GZ Expat, Part II

Westin Langkawi - Changes

The old Sheraton Perdana Resort was beginning to show its age...particularly in the rooms.  Although they were always nicely done...the floors, carpets, draperies, furniture were all beginning to show the signs of wear after 10 plus years of service to their customers.  The new Westin Langkawi Resort and Spa has picked up on those things and upgraded the rooms impressively.

The bathrooms are bright and light.  Nearly the same layout as before...they just seem a little larger and more inviting with stand alone tub and sinks.  The old rooms had the tub on a wall that separated it from the rest of the room.  That wall had a large opening with shutters...in case you wanted to bathe in the openness of your room.  The kids loved this, because they could have their bath and watch cartoons on the TV in the room too.  Well, they added glass this year...so, expat son could still watch, but couldn't hear anything. 

The beds are a major upgrade.  Anytime you go from standard Asian bedding to the Starwood Heavenly Bed...well, there you have it.  Very restful sleeps in these beds.  One problem we experienced was the inability to order an extra bed; they are no longer available for standard rooms.  This is really unfortunate for those families with 1 child that is older (maybe 8 to 15 yrs old).  The resort is essentially wanting those families to pay double for an extra room for the extra person.  Or you have to travel, as some friends of ours do, with an air mattress and bedding in your luggage. We settled for a double room, with expat son alternating sharing with tai-tai or myself.  The ensured both tai-tai and I of at least one restful sleep every other night.

The last major upgrade to the room was the addition of a massive 42 inch plasma TV.  Pretty cool and impressive when you are in such a small room.  They also offered DVD players in the room as well.  The TV was really nice...but...the selection of channels are still the same basic channels they have always had.  Why spend thousands on flat screen plasma TV's, when all you have to show is standard TV (no HD??).  And, I don't know about you, but when I travel to a resort, I don't think to bring my collection of DVD's along with me to watch in the evenings (as I couldn't find a list of available movies to borrow/rent from the hotel).  While the TV was a cool addition and upgrade...what use is it at a tropical resort?  I'm there for the pools and the beer...not the TV. 

Other changes throughout the resort reflected the same sort of feeling in the rooms.  Beige colors...muted tones...subtle lighting.  The Breeze lounge was decked out with fluffy pillowed sofas.  The lobby had a big tree branch as its display with candles attached (tai-tai's mother would be impressed).  The Tide restaurant was painted silver and had a sea blue, wavy wall.  All of it something you would expect to find in a Wallpaper* magazine, not something you would expect to find in Malaysia.  Gone were the wicker chairs.  Gone were the wood grains and stone.  Gone were the Malay names of the restaurants.  If I had arrived in this resort blindfolded...I would have never known I was in Malaysia.

Perhaps the style has passed me by.  Perhaps this is the target of the hotel...to become more like Bali.  But, I say, the whole reason we would go to Langkawi year after year, was precisely because it wasn't Bali.  If I wanted to go to Bali, I would go there.  Langkawi provided for a much different atmosphere and experience than Bali ever could or did.  Langkawi was always a place we felt that didn't feel 'touristy'.  Bali is all about tourists...not so in Langkawi.  But the old Perdana never gave us that feeling. 

The biggest change at the resort has been the incredible addition of several 1 and 2 bedroom villa's around the hotel's grounds.  You see, in the old days, even before the Sheraton Perdana, the hotel was the Langkawi Golf & Country Club with a 9 hole course on site.  When the Sheraton took it over, they let the golf course overgrow.  As a result, over the years, the abundance of wildlife to come into the area was short of amazing.  Monkeys, iguanas and Langkawi's famed bald eagles began flocking to the area.  The iguanas would occasionally stroll under your pool bed, so they could swim to the other side of the pool.  The monkeys would come down from the hills and storm the resort and feast on the shell fish at low tide.  The eagles still soar overhead now and then.  All of that is changing as the villas completely fill these empty spaces from the golf course.

We had a tour of a 1 bedroom villa and they are very nice.  These villas have more of a Malay feel than the rest of the hotel...and with the addition of a private swimming pool, garden, deck and butler service it is a very attractive place for a longer term stay.  The downside is, they have taken away from the solitude and serenity of the grounds that surrounded the resort. If you are wanting a very private holiday and you don't mind plunking down a load of cash...these are for you.

