xis apart

Perhaps the music isn't your cup of tea, but here's one recent release from my new gig: an embeddable video trivia game. We are now working on an interface to let bands (or fans) create their own games.

Coachella Day 3

I don't feel as rough as I usually do on a Day 3, which is comforting. We take our time getting there, having a leisurely breakfast. Traffic is once more a non-issue (where are all the cars?) and we get to the polo fields in pretty short order.

It's supposed to be the hottest day of the weekend, but there's a little cloud cover that masks the heat a bit--it's actually quite lovely.

Have just enough time to catch the last two songs of Holy F*uck. They are great! Hypnotic, melodic, driving soundscapes; like a more kinetic M83. Great energy. I definitely want to check out more of them. B+

Heading over to the main stage, I catch the last two songs of the Shout Out Louds. They actually sound greatly improved from when I last saw them. Perhaps their live act has improved with some seasoning on the road. B

The Field was cancelled, due to problems they had getting into the country. Boo.

DeadMau5 wore a mouse stuffed head for a good part of the set. That didn't change the fact that the music sounded like all the other new hottness djs. Well mixed, but I think I'm already sick of the sound. C -

Stars are still on and I catch the last portion of their set. They also sound much better than the last time I saw them at the Fillmore. Go Canada! Get to hear a few of my favorites while lounging in the grass. B

Swervedriver look old, heh. They sound good though and I relive some college music days with JD. B

Does It Offend You, Yeah? had the place hopping -- electro dance party with good energy, but feels very flavor of the month to me. C

Gogol Bordello was a raucous gypsy dance party. Very impressed with their energy levels and though it wasn't really my thing, musically, it was fun to watch for a bit. C+

Metric overcame some tech issues (when do they not have them?) to put on a good show, though I have seen them better. I think they are probably more suited to an indoor show, where the sound can bounce around and fill the room a bit more. Still, it was quite enjoyable. Emily was working a space-disco leotard/skort thing and was her usual crazy freaked out ringleader self. B

Love and Rockets were the highlight of my day. They were loud and tore up the outdoor stage with a fantastic set that included: Dog End of a Day Gone By, Haunted When the Minutes Drag, Kunalini Express, Ball of Confusion, No New Tale to Tale, Motorcycle and a few others. There was also a surprise appearance by the Bubblemen that culminated in a pillow fight. I hope the do a tour because I'd like to see them again. A

Had a bit of a sit down after that and took in some of Roger Waters. Most impressive visuals -- huge projection(?) screen with very neat visuals (started with an old time radio with a bottle of whiskey and a hand would tune in different stations. Then huge balls of fire and other visuals. The sound was insane -- they had set up surround speaker cabinets all around the field so that as they were playing, weird ambient textures would wash up around/behind you. Very trippy. He played some different stuff off of different albums before an intermission and then Dark Side of the Moon in its entirety. I had left by then, but caught a few songs, including Wish You Were Here, which was pretty special. I did come back to catch some of the Dark Side performance, which was pretty impressive as well. B+

Simian Mobile Disco were disappointing. I figured out what's bugged me about most of the djs and electronic performers this weekend: a complete lack of narrative -- it's all just song after song. Here's the formula: play decent to good track, get the crowd pumped. Drop the bass. Tweak the EQ a bit, maybe shuffle a beat or too. Drop the beat. Crowd goes wild. Chris get irritated and confused at why people seem to be satisfied with this. C -

Chromeo was even worse. They haven't changed much from when I saw them several years ago. Then they were like an electronic comedy act--more entertaining for the farce they perpetuate than for their actual music. Seems the kids really dig them now. "This is the new sound," he "sang." Uh, no. It's not -- it's old sounding and boring and you suck. D

At least Chromeo's suckage gave me the opportunity to check out Black Mountain, who were awesome. Huge, heavy sound -- sound as if they stepped right out of 70s guitar heaven. They had a keyboard too to add some interesting textures and a male and female singer. I very much plan to check out more of them. B+

Justice closed Coachella. They had some good beats/tracks, but see earlier above wine-a-bration about my thoughts. C

Overall, it was a pretty good weekend. I initially came for the electronic music, but it was the rock and roll that did it for me (plus Kraftwerk). Go figure. My faves for the weekend:

Black Lips
Kraftwerk
Prince
Holy F*ck
Love and Rockets
Roger Waters
Black Mountain

Coachella Day 2

It didn't take long (just a few hours) for today to eclipse yesterday. Overall, a great day!

