{"id":7,"date":"2013-01-07T16:56:59","date_gmt":"2013-01-07T16:56:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/verygoodpoints\/?p=7"},"modified":"2013-02-16T20:18:49","modified_gmt":"2013-02-16T20:18:49","slug":"my-2012-vacation-very-good-points-and-not-so-good-points","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/verygoodpoints\/2013\/01\/07\/my-2012-vacation-very-good-points-and-not-so-good-points\/","title":{"rendered":"My 2012 Vacation: Very Good Points and Not So Good Points"},"content":{"rendered":"

My annual December holiday \u2013 something I plan early and impatiently await as the year ticks by. This year I did a pretty major holiday touring around South East Asia. There were some Very Good Points and some Not So Good Points along the way. Here\u2019s a recap:<\/p>\n

Stop 1 \u2013 Phuket, Thailand \u2013 2 days<\/h3>\n

I joined a friend, for the sake of anonymity we\u2019ll call him \u201cPlatymur\u201d, for a quick weekend in Phuket before he headed back to the states. Platymur is perhaps the ultimate foodie and a lot of fun to travel with. He will try almost any food \u2013 and on this trip he ate shrimp skins. We really didn\u2019t do anything in Phuket except sit by the pool, visit the spa and eat great Thai food. That was a fine way for me to start the holiday!<\/p>\n

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Stop 2 \u2013 Singapore \u2013 2 \u00bd days<\/h3>\n

I had a great time in Singapore. One of the more memorable stops on this trip. I wrote a\u00a0full review<\/a>, but here are a few of the VeryGoodPoints. I loved visiting the Botanical Garden, it\u2019s an amazing place and so cool that it\u2019s in the middle of such a large city. I was blown away by the Christmas lights, what a spectacle. I also splurged and saw Sting in concert, what a fun experience to see a legend (IMO) in a foreign country. The Not So Good Points \u2013 the Marriott Hotel was nice, but service really fell short. Location was perfect, but the service, or lack thereof, made it a frustrating choice.<\/p>\n

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Stop 3 \u2013 Malaysia, Langkawi and Kuala Lumpur \u2013 2 days<\/h3>\n

So, I think the first thing to note about this stop in the trip are the Not So Good Points. The stop was supposed to have been 6 days, 4 days in Langkawi and 2 days in Kuala Lumpur. The absolutely Worst Point in the trip was the Sheraton Langkawi. I would never recommend the hotel to anyone. In addition, I didn\u2019t feel comfortable as a single female traveler on that part of the island and because the hotel seemed to cater to the extremely religious Muslim community. I never felt unsafe, but I didn\u2019t feel comfortable or particularly welcome at the resort. So, after \u00bd a day in Langkawi, I packed up and got the first flight out to Kuala Lumpur. I spent the next day and \u00bd in KL and really enjoyed two things particularly \u2013 the food and the hotel. The Le Meridien KL is amazing! I didn\u2019t write up a trip report on this stop because, honestly, you can read Gary\u2019s\u00a0review<\/a>\u00a0on View From The Wing (which is what I did to plan that day and a half)<\/p>\n

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Stop 4 \u2013 Khao Lak, Thailand \u2013 5 days<\/h3>\n

Stop 4 was totally unplanned and a spur of the moment decision. It made up for the time I didn\u2019t spend in Malaysia. I chose to go back to Khao Lak because I wanted to go somewhere without any visa requirements, somewhere that had a great pool\/beach and I knew I would enjoy and could relax. The only thing I did in Khao Lak was relax and take some great photos!<\/p>\n

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Stop 5 \u2013 Siam Reap, Cambodia \u2013 2 days<\/h3>\n

This is where the regularly scheduled trip picks back up. One of the other highlights of my trip was Cambodia. I would absolutely recommend a visit if you haven\u2019t been. I wrote a more through\u00a0report<\/a>\u00a0on this stop, but there were a few Very Good Points that I have to mention here. Angkor Wat is one of the most beautiful places\/things I have ever seen. If you like history, nature, or architecture, you won\u2019t be disappointed. If you don\u2019t like any of those things, you should still go because it\u2019s spectacular. There really weren\u2019t any Low Points on this stop. Loved it!<\/p>\n