However, my ratings are pretty good for each of these...

• Room.  5
  • Big upgrade to the previous rooms.  The Heavenly Beds are just that...especially when you are used to sleeping on Chinese/Asian beds for most of the year.
  • Broadband internet access is a good plus...never had that before.
  • TV is cool...but, why not upgrade the channel selections and offer free DVD's to use in that machine??
• Lobby.  4
  • I ding this a point because as you arrive, you don't feel as though you have arrived in a resort in Malaysia.  Even though the lobby is open air and the ceiling is a traditional vaulted building...you couldn't feel it.  It just felt like any other hotel.
  • Much more spacious than before...
• Tide Restaurant.  2
  • I'm giving a special mark here for our favorite restaurant.  The old Sambar Ria reflected its name...it had a Malaysian grass hut feel to it.  Now?  I felt as though I was on the set of an old, original Star Trek show.  Remember those...in which the set designers were only given 3 colors of paint and 10 hrs to prepare?  Silver, black and blue.  Nothing like watching the evening sunset from a landed flying saucer. 
  • Hook the bad 70's music.  Sounds like a piano bar from hell.
• Villa.  4
  • The actual rooms are very nice.  Bathroom is gigantic.  The private pools are large enough to waddle in...but not to swim in.  Maybe 1 stroke and you are across. 
  • The prices of these villa's are a bit steep.  Rack rate for a 1 bedroom villa is RM4000.00 (exchange 3.5 to 1 USD), the 2 bedroom is RM7000.00.  Although that is for peak season...you can probably still get into the one bedroom for RM2250.00, I think.  Compare that with the RM1700.00 we used to pay for the massive 2 bedroom suite (without pool)...and the price is considerably different.

Overall, the changes were pretty good...with the exception of the Tide Restaurant.  They really need to rethink the decor and the direction (causal dining vs fine dining) they want to take this place.  Personally, it seems completely out of place for where it is located and the potential behind it.

links for 2007-03-01

• Michelle Malkin: Assassination chic, Cheney edition
  Whatever your partisan leanings, an attack planned on the Vice President of the United States is an attack on America. Some of our fellow Americans, however, can't put their sneering hatred of the White House aside.
  (tags: politics)
• Power Line: Mission Accomplished?
  Suicide bombing is a tactic favored by the weak.
  (tags: waronterror)
• Power Line: Follow That Armadillo!
  Climatological Cassandras are becoming increasingly apprehensive, for the weather aberrations they are studying may be the harbinger of another ice age.
  (tags: globalwarming)
• globesports.com: Smyth: 'I never thought it would come to this day'
  (tags: hockey nhl)
• Simon World :: Best transit system
  The Tube as number 1?
  (tags: hongkong)
• Rantings of a Sandmonkey » Hershed!
  So yesterday I went to the AUC to hear Seymour Hersh speak...This is a man who knows his audience and how exactly to bullshit them.
  (tags: waronterror)
• Imagethief : China stockmarkets: Casino Spoyale
  The Chinese stockmarkets are casinos, and somebody just rolled snake eyes.
  (tags: china chinaeconomy)
• ESPN.com - NCF - Jerry Glanville to coach Div. 1-AA Portland State
  (tags: sports oregon)
• ESPN.com - NHL - Cox: Edmonton dealing with another bitter dose of reality
  GZE2 - This is so eerily reminiscent of the Canucks trading away Trevor Linden to...the Islanders. Good Luck Oiler fans.
  (tags: hockey nhl)
• Baby used as down payment for used Dodge Intrepid - Autoblog
  (tags: cars)
• Local News: Chaplain arrested for touching woman inappropriately
  Richard Sacks, the chaplain for both the Forest Grove Police Department and fire department, admitted to the police chief that he had touched the 23-year-old woman and was immediately removed from his position.

Westin Langkawi - Pools

Let's face it...the whole reason we go on holiday is to get away from Chiner...soak up some good rays...drink cold beers...and take a dip in a clean, well-maintained pool.  Of the above three things, the only thing we can do in Chiner is...drink cold beers.  Pools are a major attraction for us in any resort.