Traffic was really light and we ended up arriving pretty early. Caught a few songs of VHS or Beta on the main stage. They sounded good, like an upbeat and updated Cure. B

Then witnessed some rock-n-roll history in Carbon/Silicon, Mick Jones' (and Tony James') new project. They were great -- Mick was convivial and entertained the crowd with witty banter and spot on tunes. Good old rock-n-roll. B

Freakfest time in Man Man, who seem like a group of band geeks who took one too many hits of acid, adopted a drama student as their frontman and decided to spread their percussive madcap message to the masses. Their stage arrangement was very interesting -- five of them in a tight cluster, the main anchor being a ton of drums, but they would pull other instruments into the mix: guitars, horns, pots and pans, keyboards. The "singer," adorned with facepaint, would alternate on keyboards and running around, causing havoc. They had a nice Louisiana swing to their sound as well. Great energy. B

120 Days are Norway's answer to Underworld, albeit with a bit more screeching. They came on pretty late, due to tech difficulties and never really seemed to recover. Good beats, but not feeling it, really. C

Some DJ action with James Zabiela, who played some decent records and mixed them really well. Also incorporated a Kaos pad (or something similar) to throw some nice scratching action in the mix. B-

Poked my head into the Sahara tent to see what was going on with MGMT. Way too crowded and not really justified, I think. Flavor of the week. C

Blown away by Boyz Noize. Dude demolished the dance tent with crazed mixes of insane techno. Master use of effects on the mixer to whip the crowd into a frenzy. Most impressive. B+

Kate Nash started late (an unfortunate pattern today) due to sound check issues. They didn't seem to solve them as there was something amiss with someone's instrument (loud crackling). The audio mix was pretty bad too -- drums and bass way too loud, making Kate's voice hard to hear. I was disappointed, but it wasn't terrible. B-

I jetted Kate early to recline in the grass and catchy the last bit of Stephen Malkmus' set. He really can't do wrong in my book, so I thoroughly enjoyed it. Nice to get off the feet for a bit too. Did a good Who cover (can't remember). B

St. Vincent was an interesting experience. Like Chan Marshall channeling Feist with more schizophrenia and some twang. Good stuff. B

Cinematic Orchestra also started late -- they are an 8 piece outfit that plays soulful easy listening. Nice, but not really my cup of tea. B-

Another bit of reclining and caught the last bit of Death Cab. They played some pretty rocking stuff--'twas a nice way to wish the sun adieu. B

After some grub, hit the main stage for Kraftwerk. Their show hasn't changed much, but it wasn't any less impressive and enjoyable. They have done such a phenomenal job updating the underlying beats behind their seminal music. I especially enjoyed Radioactivity. A

Portishead was better than I expected -- very dynamic with some fairly upbeat tempos (just some). The vocals were great too. B

Prince was amazing. He didn't fail to entertain. He was late to the stage, but still played an hour and a half. There were about 20 people on stage, including a horns section, drummer, keyboards, three back singers. Then there was Morris Day and Sheila E.  He played a bunch of stuff, both old and new (Lil' Red Corvette, 1999, Controversy) and had the crowd into it the whole time, singing, clapping, waving hands, dancing. He shredded on guitar, played "Creep," a great version of "Come Together" before sending us home with "Let's Go Crazy." Fantastic. A

Coachella Day 1

The weather is actually quite bearable (high of 93) -- a nice breeze escorts us through the mile or so of parking lots. I had lost my tickets in my last move, but I guess those "convenience" charges do amount to something as it was no problem to get replacements at the box office. (First and only) kudos to T-master.