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Stop 6 \u2013 Bangkok, Thailand \u2013 5 days<\/h3>\n

Stop 6 was really just a positioning stop and a pick-up location. I met two friends in Bangkok who joined me for the remainder of the trip. We were only supposed to have spent 4 days in Bangkok, but one of my friends baggage decided to stay in Paris! It actually became one of the more hysterical points of the trip. I\u2019ll recap the story very briefly here: My friend, very jetlagged, tired and frustrated arrived at the hotel around 8am. She flew Air France, booked through KLM and has status on Delta. She made a few calls and didn\u2019t get anywhere. They told her the bags would arrive in Bangkok the day after we left for Vietnam. She asked me to get involved since I\u2019m a more frequent international traveler and I wasn\u2019t about to fall asleep. On the phone with Air France, the woman says \u201cyour bags will arrive in Bangkok on Wednesday.\u201d I say \u201cbut we\u2019ll be in Vietnam on Wednesday, can you forward the bags?\u201d Woman \u201csure, hold on. Okay, I updated the record, the bags will be sent to Vietnam. Me, \u201cwhere in Vietnam?\u201d Woman, \u201cVietnam\u201d Me: \u201cVietnam is country, what city or airport did you send them to?\u201d Woman, \u201cwhen they arrive in Bangkok they\u2019ll decide where to send them.\u201d WOW, that was the most bizarre conversation. It\u2019s like saying \u201cyour bags have been forwarded to America.\u201d \u201cWhat state?\u201d \u201cJust America, they\u2019ll decide what state when the bag gets there.\u201d Honestly, one of the funny points. However, Air France better respond to the claim filed. Their Twitter team was great, but beyond that, I\u2019m not impressed.<\/p>\n

I really have nothing great to add about Bangkok. You can see my 855 other posts on Bangkok\u00a0J\u00a0Okay, JK, it\u2019s not 855 posts, but it sure feels like it!<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll have a post later this week about traveling with friends! It can be quite an adventure \u2013 or nightmare, depending on what your friends are like.<\/p>\n

Stop 7 \u2013 Saigon, Vietnam \u2013 2 days<\/h3>\n

Stop 7 was cut one day short because we had to wait for the bags in Bangkok. We really could have spent more time in Vietnam. I haven\u2019t yet written up the post on Vietnam, so I\u2019ll give some sneak highlights here. Very Good Points \u2013 the food! WOW, what a great culinary city Saigon is. I could have had Pho for 3 meals a day. There were many other good points, which I\u2019ll write about later, however, the Sheraton Saigon isn\u2019t one of them. It\u2019s an \u201cok\u201d hotel, but nothing special. I was a little underwhelmed and very disappointed that the hotel allows smoking everywhere. There are some smoke free rooms, but the lobby, restaurants, etc.. all smelled like smoke, all the time.<\/p>\n

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Stop 8 \u2013 Krabi, Thailand \u2013 4 days<\/h3>\n

For those of you who regularly read my blog you\u2019ll know that I got hurt in Vietnam and so I was sort of crabby in Krabi (oh, that was too good not to say!) I didn\u2019t blog and I didn\u2019t really have an amazing time \u2013 not because of the location or anything else, but because I just wasn\u2019t feeling great.<\/p>\n

Krabi is beautiful and how I remember Phuket being about 5 or 6 years ago. It\u2019s not overly commercial yet \u2013 there are no outlet malls or water parks yet \u2013 it\u2019s more low key and laid back. We celebrated New Year\u2019s Eve in Krabi and spent it at the hotel \u2013 which was a nice and chill NYE.<\/p>\n

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The End<\/h3>\n

That was it, January 4th<\/sup>\u00a0I headed back to Bangkok and back to \u201creality\u201d \u2013 otherwise known as smog and traffic! You shouldn\u2019t be surprised if I tell you that I\u2019ve already started to plan my 2013 holiday(s) yes, this year there will be 2. I\u2019m not saving up all my time for December this year. Anyone care to take a guess at the two locations I\u2019m going to visit?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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