The Westin Langkawi in years past hooked us with the variety of pools they offered.  The main pool was a multi-sided shallow and deep pool.  The first years we stayed a the resort, they would conduct diving lessons in the deep end of the pool, prior to taking people out to a coral reef for the real thing.  There were plenty of trees around the pool for a little extra shade...as well as lots of deck chairs.  Most people hung out at that pool, because it was close to the pool bar!

Once expat son came along, we did our fair share of time around the kids pool.  This pool was very shallow...maybe 1 ft deep...with islands and fountains on the island.  There was a 'beach' area where the water depth went from 1ft to zero...with bubblers in the ground that burbled a little bit of water.  And then there were the chairs...with two massive water jets shooting out the back.  You could either sit in it and get a little massage, or the kids would put the buckets into the flying stream to try and fill them up.  This pool contained some of the happiest times for my son and the cancer hero. 

Finally, the pool that we returned to year after year was the 'ocean' pool.  This pool is two tiered with the water flowing down rock like structures...with boulders all around the outer edge.  In the center, the largest boulders had water jets that shot water 20 ft in the air...cooling the pool in the process.  All of our kids learned how to jump from those rocks...and how to show other kids to do it properly (without hitting anything or anybody).  The pool was rough on the skin...every year we all had torn up feet and knees...but, damn it was a great place to hang out.  The water fountains gave a consistent hum to the day...which was calming on a hot day.  I can remember laying our in backyard in the USA a few years ago...the sun beating down on me...and I could hear those fountains. 

In life...things change...and the management at the Westin Langkawi Resort and Spa felt the need to make drastic changes to the pools. 

The main pool was completely torn up for a new 'infinity' style pool.  That seemed pretty good to me when we first heard about it.  The initial information we had was that, 'no resort has a pool with such a deep end.'  That is true, but it is also what makes it unique.  So, out it went for a massive, 35 metre square pond.  It is approximately 1.5 meters deep all the way around.  Expat daughter would love it for the ability to swim laps (the previous pool was impossible due to the depths and configuration), but the character of this pool was about as exciting as a slice of white toast. 

In one corner sits the pool bar, with its 5 bar stools under water.  The remainder of this massive pool of water is completely in the open with no trees or shade anywhere to be found.  The view at the 'infinity' spot is spectacular.  The addition of a safety bar all along the ledge was a bit hap-hazard, as it definitely looked like an after thought.  But then, the resort attracts families and the drop down to the next level is at least 1.5 meters.

But, they didn't stop there.  The kids pool, which had some problems with over-spilling and losing water, was completely replaced with a giant square, 1.5ft deep puddle...to match its larger cousin to the west.  In the center of this massive square, there is a square of bubbling jets...thats it.  Every time I walked by the pool, I saw no more that 1 child splashing and playing in it.  Most people that were lounging around it were couples without children. 

Our favorite pool, the 'ocean' pool got a slight make-over and a name change.  Yes, they adopted the name the kids always called the pool and the now call it the 'rock pool'.  The pool was good...with a couple exceptions.  First, because the kids pool is so bad, all of the families with kids moved up to the rock pool...making the pool a little louder than we were used to in past year.  Second, the water jets from the boulders were not on.  We asked several times about this and got many answers...but the final answer was that there was something wrong with the pumps that feed the jets and it was all shut down. 

The water jets served two purposes in that pool.  One was to create a constant background noise...this helped in cutting down the ability to hear others conversations.  The pool had many private coves with the heavy landscaping and the addition of the falling water helped make the pool a very private place, even though there were many others sharing it with you.  The other things the jets did was cool the water.  The pump in the pool is not efficient enough to circulate the water to keep it cool without the aid of the jets.  By the end of the day, each day we were there, the pool became nearly unbearably hot.  My hope is that the jets are merely out of order and that they can be restored quickly.

A big plus with the rock pool was the addition of a proper pool deck.  In the past, the deck was a sandy beach sort of thing...and the sand just got all over the place.  The new desk is very nice, clean and looks great.

Once again...the rating system in place...