The line to get in is pretty short and we soon emerge onto the polo fields. We catch the last few songs of Rouge Wave, including a great version of "Bird on a Wire" that descends (like a vulture, heh) into a freak out drum jam in which all members are furiously banging on percussion. Nice. I rate them a B.

it should be noted that my rating system is entirely subjective and dependent on my whim and surroundings. Overall the first day was merely ok. It was actually my least favorite day, musically, at Coachella ever. Still, a mediocre day at Coachella beats a lot of things.

Head over to Sahara tent to catch Midnight Juggernauts. They lacked a certain energy that I would expect from a teched out electronic band -- perhaps it was the leather jacket the singer kept on in the heat, but I wasn't really digging them. C+

Caught the last song for Porter, which, to me, sounded like a Mexican Jane's Addiction with a metal drummer. Pretty cool, actually. Didn't get enough to give them a rating, so I'll give them a "pass" (as in Pass/Fail).

Next up was Redd Kross, who I'm not actually very familiar with---I just know that they have been very influential to many different bands over the years. They were really good--I especially liked "Crazy World" and "After School Special" -- wry lyrics and good rock sensibilities/melodies. B.

After that, I cruise over to see Battles, who entertaining a very full Gobi tent. They are a pretty strange set up. Three guys -- two guitarists who also manned keyboards/samples/computers and a drummer. We decided they were like a mathy Wire with extended songs. Layers of samples, angular guitars, the odd vocal loop with driving drums. Very interesting. B.

Les Savy Fav was freaking out on the Outdoor Stage. The lead singer looks like a punk rock santa monk and was squeezed in to pair of red shorts. He was all over the stage, pouring gatorade down his pants, climbing all the way up the rigging, under the stage. Though the music wasn't quite there for me (C+), I give him a B+ for his showmanship, especially in the heat. My favorite moment though was watching a little girl on stage-- she was barely walking and had these huge yellow sound protectors on. She was standing on the side of the stage and would take a few steps toward the mayhem before her and start bobbing up and down to the be beat. So cute.

Caught the last two songs of Black Kids. They sound like The Go Team with Robert Smith on vocals. C.

Dan Deacon was disappointing. I give him props for pulling his act onto the floor, but his sound was that of someone playing someone else's music through effect pedals and overdriven bass and adding some wry crowd banter and audience participation. I wasn't feeling it. C-

Listened to Busy P play a few records -- some good tracks, well mixed. B -

Architecture in Helsinki was also disappointing for me. I guess it's hard to bring so many people together and have it work live (another reason why Arcade Fire rock). Definitely more of a studio band. "Do the Whirlwind" was really disappointing. C

The Breeders met their (very low) expectations. At first I though Kim Deal was a roadie up on stage adjusting equipment. She looked kind of like Wayne from Wayne's World. They had some stops and starts, but were in good spirits with playful banter. "New Year" into "Cannonball" into "Happiness is a Warm Gun" was pretty great though. C+

I must have been standing in the audio dead zone for Vampire Weekend because they sounded really hollow to me. They were there musically, but the sound was just not very rich. C+

Cut Copy was moving the crowd with their neo-new wave synth dance party, but were a little too generic and derivative sounding for me. Good energy though. C

Mum offered pretty harmless music for the Fey that just barely rose above the stench that was emanating from the port-a-potties. Ups to them for asking the crowd "who farted?" though. :) C

My first happy surprise was Tegan and Sara -- they were on the big stage and carried it extremely well. The cute lil' mice had a rich sound and were totally on point. Great show. B+

Caught one song -- Letter from God to Man, which is a spoken word rap over a Radiohead mash-up/sample, from Dan Le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip. Not enough heard to rate though...

