly with inexperienced climbers is the climb to see the Princess Lagoon and the scintillating views across the karst landscape both inland and out to sea that lies next to Railey Beach. There are fixed ropes to assist you at the steeper points, but most of it is a forest hike. Access is at the south end of either Railey East or Phra Nang beach.

Nightlife

Rocking at the Reggae Bar

The Reggae Bar on Phi Phi Island is the biggest, noisiest and probably the most fun. Measuring 25 metres by 75 metres, the bar is more of an entertainment complex.

as the smaller bars on the island close, the crowd moves into the Reggae. Spirited dancing and partying carries on through the night.

There are a few bars concentrated at the northern end of Ao Nang (just at the point where the road heads inland). Laid back and easy going with bottled beer and cocktails the order of the day. Most have outside drinking areas on the street - big comfy bamboo and cushioned chairs, music playing (loud but too intrusive). The @rt bar was our preferred choice (good cocktails) but the Reggae Bar across the road was always busy too.
There is the occasional rave organised, but this tends to be away from the main centre on a secluded beach and entails a boat trip.

Dress Code:
Shorts and T-shirts the norm
Nightlife Locations
Cat's Eye Bar
Ao Nang, Krabi Phone: (0) 7563 7710
260 Moo 2 Fax: (0) 7563 7720

Orchidae Beach Bar
Ao Nang, Krabi Phone: (0) 7564 4 3213
Klong Muang Beach 98 Moo 3 Fax:

Oscars
Krabi Town, Krabi Phone:
Soi 5 Maharat Road Fax:

The Safety Stop
Ao Nang, Krabi Phone: (0) 7563 7242
143 Moo 2 Fax: (0) 7563 7246

Viva Pizzeria Restaurant & Bar
Krabi Town, Krabi Phone: (0) 7563 0517
29 Prudsa Uthit Road Fax:


This is the nearest beach to our resort.
(I think we can ask the hotel ppl when the low tide is :) who knows maybe we can catch tiny crabs hahaha)

Hat Noppharat Thara

This beach is on the western side of the Krabi town. The park covers an extensive area of the main land and 80 islands including Phi Phi Islands.

20 km west of Krabi and 3 miles long, this beach is lined with a majestic Casuarina forest. The beach is a part of Koh Phi Phi National Marine Park. Just as in the case of Ao Nang , during low tides, it is possible to reach other islands in the bay on foot.

Extension of Stay in BBK

Please vote whether you would like to extand your in BBK for another day, that is to say we'll be returning on the 19 instead of the proposed 18 May.

Add your comments, votes, kinky ideas, whatever, in the 'comments' section.

Cheerios

Children Learn by Monkey See, Monkey Do. Chimps Don't.

By CARL ZIMMER
Published: December 13, 2005

I drove into New Haven on a recent morning with a burning question on my mind. How did my daughter do against the chimpanzees?

A month before, I had found a letter in the cubby of my daughter Charlotte at her preschool. It was from a graduate student at Yale asking for volunteers for a psychological study. The student, Derek Lyons, wanted to observe how 3- and 4-year-olds learn. I was curious, so I got in touch. Mr. Lyons explained how his study might shed light on human evolution.
Skip to next paragraph
Victoria Horner

Yoyo using a stick at the top and front of a black box, above, to retrieve candy inside after seeing a human do so. But seeing the same prize inside a clear box, top, Umugezi figured out the fastest way to the candy.

His study would build on a paper published in the July issue of the journal Animal Cognition by Victoria Horner and Andrew Whiten, two psychologists at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. Dr. Horner and Dr. Whiten described the way they showed young chimps how to retrieve food from a box.

The box was painted black and had a door on one side and a bolt running across the top. The food was hidden in a tube behind the door. When they showed the chimpanzees how to retrieve the food, the researchers added some unnecessary steps. Before they opened the door, they pulled back the bolt and tapped the top of the box with a stick. Only after they had pushed the bolt back in place did they finally open the door and fish out the food.