• Main Pool.  2
  • The removal of all the foiliage and the character of the original just doesn't sit well with me.  Although the view at the infinity area is impressive...not many guests utilized this aspect of the pool.
• Kids Pool.  0.5
  • I only saw 1 kid in the pool the entire week we were there.
• 'Rock' Pool.  3
  • If they indeed fix the water jets, this rating will climb back up to a  5...this is one of the best pools anywhere.

As a final note...the resort decided to install a series of directional signs to let you know where you are and where you want to go.  Instead, I became confused and thought I was on the campus of Intel or some other high-tech firm in the USA. 

So, for an extra credit rating on garden decoration...0.5.  I thought I was in Malaysia...not Silicon Valley.

links for 2007-02-28

• Chinese stock plunge sets off a worldwide sell-off - International Herald Tribune
  (tags: China chinaeconomy)
• From Shanghai, tremors heard around the world - International Herald Tribune
  (tags: china chinaeconomy)
• Captain's Quarters: Assassination Attempt Misses
• Imagethief : Why Chinese television sucks (number 893 in a series)

Westin Langkawi - Food

Ever since we began staying at the Sheraton Perdana (now the Westin Langkawi), we fell into a fairly traditional sense of dining when there.  Breakfast, lunch and dinner, we always did the same things.

Breakfast buffet was usually included in the room rate.  We'd head down to the main restaurant ( The Grove) and grab all sorts of breakfast goodies...from cereal to nasi lemak to fruits and yogurt.  As usual, the lunch buffet was large and good with the temptation to eat too much food magnified by the addition of free champagne (OK...so it was not REALLY champagne, as Stevo's tai-tai was quick to point out...'it's sparkling chardonnay!!')

The old layout of the buffet was adequate, but never quite efficient enough.  The new layout in the 'Taste' restaurant is very well done.  With the chefs cooking eggs, roti and dim sum in the back and the other items like sausages and noodles just in front of them.  There was definitely less of a traffic jam in this area this year.  What was really an improvement was with the breads, fruits, juices and Asian food.  Much large counters flowed the customers much better.  I can't remember getting elbowed out of the way this year, as I had in years past.

The food itself?  Good...and I would even say an improvement.  The new servers help to keep the food warmer than before.  My favorite, nasi lemak, was good, but there were two changes.  The actual rice no longer came in the banana leaf package...which I thought was a downfall.  The rice served in the buffet tray was drier than the banana leaf version.  The positive was the chicken rendang was served boneless...no battling with the bones.  But, there was no beef rendang this year (which they would serve alternately with chicken, daily).   Overall...a wash.

But, hey...the staff was the same!  Of course the food is going to be good.  Gone was Chef Dave...but what remained were the core of the chef's of past years that had perfected the breakfast line after years of practice. 

For lunch, we always retired to the pool bar, but not this year.  This was the biggest disappointment of the whole trip.  The pool bar has been reduced to just that...a bar.  In years past, it was a gathering point...a meeting point...for everyone to enjoy a pint and a snack together.  Situated between the main pool, the children's pool and the fine dining restaurant, the old pool bar was a large, round bar, with a grass hut roof and stools placed all around the outside.  When full, it could seat nearly 20 people. 

The attraction of this area was many.  First, it was a gathering place, as I had mentioned.  After enjoying a few hours of sun and pool time, people could walk over and sit in the shade with a pint and watch what was going on around them; savor the view out the back side of the bar*; enjoy the company and conversation of the pool bar attendants.  We made many a friend at the pool bar... most notably, the attendants.  These guys are the best.  You know you are being taken care of, when your bartender pulls your pint before you get there!

The new pool bar ('Splash') is situated below the main pool (to allow for 5 seats inside the pool to belly up to the bar.  The remaining 4 sides are barren...no stools.  They are also facing the east, south and west, so they are exposed to the hot sun all day, with no shade (the old grass hut top was round and could cover at least 1/2 the area with shade all day), as the bar is square. The best asset the hotel had going for it...its pool bar staff...have been reduced to pool attendents, schlepping drinks from lounge chair to lounge chair, instead of creating relationships and conversation with people that surround them.

But we still hit Splash for lunch...we just had to pull up a table with umbrella in an area next to the pool bar for enjoyment.  The service is still second to none...the guys were even holding the table for us, because they knew we would be up there for lunch everyday.  But, it wasn't the same.  There wasn't the same feel and atmosphere as before. 