Goldfrapp were less dancey than I expected, but they had a nice stage set up and sounded very lush, with harps and violin accompanying  the chanteuse vocals. I quite enjoyed them. B

Was disappointed to learn that Aphex Twin was only playing a dj set, but was still good to catch. He started on a very melodic tip, but quickly bent it toward techy realms and then into breaky, drum and bassy sounds before taking it into more twisted Aphexy territory. Extra bonus was watching people attempt to dance to the well mixed schizophrenia. B

Watched a few songs from Oscar-winning Swell Season. The guy was remarking how chuffed he was to have seen Kim Deal/Wayne backstage at the food tent. He then played a pretty great cover of "Cactus" from Surfer Rosa. Then was joined for some songs by the drummer from The National. Was a good acoustic break before heading over to the Verve. B

Richard's voice was a little hoarse as compared to their show at the Warfield, but it was a still a great performance. B

Spank Rock was sick. :( Amanda Blank tried to carry the show without him. C-

Second best surprise of the was Black Lips. They were great! They sound like a punk band if punk had emerged in the 50's from the deep south. Great southern fried punky action with a 50's sensibility weaved into some tracks. Bonus for Har Mar Superstar doing some backup dancing. B+

In all, a pretty ok day. Looking forward to Kate Nash, Cinematic Orchestra, Kraftwerk and, of course, Prince tomorrow.

Sex Pistols -- When I was in high school, I sang "Anarchy in the UK" at the church my family went to. It was a friend's band and the singer didn't know the lyrics, so I hopped up on stage to help. Which is a strange as I can't carry a tune to save my life. Not that it matters, given the material, I suppose. I remember freaking when I realized I was about to sing "I am the Anti Christ" at a place of worship, so I quickly substituted "Bad Boy" instead. I was involved with Youth Group (at my Mom's insistence), but I didn't really get it. Anyway, I think it scared them...

Lush -- I've always been a sucker for girl vocals and the combination of Miki and Emma's angelic voices coupled with layers of shimmery guitar was aural perfection for me. I think I felt even more of an affinity due to their Abba cover of "Hey Hey Helen" (Abba was my favorite band when I was little).

Ride -- Zig to Lush's zag. I went to see Lush and Ride play together the day after my mother died. For a few hours, everything was ok--I was able to bliss out in the beautiful deafening roar of textures at the 9:30 club. I remember Andy Bell played the hell out of his guitar -- beating a 12 string down to two or three strings.

Pavement -- Slanted and Enchanted is still one of my favorite albums. Lazy erudite summer guitar rock perfection.

Radiohead -- I admittedly came somewhat late to this party. I didn't discover how brilliant Ok Computer was until well after it was released. I did make up for lost time though. They are probably the most important band still making music. I still sometimes just lay in the dark and listen to them on the headphones. And it's still amazing.

Awesome

Highlights from my trip in November - December last year.

Pics are here.

Bangkok 
We arrived at BKK via Taipei (worst airport for layovers evar), snagged a cab and found ourselves dropped off rather unceremoniously in Banglamphu. Specifically, we were dropped off at Khao San Road, which is the main drag of the backpacker district which has grown beyond its crusty origins into a strip mall of delights (or horrors)--bookstalls, bars, carts of food offering pad thai for a dollar. We were jet laggy and it was quite warm and we weren't entirely sure of where our hotel was. Eventually we were pointed in the right direct and found our destination: KC Guest House, tucked on a little alley a bit off the main drag. The accommodations were bare bones -- no hot water, spartan furnishings, but very cheap, good location and the staff was all very friendly and helpful.