Because the chimps could not see inside, they could not tell that the extra steps were unnecessary. As a result, when the chimps were given the box, two-thirds faithfully imitated the scientists to retrieve the food.

The team then used a box with transparent walls and found a strikingly different result. Those chimps could see that the scientists were wasting their time sliding the bolt and tapping the top. None followed suit. They all went straight for the door.

The researchers turned to humans. They showed the transparent box to 16 children from a Scottish nursery school. After putting a sticker in the box, they showed the children how to retrieve it. They included the unnecessary bolt pulling and box tapping.

The scientists placed the sticker back in the box and left the room, telling the children that they could do whatever they thought necessary to retrieve it.

The children could see just as easily as the chimps that it was pointless to slide open the bolt or tap on top of the box. Yet 80 percent did so anyway. "It seemed so spectacular to me," Mr. Lyons said. "It suggested something remarkable was going on."

It was possible, however, that the results might come from a simple desire in the children just to play along. To see how deep this urge to overimitate went, Mr. Lyons came up with new experiments with the transparent box. He worked with a summer intern, Andrew Young, a senior at Carnegie Mellon, to build other puzzles using Tupperware, wire baskets and bits of wood. And Mr. Lyons planned out a much larger study, with 100 children.

I was intrigued. I signed up Charlotte, and she participated in the study twice, first at the school and later at Mr. Lyons's lab.

Charlotte didn't feel like talking about either experience beyond saying they were fun. As usual, she was more interested in talking about atoms and princesses.

Mr. Lyons was more eager to talk. He invited me to go over Charlotte's performance at the Yale Cognition and Development Lab, led by Mr. Lyons's adviser, Frank C. Keil.

Driving into New Haven for our meeting, I felt as if Charlotte had just taken some kind of interspecies SAT. It was silly, but I hoped that Charlotte would show the chimps that she could see cause and effect as well as they could. Score one for Homo sapiens.

At first, she did. Mr. Lyons loaded a movie on his computer in which Charlotte eagerly listened to him talk about the transparent plastic box.

He set it in front of her and asked her to retrieve the plastic turtle that he had just put inside. Rather than politely opening the front door, Charlotte grabbed the entire front side, ripped it open at its Velcro tabs and snatched the turtle. "I've got it!" she shouted.

A chimp couldn't have done better, I thought.

But at their second meeting, things changed. This time, Mr. Lyons had an undergraduate, Jennifer Barnes, show Charlotte how to open the box. Before she opened the front door, Ms. Barnes slid the bolt back across the top of the box and tapped on it needlessly. Charlotte imitated every irrelevant step. The box ripping had disappeared. I could almost hear the chimps hooting.

Ms. Barnes showed Charlotte four other puzzles, and time after time she overimitated. When the movies were over, I wasn't sure what to say. "So how did she do?" I asked awkwardly.

"She's pretty age-typical," Mr. Lyons said. Having watched 100 children, he agrees with Dr. Horner and Dr. Whiten that children really do overimitate. He has found that it is very hard to get children not to.

If they rush through opening a puzzle, they don't skip the extra steps. They just do them all faster. What makes the results even more intriguing is that the children understand the laws of physics well enough to solve the puzzles on their own. Charlotte's box ripping is proof of that.

Mr. Lyons sees his results as evidence that humans are hard-wired to learn by imitation, even when that is clearly not the best way to learn. If he is right, this represents a big evolutionary change from our ape ancestors. Other primates are bad at imitation. When they watch another primate doing something, they seem to focus on what its goals are and ignore its actions.

As human ancestors began to make complicated tools, figuring out goals might not have been good enough anymore. Hominids needed a way to register automatically what other hominids did, even if they didn't understand the intentions behind them. They needed to imitate.

Not long ago, many psychologists thought that imitation was a simple, primitive action compared with figuring out the intentions of others. But that is changing. "Maybe imitation is a lot more sophisticated than people thought," Mr. Lyons said.

We don't appreciate just how automatically we rely on imitation, because usually it serves us so well. "It is so adaptive that it almost never sticks out this way," he added. "You have to create very artificial circumstances to see it."