Dinners always found us at the fine dining restaurant, the Sambar Ria, which is now called 'Tide'.  In years past, this was the fine dining establishment of the resort.  You would go to this place for perfectly cooked steak, seafood and Malaysian dishes served up by some great chefs.  We had gotten to know the chef's pretty well and, again, they treated us very well.  They would always try and find the right ingredients for us if we wanted something different and they would also treat us to something, if we were in the mood for something new. 

Things were no different this year.  Chef treated us daily to some of the finest he could provide.  At the same time, we noticed that the ambiance and menu had changed dramatically.  The menu consisted of some seafood choices...along with pizza and burgers.  Well, hey, I had one of the pizzas and they were very good...but 'fine dining?'  We eventually find out that the fine dining aspect of this restaurant is gone...replaced by 'casual' dining (that explains the burgers and pizza).  The fine dining would be upstairs, where the buffet restaurant is.  I'm not sure about you...but I do not associate buffet and fine dining in the same sentence.  If I want something served to me and I walk in and see a buffet line...I walk out.

A quick story about this restaurant, though.  In the past, because it was 'fine dining', we would have to come with a collar.  We could still wear shorts and that, but you had to have a collar (no beach gear, basically).  As people would come down the steps to the entrance, we would play, 'Do The Stay or Do They Go?'  That is, based on their attire, would the be allowed to dine or not.  They had one woman, in particular, whom the guys would call on to throw people out.  She was about 4' 10" with a wonderful smile that lit up her face.  She would go to these people and tell them to get dressed or take a hike.  It was awesome.  Now...with the new 'casual dining' aspect...our fun was gone. 

Overall, our experience with this restaurant was great.  We had some of the finest meals ever this year.  But, if we were reduced to following the menu, as most patrons were, we would have been seriously searching for another place to eat...perhaps even outside the hotel (which is something we usually just don't do).  The menu definitely reflected the name of the restaurant; Tide.  Like the laundry soap...sort of sour and boring.

I'm not even going to get started on the music that was being played by a local duo.  Let's just say that the music of the 70's hasn't completely died in Malaysia.

With the demise of the pool bar, they moved happy hour upstairs to the little used lobby bar, now called 'Breeze'.  Again, they did a nice job renovating this area...and it has fantastic view of the Andaman Sea from its location.  Each night, they served a complimentary martini...usually some fruity thing that tasted more like juice than a martini...and mock tail for the kids.  The big difference here...the old pool bar was 2 for 1, this happy hour was 20%.  Well, I'd be much happier if it was 2 for 1.  I must say, though, that the bartender served up a pretty mean vodka martini and Manhattan.
 

If I were to give ratings to each of these experiences (1 thru 5).

• Breakfast.  4.5
  • The lack of beef rendang hurts them here.  Overall, great additions.
• Lunch.  2
  
  • The loss of the pool bar is a blow.  Although we could still get the same food...the atmosphere and comfort was just not there.
• Dinner.  5
  
  • We are lucky...we are spoiled.  The Chef and Captain of the restaurant knew us and gave us what we wanted.  If we were to fend for ourselves on the menu as all other customers, this rating would be in the 2-3 range.
  • Also...no style points deducted for the horrid music.
• Drinks.  3
  • The freebies were pretty brutal...way too sweet to be called a martini.  And, as mentioned before, happy hour should make one happy...20% barely cracks a smile.

* the pool bar view.

links for 2007-02-27

• Boing Boing: Beer-catapaulting fridge conserves beer-fetching calories
• Canucks and Beyond: Vancouver picks up Bryan Smolinski
  (tags: nhl canucks hockey)
• Captain's Quarters: Jesus buried in plain sight?
  This shows why pop science rarely delivers anything but entertainment.
  (tags: religion news)
• Michael J. Totten: On My Way to Iraq
  (tags: blogs waronterror iraq)
• Waiting For Stanley: Up-To-Date Transactions for Monday
  (tags: nhl canucks hockey)
• OpinionJournal: The Choice on Iraq
  I appeal to my colleagues in Congress to step back and think carefully about what to do next.
  (tags: politics iraq waronterror congress)
• Canucks load up before deadline
  The Canucks grabbed veteran centre Bryan Smolinski in a trade with the Chicago Blackhawks, then re-acquired defenceman Brent Sopel from the Los Angeles Kings
  (tags: nhl canucks hockey)