After a decent night's sleep, we had breakfast and ride a tuk tuk to the Sky Train station. Our driver is hungover and pretty irritable, especially by Thai standards. He's very liberal with the horn (which is rare for traffic here) and halfway through our journey tries to convince us to go see some special temple that's only open today. This is apparently a very common occurrence -- drivers will try to take you to some "special" location which invariably leads to a store where they make you buy stuff you don't want. We politely refused and were let off at the station with a mutter. The Sky Train is very nice--clean, modern and timely. It doesn't run very many places, but was perfect for getting us to the southern part of the Chao Praya river. From there, we hopped on a tourist ferry; getting off to check out Chinatown . It's not dissimilar to what you might find in other Chinatowns , though there are many more back alleys teeming with market activity. We wander the many stalls, have some excellent noodles for lunch, and then take the boat back to the stop closest to our guest house. Touring the hood a bit, we stop into a massage place off of Khao San and have our first Thai massage. It's amazing! They knead and twist your body into a very relaxed state and then let you chill out with a pot of tea.

The next day, we Sky Trained it up to Mo Chit to check out the massive Chatuchak Weekend Market--it covers about 35 acres and has 15,000 shops and stalls that sell just about everything: household stuff, clothes, shoes, art, antiques, animals, flowers, books, music, food. Needless to say, it's a bit overwhelming--teeming with thousands and thousands of people. We drifted with the flow for a while, buying this and that, marveling that the mountains of puppies, kittens and bunnies for sale. It would be sad if it weren't so friggin' cute. Even with a break for lunch, the crowds got to be a bit much, especially since I was having a bit of the stomach ick. So we took refuge in a nearby park, content to watch the crowds throng around the market.

Birthday for me was also a day of temples. We took the ferry down and toured Wat Phra Kaew and the adjoining Grand Palace . The temple has many beautifully colored buildings, murals and statues that have been restored over the years so you have an idea what they looked like when they were originally built, in the late 1700's. Though it was quite crowded, it was still pretty amazing. The temple is the only one in Thailand that doesn't have any resident monks, but they do have the emerald Buddha, which was made in the 15th century. The king himself changes the Buddha's outfit three times a year--spiffy. We checked out the Grand Palace briefly-- it isn't open to the public and only used for the occasional ceremony. It started to rain as we left the Palace--quite refreshing and it thinned the crowds a bit as we walked over to the amulet market which is a sidewalk market with vendors selling talismans (and the containers that hold them) of various sizes and shapes. We bought a few to help guide us on the trip and successfully fended off another aggressive taxi driver who tried to convince us that the next temple we wanted to go to was closed for the day. We shrugged it off and headed over to Wat Pho, home of the massive reclining Buddha. We were there later in the afternoon, which was nice as there weren't that many people about. A great southern Thai dinner rounded out a great birthday for me. :)

Bangkok was a great -- there was so much more to the city that we definitely plan to return to explore it some more (Arun Wat, Thai boxing matches, and much more), but it was time for the next leg of our journey. It was a short flight to Chiang Mai a small town in northern Thailand . It's nestled in the hills, which stands in contrast to the flat environs of Bangkok .

Chiang Mai
Our lodgings were a step up from KC Guest House--we stayed at 3Sis, a charming bed and breakfast that sits within the walls of the old city. We could walk to most items of interest in the city, including the huge nighttime market, which we checked out the first day we were there--a bit too touristy for me. The next day we were up early for a trekking excursion. It was really touristy, but a lot of fun--we visited an elephant camp, had a nice ride on Stampy, a float down a river on a bamboo raft, visited a village of Pa Dong (tribal longnecks) --(that was a bit weird in a "I feel weird getting out of a van to come look at you" sort of way) and then stopped at an orchid farm that also had a monkey show. Sue and I were the only ones interested in the monkey show, so we got a lot of attention from the stars. Once back in the city, we grab a meal at a restaurant on the river and then walk back to the hotel, stopping to watch people light fireworks. The full moon festival was coming up and folks are starting the celebrations early. One interesting custom is the lighting of a white cylindrical lantern that takes to the sky after being lit, resulting in a few more stars out as folks sent their paper craft up into the night. The next day, I got up early to go on a rock climbing trip to Crazy Horse buttress. I signed up for the course, even though I didn't have a partner and lucked out by joining up with a couple from Utah who had their own ropes. It was a fantastic day of climbing limestone crags and meeting new people.