In a few years, I plan to explain this experience to Charlotte. I want her to know what I now know. That it's O.K. to lose to the chimps. In fact, it may be what makes us uniquely human.

小强的杀手

ah ma: ah ee ar, de kua, wan yiew thua ka zhua.
(grandma: ah ee, look, the wasp is pulling the cockroach!)
that's what my ah ma told my mother when she spotted the emerald cockroach wasp.

Read here to find out more.

Cockroach zombies on the move!!.
Click on Roach-o-rama. (btw u might want to take a look at Might of the snail shell shield too)
Remember to up the volume to hear clearer.

Caution: Contains Viewing Material That May Not Be Suitable for Younger Cockroaches

Come on! Fight me! I'm a Huge Armour Fish

Come on! Fight me! I'm a Huge Armour Fish


This might still exists in our waters. (Not sure whether is it real or not but documentary looks very real - only watched last 10 mins of it :( happen to see the guy using bait to lure this baby)

Name: Dunkleosteus
Type: Placoderm fish
Size: 8 to 10m
Diet: Carnivore
Predators: Probably none
Lived: Late Devonian, 370-360 million years ago.

The Teeth -


It's looking at you!


Dunkleosteus looked like the violent brute it was: powerfully built and armour-plated round its head. It was streamlined and shark-like. Dunkleosteus lacked true teeth, instead it had two long bony blades that could snap and crush almost anything. Pigment cells suggest Dunkleosteus had dark colours on its back and was silvery on its belly.

This fish was anything but picky with its food. It ate fish, sharks and even its own kind. And it seems that Dunkleosteus suffered from indigestion as a result: its fossils are often associated with regurgitated, semi-digested remains of fish.

Dunkleosteus may have been one of the earliest animals to exist as male or female, meaning that pairs of fish had to mate physically.

watch the movie here.

And this, is the prey.


Name: Stethacanthus
Type: Cartiliginous fish
Size: 0.7-2m long
Diet: Carnivore
Predators: Dunkleosteus
Lived: Lived 370-345 million years ago, in the late Devonian and through the Carboniferous era.

And the teeth -


And the teeth -


Stethacanthus resembled modern sharks to an extent, except for its outrageous dorsal fin - the shape of an ironing board - that it seems was part of courtship display as it is found in the males only. The top of this fin was covered in rough, tooth-shaped scales that match a patch of skin on the Stethacanthus' snout. Was this supposed to mimic a huge mouth and make the creature appear more frightening?

Stethacanthus tended to patrol shallow coastal waters on the lookout for food. It ate small fish, crustaceans and cephalopods (eg goniatites).

There's evidence Stethacanthus may have been migratory, returning to particular places to mate and give birth. It could certainly swim quite fast, although not quickly enough to evade a hungry Dunkleosteus.

huge tadpole like armoured creature used as bait. Dunky over there came over to the cage n tried chomping on it whereby the bait fell to the ocean floor. Stethacanthus came over to inspect it, and both were chomped by Dunky. Wow! Dunky puke out all the armour plates and chain mesh that was wrapped around the bait. Nice.

Wanna know more? Watch arts central every wednesday 10pm.
(stupid arts central only view 1/2 hr each time)

Regarding Asia Hotel (BBK)

The form to Asia Hotel had been faxed(13/03/06) and Huifang had received an comfirmation email from them on the same day!

Hotel stay in BKK had been settled!

Cheers!!

Just to let you guys know that both payments had been made to La Playar.

Breakdown:
Deposit: 3500 THB (charged)
[3500THB = 148.62 SGD, Exchange rate used by bank: SDG1 = 23.55 THB]

2nd payment: 11200 THB (reflected and charged)
[11200THB = 475.58 SGD, Exchange rate used by bank: SDG1 = 23.55 THB]

Received the statements already.

Cheers

Hm, was thinking we guys should go workout in the gym

So that we will b in the best "Zhuang Tai" for the beach.

Do u wanna look like OR
HAHAHAH!

