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Recently Written
- More Cowboy Boots from Thailand
- Boots from Tony’s Leather on Suriwong Road Bangkok, Thailand
- Mardi Gras - Mobile, Alabama
- Bali - A review of a recent trip to the island
- Artini 2 Cottages - Bali, Indonesia - A review of the hotel
- Diving in the Solomon Islands aboard the live aboard ship, Bilikiki
- Kumala Pantai Hotel - Legian Kuta Beach, Bali
- Ichiban Japanese Cuisine - new sushi restaurant in Foley, Alabama
- Tsukiji Fish Market in Tokyo, Japan
- Live Bait at The Wharf at Orange Beach, Alabama - a review of the Sushi Bar
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Travelling Tightwad
More Cowboy Boots from Thailand
Boots from Tony’s Leather on Suriwong Road Bangkok, Thailand
Boots purchased in Bangkok Thailand from Tony’s Leather on Suriwong Road.
All custom made.
Mardi Gras - Mobile, Alabama
I just returned from watching three parades in Mobile, Alabama. Saturday, February 2, 2008. We had a good time. If you have never seen a Mardi Gras parade, be it in New Orleans, Mobile, or Fairhope, Alabama, you are missing out. Just watching the floats, bands, and carnival atmosphere makes for a good time. These parades were the Floral Parade, Knights of Mobile, and the Order of Angels. I must say, that these parades were a bit weak. The Floral Parade were all children. That was okay, however they were stingy on the throws. I guess their parents would not buy them anything to throw. The Knights of Mobile seemed also stingy on the throws. The Order of Angels were a bit better on the throws however they did not seem to be up to the task. Also not many people were throwing moon pies. Also the floats were not the best I have ever seen. If you get a chance, go to the Order of the Incas, Mystics of time, or Daughters of Neptune. Anyway, go to some of Mardi Gras parades. It is a great time and makes for a good time for you and the kids
Bali - A review of a recent trip to the island
Bali
Having just returned from a vacation in Bali, I am recommending this destination for the first time Asia traveler. It is a great place for the person who wants a budget place that is laid back and doesn’t want to spend much money. You can also experience southeast Asia without the Asia. The Balinese are very welcoming and are not pushy. I had a great time. In addition, the island is really cheap. For example. I stayed at the Kumala Pantai Hotel on Legian beach and the rate was $46 dollars a night. I think this is a great hotel and it includes a great breakfast. The service is top notch and you can go right out to the beach and rent a surfboard for 5 dollars a day. There are great restaurants where you
can have your pick of all types of food including Balinese, Thai, Asian, Japanese, and Western, many for only $3 a meal. We hired a driver for about $20 for the day and he took us to many of the sites including Ulu Watu to see the surfing and later to see the Kekak fire dancing. Later on the trip we hired a driver to take us to Ubud. WE stayed in another awesome hotel for $40 dollars a night. This was the Artini 2 cottages. It is at a great location. We visited the Monkey Forest, saw the shadow puppets, and saw Legong Dancing.
Overall, BAli is a great place to go for the budget minded traveler that wants to relax, especially if youwant to surf. It is not as exciting as India, and I don’t think the beaches are as beautiful as southern Thailand. However, for the money, you should check it out. - Tightwad.
Artini 2 Cottages - Bali, Indonesia - A review of the hotel
Artini 2 Cottages
I recently returned from Bali and stayed at Artini 2 cottages. This is a great hotel. I am goingto give you my review. The hotel is situated in a pretty good location right on Hanoman street. It is a great location about a 5 minute walk from the central market. The website says it is a short walk from the monkey forest however it takes about 15 minutes to walk there. I rode a motorcycle taxi and had a leisurely walk back looking at the shops.
I would say the hotel is great. I stayed in an individual cottage. It had 4 individual rooms.
I would recommend a top room because you have a cathedral ceiling. When it rains, you have the sound of the rain beating down on the roof which is cool. The lawn is awesome with great manicuring. When you enter the room, the beds are set up cool with flowers and the towels folded neatly. The pool is beautiful. Each cottage has its own person cleaning it. Our guy was really helpful. He got us tickets for the legong dancing and for the shadow puppet show and found us a driver for the
day. Breakfast is included.
Hanoman street has a lot of shops on it including restaurants. There are some balinese placesto eat and a Japanese restaurant close by. The fare was $40 US dollars a night. We stayed there 3 nights and had a good time. The bathroom it a tub with a shower extension which a bit weird. Each room has hot water and A/C.
Overall, it is a good place to stay and I would recommend it. They have a website.
Diving in the Solomon Islands aboard the live aboard ship, Bilikiki
Have you been dreaming of a place where you could dive where the water was clear and there was lots of reef life and the boat crew was really glad to assist you? I have been dreaming of such a place, a tropical place. Somewhere different, somewhere out of the ordinary, somewhere exotic and I decided on the Solomon Islands. To be specific a dive trip on the Bilikiki. It was a trip where everything I had been dreaming of came true. The water was clear, the reef was teaming with life and the boat crew made you feel like long lost friends. I have been diving where the water has been clearer but visibility was still good and sometimes clear water means dead water. The water here was teaming with life. All sorts of reef life, clown fish, anemones, firefish gobies, clown triggerfish, and sharks are just a few of the different species that I saw. The most spectacular dive site was Barracuda point where we dove with a school of Barracuda that was well over a 1000 strong. The school would twist and turn in some sort of underwater ballet and they were fine if you wanted to join in. Though they seemed to be exerting no effort in the current, I found myself tiring after swimming awhile. Other exciting dives included soft corals in almost every color, pygmy seahorses, robust pipefish, and rays. Then after your wonderful dives the crew would pick you up in a tinny and bring you back to the boat.