The next day, we flew from Chiang Mai back to BKK to discover that our flight to Siem Reap was canceled. They got us on the next flight though, so we just had to kill some time at BKK. There are worse fates in the world as the airport offers much in the way of distractions: shops, restaurants, massages. We spent a bit of time crashing the Bangkok Airlines lounge, which had free Internet and munchies. Finally (after 5 hours or so), we got on our way and make the short (40 minute) flight to Siem Reap.

Siem Reap
The airport in Siem Reap is new and very cute. Construction is booming in Siem Reap--trying to keep up with the tourist demand. Customs is a bit unnerving as you have to give $20 up with your passport and then go stand in another line while your passport is passed down a line of officials. Despite being really late, the driver we had arranged was still there, bless his heart. His name was Tong and he spoke great English and was training to be a tour guide, so we hired him as our driver for our stay. He dropped us at our hotel, Molly Malones (yep, an Irish bar/hotel) and we made plans to hit the temples the next day.

Molly Malone's is run by a French guy named Thierry and his partners and is located in the old market section of the city, which is quite the hot spot. The hotel itself is quaint, if a little noisy. Make that a lot noisy when a dude starts playing acoustic (amplified) guitar. Sweet.

The next day, I fly solo (Sue is illin' a bit) and hit up some far away temples--more than two hours away. We hit  the road and a traffic jam. It's a national holiday and no one is working, to include the police who normally assist in regulating traffic. Therefore, what are usually chaotic driving conditions are amplified to the point of insane gridlock. We have an hour's standstill by the town market as folks, impatient with the wait, started a second and third lane on a two way street, thereby jamming up the works. It was pretty amazing. We eventually got on the road and soon the city jams were behind us. Beautiful rice fields lay on all sides with houses on stilts (some very rundown, others very opulent, by Cambodian standards). Driving in Cambodia is a very Darwinian experience. Cars zip along and around mopeds/motorbikes, not hesitating to pass in the opposite lane, even if there's oncoming traffic. The horn is used liberally (much different than Thailand ). Still, it all works...sorta. Families of four or five pile on one scooter--quite a sight. We drive for some time and when we get to Beng Melea, we decide to head out a a further 70 km to Koh Ker, which was the first/oldest of the many temples constructed by Cambodian kings. It's a long trip (the roads get pretty bad toward the end, making the going slow), but was great to get out and see some rural Cambodian action. Highlights: the massive pryamid and a great lunch. It was sad to see the state of ruins at the hands of man though. Looters and the Khmer Rouge have pretty much leveled the structures. The temple was in the jungle, though it wasn't thick like you might expect. 65% of Cambodia was jungle, but clearcutting has decreased it to 40%. Other factoids: 80% of the people are farmers. Not surprisingly, they have large families: sometimes as many as 10 kids. There were lots of kids about.

Tong is a good guide and I find out lots of interesting tidbits about the country's history and culture. There are 3 political parties, the biggest of which is the Cambodian People's Party--they have over 80 of 120 seats in the parliament. They have offices (or whatever) every few kilometers, it seems. Much of the damage to the temples took place within the last 30 years (Khmer Rougue).

After Koh Ker, we then went to Beng Melea, which was pretty awesome. It was just one place (as opposed the to the very spread out nature of the first)--very impressive, but, again,  sad to see the extent of destruction. Then we headed back with some stops for village pics and sticky rice =AWESOME.

The next day, we get up for our Angkor Wat tour. It's pretty impressive--its scale is hard to capture in photos. Did a lot of walking and picture taking and then go to the larger Angkor Thom--which has a lot of cool temples spread about.