Krabi Trip Details

Krabi Trip Details

The tour will be from 14th May (sun) to 18th may (Thurs)
Ok since confirm number of ppl, each person will have to pay $312.

Details are below:

Tiger Airway $82.23SGD x 8 = 15709baht
Air Asia 1199baht x 8 = 9592 baht
Bus+train 10,004 baht
La Playar + van 14700 baht
Asia Hotel 1550 x 4 = 6200baht
van to airport 1150 baht

Total: 57355 baht
Each person: 7169 baht = $312 (we using 1 sgd to 23 baht cos credit card charge differently)

Just to let you know, we will pay the full amount for Asia hotel when we are there. The rest we'll be paying full. So the money transferred is excluding the Asia hotel stay.

Cheers!

Another 2 into the Bandwagon!!

Another 2 new additions to the group! Kai Hock & Boon Keat are joining us to our little adventure!

So tentatively we have 4 boys and 4 beauties in our little expedition!

Krabi Trip

Krabi Trip

Hi all, was thinking of staying at Asia Hotel in Bkk, cos tiger show just below the hotel :)

Between, i propose 1 night at Dome State hotel, Sirocco Skybar at State Tower.on 1055 Silom Road. Along Charoen Krung Rd.
Beautiful view according to Fel, drinks, i think 1 small cup $20. Evian water bottle $10 there kia si lang.

Now i not free n tired to check information on it. I suggest if tay at Asia hotel, ask them to rent the van to ferry us to BKK airport.

Total costs for travelling and accomodation rough estimate will be $320 around there(maybe ++)

Shirley added to our growing little company

Hi all, my friend Shirley will be joining all of us on the trip. Because she is working, she wants to save on her pay leave. Does everybody mind that? So, due also to her work commitments, she prefers the holiday period of 21st to 25th May. Is all of you alright for this change? If anybody has any protests, do say out so we all can reach a compromise.

Confirm number of ppl so far: 6
Confirm period of trip: 5 days (2 days Krabi, 1 day of bloody hell travelling, 2 days BKK)
I can recalculate the travelling and accommodation costs again as to so far.

Travelling:
Tiger Airways
Flight to Krabi from Sg
Timing is 0645 to 0730am
$72.23SGD
This is excluding airport taxes and charges (I forgot whether nd to pay the tax once we reach Thailand)

Take Van to hotel -----------------87.5baht

Train+bus
Bus timing 11 to 2pm 300 baht
Train timing 1732 to 0525
Upper berth 548 baht
Lower berth 598 baht
Handling fee/person 300baht
Below is to be split:
if mail to hotel, 50 baht
if FedEx, mail to SG 620 baht
if by Credit Card 330 baht
(Still cheaper than the Thailandday.com where the train tix alone cost 1025baht!)

Air Asia
Flight from BKK to Sg(if on the 25th May)
timing is 1815 to 2130-------------1699baht (included taxes apparently they only include airport taxes for domestic flights in Thailand)

Total for travelling currently (excluding misc. transport fee during day trips)
= $198SGD (round off)

Hotel stay at La Playar:
3500baht/room/night
assuming IF got 8 ppl go, 4 in each room (sneak in 2 in each room)
14000 baht for room
assuming we have to pay credit card charges of 3.5% to make payment,
14490baht/8
1811.25baht = $75.90SGD

Add transport to hotel stay is = $274.15SGD

Now left 1 night stay in BKK. Anybody can go and find information on cheap BKK stay? So as to keep our travel+hotel cost as close as possible to $300 :)

My budget for the whole 5 day trip is $600 maximum.

travel insurance..

*touch wood* first!

okie.. i think we have overlooked one portion.. travel insurance.. this is optional but i thought it's better to get insured... in case.. :x

after scanning info from the forums, i found most ppl either sign up with NTUC or AIG.. NTUC is cheaper and costs about S$47-S$50 for 2 people. AIG Classic travel insurance will cost $27 per person. One reason for the difference in cost is that AIG offers (much) higher claims and more coverage than NTUC does.

Policy Info
AIG - look at classic plan.