The crew just seemed to always know where you would surface and there was rarely a wait once you surfaced. Monty and Michelle were the dive masters aboard the Bilikiki and they were always eager to assist and educate you about the dive site before diving and answer questions after the dive. They were also great about finding different creatures during the dive and showing you what they found. The crew was always friendly and helpful. And just as important as great dive sites, the meals were great. There was plenty to eat and a good variety of options.
The Bilikiki also offers village excursions where you shop for local cravings and traditional jewelry. Three were offered on the trip I took. The cravings were beautiful and it was interesting to meet the Solomon Island people.
So if you’re dreaming of great diving, mild weather and first class service, take a dive trip aboard the Bilikiki - you won’t be disappointed!
For more information and for more awesome dive photography check out John and Kim Estes’ website at http://www.estesart.com
Kumala Pantai Hotel - Legian Kuta Beach, Bali
I just returned from an 5 night stay at the Kumala Pantai resort hotel in Legian Beach Bali and I am here to say that I had a great time. The hotel is at a great location located at the edge of Legian Beach. I would whole heartedly recommend it. First of all, it is away from the madness of Kuta Beach. I would never stay on Kuta because of the crazy crowds. Legian is a short few minutes by taxi and well worth the sanity. It only costs about a dollar or so to take a taxi and they are right outside the hotel gate. There are tons of shops on the streets outside the Kumala Pantai, so there are no shortage of places to eat or things to buy. The hotel has a great free breakfast included in the price. The grounds are awesome. They are expertly manicured and well cared for covered in tropical trees and flowers. The pool is beautiful and large. The hotel is right on the beach and you can rent surf boards for a few dollars a day within a stones throw from the back of the hotel. For lunch, the Kumala Pantai has great Italian food including a wood fired pizza oven.
The hotel rooms are good with marble bathrooms. What is great is that each bathroom has a tub and a separate shower. We had two incidents in the two separate rooms while we where there. The second night, the high pressure hose burst leading to the toilet flooding the bathroom. The maintenance man came to the room at 4:30 AM and had it fixed in 15 minutes flat. We went off to UBUD and came back. Our next room had a bad air-con. The hotel was fully booked, but the maintenance spent 4 hours in the sun replacing the compressor and we had no problems. I think this hotel is a bargain due to its location right on the beach in Legian. It only cost us 46 dollars. Check out the Kumala Pantai website for more info. You can also buy a fake Rolex right outside the hotel if your want in addition to your free breakfast - Tightwad
Ichiban Japanese Cuisine - new sushi restaurant in Foley, Alabama
I just ate at the new sushi restaurant in Foley, Alabama, Ichiban Japanese Cuisine. I must say that I was quite impressed. Located across Highway 59 in a stripmall from WalMart, it contains the usual staples including tuna roll, California roll, salmon roll, Philadelphia roll, etc. However, they also have a great collection of custom rolls including lobster roll, sunshine roll, spider roll, and volcano roll. Ichiban has a Hibachi where you can watch the food being prepared before your eyes. I prefer to sit at the sushi bar and chat with the sushi masters, but you can also sit at a table. They have a great cheap lunch menu as well as a great miso soup. Check out their seaweed salad, their miso eggplant, or their yellowtail jalapeno. They have a lot of stuff I have never seen including Bonsai Tree (salmon, yellowtail, tuna, crab, avocado and tobiko, wrapped in cucumber in ponzu sauce). They have a great selection of sashimi. For the ultimate, get the party boat. 18 pieces of sushi, 36 pieces of sashimi served with two of the chef’s special rolls. Check it out!
Tsukiji Fish Market in Tokyo, Japan
Tsukiji Central Wholesale Market is a large wholesale market for fish, fruit and vegetables. It is located in the center of Tokyo, Japan. It handles of 2000 tons of fish products daily. It is the world’s largest fish markets and a must see on a trip to Tokyo. Try to be there before 9AM to get in on the action, and if you are an early riser, get there at 5AM to check out the tuna auctions. Afterwards, check out one of the many sushi shops around the vicinity for some great sushi and sashimi. The best way to get there is via the subway on the Tsukijishijo Station . Check it out!
Live Bait at The Wharf at Orange Beach, Alabama - a review of the Sushi Bar
I like sushi. I recently ate at the Wharf, a relatively new creation featuring a hodge podge of eclectic shops and restaurants along the Intercoastal Canal in Orange Beach, Alabama. We ate at a locally owned small chain of restaurants called Live Bait. I specifically ate there to try out their sushi menu along with four frineds. Live Bait at the Wharf has several areas in the restaurant set up especially for sushi featuring separate bar areas. These were full up so we elected to eat outside with a good view of the marina and canal. The atmosphere was nice. I ordered the first three items. The California roll, the Alabama roll, and the shrimp tempura roll. The food came quickly enough with a rather lackluster presentation. The waiter did not know if Miso soup was on the menu. (it was). All three rolls tasted exactly the same. The shrimp tempura roll tasted exactly like the California roll and just like the Alabama roll. To be fair, I did not try any other of the items on the menu. The ginger was sour. Isn’t it supposed to be sweet? The wasabi was okay. Overall I am not going to give the sushi at Live Bait at the Wharf in Orange Beach, Alabama very high marks. To be honest, I have had better sushi in Mobile, Alabama at the Fresh Market, and it is a supermarket.