In the evening, we walked about the town and into the epicenter of the full moon/harvest celebration. There are tons of people; the streets are jammed with both motorbikes and pedistrians. As we pass a bridge we start to see many lit floats--offerings of thanks to the moon. Kids are lighting them and walking them down to set adrift on the river. Some even swim them out to make sure their journey starts right. Along the sidewalks are food vendors and folks selling the light-able offerings. There are also fireworks in play (though not as much as in Chiang Mai). We walk along the river for a while, stopping to take pictures of the floats (lite-brite-like structures) and people. It's a very chaotic and joyful celebration.

In the morning, we get a visit from the black and white preggers kitty that lives next door. She's barely past kittenhood herself and is very sweet. I head out with Tong to visit the river people; we hire a boat that takes us along the river and follows the temporary settlement of the floating city. They are 50% Vietamese (though they've been in Cambodia for over 40 years and have some sort of citizenship), 40% Cambodian and a small number of Muslim. It's a far cry from the houseboats of Sausalito . The boats are modest and they have floating public structures--hospital, police, schools, newspaper, churches, temples,  etc. Very scenic and nice to be out on the water. Eventually we come to Tônlé Sap, which is the biggest lake in SE Asia (120x35 km, bigger in high season). The flow of the river reverses after rainy season and the river folk follow the flow down toward the Mekong delta. We cruise around the lake for a bit and at a commercial boat, where they have fish and crocodiles  (along with touristy things to buy). Apparently, the richer Cambodians are crocodile farmers -- they get up to $500 for each one they raise to maturity (for their skins). They are expensive to feed though, so it's a hard racket to get into.

In the afternoon, we head out to Banteay Srei, which is about 35km out of town. It's called the women's temple as it's very ornate--best carvings we've seen, though it's on the small side. Then it's a tour of Ta Prohm-- the overgrown, Tomb Raider-y place. It's very cool--trees encroaching on the temple. The drone of the cicadas only outdone by the annoying French tourists. Very cool nonetheless. A little shopping rounded out the day and the next day, we were off to Ko Phi Phi.

Ko Phi Phi  is paradise. We arrived there via seaplane and were picked up in a longtail boat and taken to Zeavola--our home for the next nine days. Words are hard to describe the relaxed luxury that is Zeavola. We were greeting at the beach with a drink and led to our spacious bungalow sequestered among palm trees and other flora. The time at Zeavola was magical, though we managed to tear ourselves away to head into town on occasion. Ton Sai village was a very scenic 30 minute boat ride around to the other side of the island. From there I finished my scuba training -- four certification dives -- and took another trip out to a wrecked car ferry (amazing how the ocean can make something so pedestrian so fascinating) and two other choice locations (shark point, Malong). There's a bit of controversy surrounding the wreck--the ferry wrecked on its way to Phi Phi, but there are no cars on Phi Phi. That coupled with the fact that there were boats on hand to offload the crew leads to suspicion that the ferry was intentionally wrecked for insurance money. I saw a lot during my dives: turtles, octopuses, eels, scorpion fish, brilliant corals--just gorgeous. Another day, we went on a half day of rock climbing-- fairly easy limestone jugs that afforded amazing views of the beach/village below. We were almost hijacked by a band of monkeys who staged an ingenious diversion in an attempt to make off with our bag of bananas. After some nice top rope action, we went out for some snorkeling with a quick detour for some monkey pictures (they are all over the island). The water was actually pretty rough due to winds, but we saw some nice fish and checked out Phi Phi Ley, which is the site of Ma Lay beach, where The Beach was filmed. We see an amazing sunset and have a tranquil dinner on the beach at Baxil, Zeavola's Thai restaurant. The rest of the trip was lounging on the beach, getting an amazing massage and one longtail excursion to a few other beaches, including Monkey Beach, which lived up to its name. Sue had fun amassing a bunch of shells and just generally chilling out. I had fun diving, climbing and relaxing. The Zeavola spoiled us and we didn't mind one bit.

Overall we had a fantastic time -- a perfect blend of activity and leisure. Hope you enjoy the recap and the pictures!

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the trip.

And for fans of monkeys.