I couldn't find the ntuc travel insurance policy info online. But i have a quote from a forum:

Hi, I would strongly encourage you all to buy travel insurance in case anything happen! And I would recommend AIG instead of NTUC because NTUC don't pay for any additional expenses for trip curtailment & also there is an excess of $40 for each person. That means the first $40 cannot be claimed. I did a claim for my client and she could only claimed for $131!! I told her to get AIG but she refuse because of higher premiums.

But if she were too get an AIG, she could have claim $289.60 (additional cost for changing of airfares) + $291 (unutilised airport transfer & hotel stay)= $580.60!! Pls feel free to PM me if you all need any other info!

Train and Bus Fare

Train and Bus fare:

Poll results from 5 ppl: 3 for train, 2 for plane

So tutu train win hands down!

Felfel says that:
there u can go to those departmental stores and maybe buy bras and panties since it's super cheap
then u can also go to MBK,MaBrongKong (shld be) n walk ard n see see.
then at MBK u must bargain with the shop pp, the prices are usually quite high, so at least cut half
like 100B, then u say maybe 50B if cannot then maybr 70B or something
it's called BTS, i suggest these places coz it's all near the stop called SIAM
can walk ard one..easy. must get maps most impt

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Below is email i received from la playar, help me read thru in case i miss out anything. Anybody want other hotels?

Thank you very much for your reservation request at Krabi La Playa Resort.
We are pleased to be able to inform you that the Pool Deluxe A (Shower + Whiripool) are available for the period which you required.

Below are your reservation details :-

+ YOUR RESERVATION NUMBER....: 6030517.1136
+ Confirm your request.......: 2 room, 3 nights
+ Price per room/night.......:
2 x THB 3500 / Pool Deluxe A (Shower + Whiripool)
1 x THB 700 /Transfer from krabi airport to hotel per way per van
(Rates incl. service charge, incl. VAT and incl.breakfast)
+ Total amount of booking....: 21,700 THAI BAHT
1 SGD = 23.86 BAHT ***** 100 BAHT = 4.19 SGD

Terms of payment:
1.Deposit 3,500 THAI BAHT until 08.03.06 to secure the booking.
2.Payment 18,200 THAI BAHT on 01.05.06

To guarantee/secure your booking please pay deposit online at
http://R24.org/pay.php?REF=6030517.1136
We accept Visa, Master, Amex, JCB and bank transfers.
Deposit must be arranged until 08.03.06 or reservation is released. If not cancelled earlier, 2.Payment required on 01.05.06.
Online payment and confirmation centre at http://www.R24.org/payment/

Refund and cancellation policy.
The deposit secures the reservation and is non-refundable.
If cancelled before 01.05.06 (by email or Fax), no 2.payment is required. 2.Payment must be arranged before 01.05.06, or the reservation can be released. 2.Payment is also non-refundable. You will receive an eVoucher after final payment. Arriving at hotel hotel without a valid payment, neither guarantee room availibility nor room rates.

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Email received from traveller2000.com

Bus fare 300baht, Train fare 548 baht
Handling fee + delivery fee + credit card surcharge = 392 baht
The above +++ I believe can split cost.
So assuming got 5 ppl going, each person will pay $39 (is like bao staying and travelling)

Anyways I just emailed them asking about 5 to 6 travellers will cost total how much. They say they will mail to the hotel in charge.
Not as safe as mailing it to Singapore, but I think once they mailed to the hotel that we choose and has informed us, we can call up the hotel to confirm that the tix has been delivered there.

Another thing hor, the timings they give us is must board bus by 11am, then reach BKK super early at 5.25am

What do you all think?
Also, can someone help me to read through the
www.traveller2000.com/payment_options
Thanks so much. I read that until a bit blurblur.

