I’ve been swamped with work this week, due a flu caused by an annoying toothache that left my dentist baffled because said tooth was perfectly healthy.

So instead of writing more about my trip, I’m sharing with you one of my favorite TV commercial: The Philippine’s More than the usual campaign. This was first aired in 2002, during then Department of Tourism Secretary, Richard Gordon. For me, this is one of the best TVC to highlight and promote the Philippines.

Interestingly enough, this was labelled as the “Asia” edition. A slightly different “Europe” version is available for viewing at Youtube.com.

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When I was inside the Wat Phra Kaew in Bangkok, it wasn’t the heat that disuaded me from taking pictures; it was the sheer number of tourists in the temple.

Coming in early, as soon as the temple opened, apparently was EVERYBODY’S idea to avoid the large crowd, which ironically, resulted in palace and temple grounds swarming with noisy tourists.

As majestic as the palace and the temples are, you’re forced to focus your camera upwards, as to avoid having unwanted people in your shots.

Snapmania seem to find a solution to this problem, as reported by OregonLive.com:

You’ve traveled 5,000 miles to London. You want a simple photo of the fountains of Trafalgar Square. But dash it all, other tourists keep walking in front of your camera.

Don’t despair. Use the Tourist Remover.

This free, new tool offered by Snapmania (www.snapmania.com) eliminates unwanted people, cars and other moving disruptions from photos.

Nifty, eh? I haven’t tried the service yet myself — you have to have three or more shots of the particular place/structure with varying placements of pesky tourists. This service is a definite must-try once I get a new camera.

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Before I pick a particular hostel or resort, I search the web and pore through every review I can find. Moonhut has its fair share of positives and negatives, but I find that its pluses outweights its minuses. And that’s why I decided to try my luck with Moonhut Bungalow in Maename Beach in Ko Samui.

I must admit, my first impression on Moonhut wasn’t good: the road was unpaved, and there’s a number of big potholes all around. The restaurant was nothing out of the ordinary, the beach is blah (then again, after Boracay, everything is blah), and landscaping is non-existent.

When I got to my standard bungalow, however, I was pleased. First off, the “hut” wasn’t made of natural materials. I love nature and all, but when it comes to lodgings, I prefer concrete, wood and steel. It’s made to look like a hut and also stand on stilts.

There’s a mini balcony at the front, with two chairs with cushions, a small side table and a rope line where you can hang your clothes to dry. Upon opening the front door, you see a neatly made bed, a couple of towels and a tacky wall decor. Right ahead is a couple of shelves where you can put your stuff, and above it, a rod where there hang a couple of coat hangers.

There is a door to the right, opening into the toilet & bath. It’s clean, fairly big, have natural light and did I say clean? A clean bathroom with natural light gets a plus everytime.

Another plus are the screens on the windows. With these, you can leave your windows open to let in the sea breeze without letting in a couple hundred insects and bugs.

Oh, if you’re afraid, allergic or have something against dogs, don’t stay here. They have a very friendly brood of 3 very active dogs. You can expect them to trot over to you when you lounge at the beach or at the restaurant.

The restaurant serves pretty decent food, nothing really out of the ordinary. Though do try their vegetable fried rice, it’s very good. Service is pretty good; the staff are very accomodating and the owner is always puttering around checking and fixing whatever needs to be fixed.

As for the beach…well, it was nothing special. However, if you’re only going to sunbathe, this is good as any other beach. Maenam is also a “family” beach — meaning no loud parties and lots of kiddies around. If it’s pristine white sand, clear blue waters, wild parties ’til dawn you’re after, you’re better off in other beaches around Ko Samui.

All in all, I was satisfied with Moonhuts. Should I find myself back at Samui, I’ll definitely stay there! (and maybe this time, I won’t miss the boat to Ko Pha Ngan)

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I swear, I didn’t buy this for the box.

What’s great about Hostel Thailand, aside from its proximity to the BTS Skytrain station, is that it’s near Silom, Bankok’s central business district. Because of this, there’s plenty of small restaurants and shops catering to the employees working in the surrounding buildings.

One of them was this pastry shop I always pass by on the way to and from the hostel. The buns were flaky and has different kinds of fillings. It was delicious, and they have clippings of magazine and newspaper articles posted, to prove it.

Now, the question is… what are T.T’s? *innocent look*

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I know I’ve been delinquent in updating this blog. I’ve been quite busy with life offline and on, that I don’t really have much time to come up with something that makes sense.

Anyway, as a filler, instead of my usual photo posts, I’m sharing my itinerary for my Thailand & Singapore trip last May.

May 17
11:30 - Flight out of Manila via Jetstar Asia
15:45 - Arrive in Changi Airport, Singapore
18:05 - Depart Singapore via Tigerairways
19:25 - Arrive in Bangkok, Thailand
21:00 - Check in at Hostel Thailand
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