What i received from them:

We are pleased to advise the seat availability, schedule and fares as follows:

Routing: KBV - URT
Date TBA

Dep. Arr.
1100 1400

Fares: Baht 300

Routing URT - BKK
Date TBA
Dep. Arr. Status
1732 0525 TBA

Class: 2nd class sleep with air
Fares: Baht 548/upper berth
Handling fee: Baht 300
Delivery fee: Baht 50 by EMS to hotel at Krabi
Credit card surcharge 3.5%: Baht 42

Total: 1,240 Baht

For payment see: www.traveller2000.com/payment_options/
TICKET REFUND POLICY BY THE STATE RAILWAY OF THAILAND (SRT)
1. If refund 4 days prior to departure 20% will be deducted from fares
2. If refund prior to train departure up to 3 days 50% will be deducted from fares
3. There will no refund if the train has already left the station

Refund will be made the same way the fares have been paid:
>> by cash - after what is deducted by SRT
>> by credit card - after what is deducted by SRT
>> by bank transfer - after what is deducted by SRT plus bank transfer fee

Fee to change date of arrival is 50 baht

Teletubbies are Evil and very Gay

Starting from left : Deloonie, (BB)Brenda, (Coconut) Huifang and (Sotongball)Yingshan !


PPS : Yx rOxs not there cos he taking foto.

Poll ppl!

Everybody must poll! - those touring.
Poll - mode of transportation from krabi to bkk.

Travelling by train + bus:

Advs:
1. No nd to find a place to sleep.
2. Cost is cheaper (i think, even after adding charges to deliver the tix)
3. can choose timings

Dsadvs:
4. lotsa time wasted travelling this manner.

Travelling by plane:

Advs:
1. save time on travelling
2. Comfortable
3. Hassle free as in no nd to transfer here n there

Dsadvs:
2. nd to find place to spend the night with
3. Timing is fixed. only 1 budget flight out of krabi to bkk everyday - 6 to 8pm

Starting Out On A Long Dued Trip

Impt notice!!:

There are two very hot periods of weather on Krabi, the first is between April and May when the average temperatures ranges from 27 to 36 degrees Celsius with occasional tropical thunderstorm bringing relief from the heat.

It is also very hot between September and October, but the frequent rainfall has a wonderful cooling effect.

In May, at the peak of the southwest monsoon, it rains on an average of 25 days during the month, making it to one of the most humid months of the year. Rainy days are interspersed with sunny days during this period and the rain generally comes in tropical downpours of an hour or so throughout the day mixed with periods of sunshine.


=> bring ur cheapest umbrellas there. (so can throw them away later on) + sunblock lotion.

update for train ride:

2nd class air-con sleeper from Surat Thani to bangkok is $35.36SGD for lower bunk (double decker) For upper bunk, is $32.44SGD.

Note: the above price is for krabi to suratthani to bangkok :) meaning bus+train. I will enquire more. (probably nd to pay for deliverance of tix too)

Hotels

I'm going I'm going!
Haha so exciting leh.

Btw,i've checked out some hotels, shall list them in oder of preference.

These start at about 50++SGD per night:


http://www.r24.org/krabi.com/krabi/laplaya/pictures/
i lub their pools....was thinkin that we just get a Superior Deluxe by the Poolside, can juz pull the beds tgt.

http://www.r24.org/krabi.com/krabi/phrananginn/pictures/
Look at the Junior Suite Rms .. all squeez inside also can i think...



http://www.r24.org/krabi.com/krabi/alis/pictures/
Looks nice on the outside..but duno how is the rooms

http://www.r24.org/krabi.com/krabi/aonangvilla/pictures/
Non Commento...but midrange price also
--- -- -- -- -- ---
These are the cheap cheap ones
http://www.r24.org/krabi.com/krabi/aosunset/pictures/
http://www.r24.org/krabi.com/krabi/aonangparadise/pictures/

These are the ones that cannot, i repeat, CANNOT GO! Ask me why...
http://r24.org/krabi.com/krabi/phranangplace/

Verdict: La Playa!

Okies, I'm Out - YX RoCS

Starting Out On A Long Dued Trip

Another nightly update:

Info contributed by Yingshan:

a 24 seater coach from krabi to bangkok will cost a mere 600 baht.
disadv: long 13hr bus journey

by train
The train from Bangkok runs overnight to Surat Thani. The sleeper is comfortable and relaxing. You then take a connecting air conditioned bus to Krabi. This takes about 2 hours. All together it takes about the same amount of time as the bus, but you get to lie down and actually sleep.

air asia

Fri, 19/May/2006 Flight FD3505

16:45 Depart Bangkok (BKK) 20:05 Arrive Singapore (SIN)

sucky flight timings but price wise, is $79.125SGD incl of tax n fees.

Thu, 18/May/2006 Flight FD3164

18:50 Depart Krabi (KBV)

another sucky timing by air asia - price wise is $37.88 per person.
One more thing - if we were to take this only budget air flight back to bangkok, we'd gotta look for a place to spend the night in bangkok either that or we can go clubbing or chiong whole night then pia next day shopping. You think you can handle it? hahaha (but nd to store bags somewhere maybe delun's cousin's house? haa :p)

My preference:
1. Direct flight to krabi. ->Tiger airway
2. Either by bus or by train (I never take tutu train b4!) from krabi to bangkok
3. Bangkok to Sg flight. -> Jetstar

What do all of you think?

Between, can we confirm the number of ppl soon? Preferably by next Monday or Tues. Best by Sunday.

Travel expenses - Ppl, let's get this going!

Update on resort: I've emailed the first resort that I put up regarding the prices ( let's pray they reply fast - the next day) $26.40 / person/night is really not a bad deal for a 4 star hotel. Please double check for me in case I cock-eyed.

Below is courtesy of Brenda jie:

How we are going to travel

Direct flight to Krabi from Sg Tigerway

Mon, 15 May 06 Flight TR 188

06:45 Depart Singapore (SIN) 07:30 Arrive Krabi (KBV)

Cost of flight is $72.23SGD incl. of taxes and service

Flight from bangkok to Sg Jetstar

Fri, 19 May 06 Flight 3K 514

7:45 pm Depart Bangkok 11:10 pm Arrive Singapore

Cost of flight is $113.38SGD (converted from 2720 Baht) incl. of taxes and service

Apparently Jetstar does not handle our airport tax of 500 baht. (2720 is I include 500 le)

Next: a 13 hr night bus ride from krabi to bangkok. Ppl, we need information on this!

Krabi Thailand 15th to 18th May

First time blogging.
Wonder if it is possible to load up the information up on this website thru socket n server. heee

Anyway, some info on a few resorts i've picked.

I like this resort Best Western Ao Nang Bay Resort & Spa

Rates are pretty cheap according to this webby - 1900 baht per deluxe room for 3 ppl. I practically fall in love with their bathroom!

Perks:

• 4 star rating
• jacuzzi
• steam and sauna
• beautiful surroundings
  

Baddies n unsurities:

• 200m away from Noppharat Thara Beach (we'd like to get as close as poss to Ao nang beach)
• Not sure those activities stated above cost how much.
• Don't think they provide free transport service to n fro airport
• extra bed costs 800 baht (still, i don't think we will be using this facility)

The one n only hostel Dream Garden Hostel

Perks:

• 5 mins away from Ao nang beach. And it's just opp Mc Donalds.
  
• Bloody hell! You'd just pay a measly sum of 500 baht for 2 aka $30SGD for the standard rm. (wonder their suite rm and twin bed rm cost how much.)
• Save $$ on this, more $$ to shop in bangkok :D
  

Baddies n unsurities:

• Transport's 800 baht to ferry 6 ppl from airport to hostel.
  
• Not sure how's the beds though, but seems alright to me :)
  

It's sister hotel Best Western Ban Ao Nang Resort

Perks:

• 3 star rating
• 100m away from Ao nang beach. It's practically at your doorstep.
  
• For a 3 ppl superior rm, it's just a cheap 1450 baht.
  

Baddies n unsurities:

• Don't think they provide free transport service to n fro airport
• extra bed costs 700 baht (still, i don't think we will be using this facility)

Too many to put up here, look for the various hotels and resorts at http://www.krabi.com/hotels/

Will be updated again.