Westin Langkawi Resort & Spa

Since 1997, the family and I have spent Chinese New Year in Langkawi, Malaysia.  We booked and stayed at the Sheraton Perdana Resort each and every year.  Now, not to sound as though we are creatures of habit and we don't like experiencing new things, this particular hotel hooked us with its layout, pools, food, service and people. 

When we first moved to China in 1996, we experimented with different resorts that others had tried.  At the time, the most popular place to visit was the Laguna Beach Club in Phuket.  Our initial leave that first year was to that resort.  It was good.  The hotel was comfortable...the pool was great...the beach was right next to the resort and the food was pretty good.  It was expensive, though, as Phuket was one of the two biggest attractions in SE Asia for traveling (the other being Bali) at that time.

While watching television, Tai-Tai and I saw a feature on the island of Langkawi and how Malaysia was trying to focus attention on travel to this island with a new airport and duty free status, we decided to take a look at trying to get there.  As our internet connections were fairly brutal back then, we looked up hotels in a directory for Hyatt, Sheraton and anything else we could find.  We found two hotels in Langkawi and eventually settled on the Perdana based on the pictures and recommendations some good friends that stayed there previously.

We were hooked.  The hotel had three great pools.  One large pool, in the old style...with a deep end and shallow end.  Another pool which was called the 'Ocean Pool' and originally was full of salted water and had rocks and fountains.  Expat Daughter always referred to it as the 'rock pool' because it was a pool with rocks to jump off.  Finally a fantastic kids pool with fountains and chairs with water jets. 

The restaurants had a grand variety of local as well as western favorites.  We always went to the same restaurant, which was an outdoor venue that served more of a gourmet a la carte menu.  Although the service at times was brutal, we always gave them the benefit of the doubt...and we were rewarded with our patience with great food and better service in the future. 

The pool bar was a great community to sit around, shoot the breeze and have a cold Anchor or Tiger...or savor a 2 for 1 happy hour just prior to dinner.

The rooms were very comfortable and spacious with its own balcony.  The TV had always sucked, but, hey, I'm there to catch some rays and drink some beers...not watch TV all day! 

The clientèle consisted mainly of Taiwan, Singapore and Japanese tourists.  During Chinese New Year, there were more expats there...but for the most part, it was a family oriented resort.  We saw the demographic of the hotel change year after year...from Asian to British to Australian to Middle Eastern...everyone comes to this place.

Finally, it was the management and the people that kept us coming back.  After our first year there, we returned the next to be greeted by staff and managers with a hearty, 'Welcome Back!'  That was the clincher...they remembered that long...and we loved it.  It was what customer service is all about...and it was what China was NOT all about.  People happy to see you.  Sort of like the Cheers...where everybody knows your name.  This was the number one reason we kept coming back.

So, in the coming posts, I would hope to address each of these different items in more details to discuss the changes that were made and how they relate to our previous visits and our expectations. 

links for 2007-02-26

• lgf: Mahathir: No Such Thing As a "Moderate" Muslim
  “There is nothing extreme about Islam if we follow its teachings as contained in the Quran,” he said.
  (tags: malaysia asia waronterror)
• Pub Philosopher: Blogger gets four years for insulting Islam
  (tags: blogs)
• Pajamas Media: Dissent Crushed: Abdel Kareem, Egypt's Free Speech Martyr
  (tags: blog)

Back Home

After a week off and all the catching up I need to do with work, news and blogs, I almost don't know where to start.  I started here, with the latest podcast from the Crazy Canucks.  Yes, there was ZERO hockey news in Malaysia (err...I should say ICE hockey...plenty of field hockey news, though). 

First of all...I'll try and get pictures uploaded soon.  Before I left for holiday, my main desktop at home began having some lockup issues, and despite being shut down for over a week, it still is having problems.  I think I have a CPU problem...and that isn't good.  But, this could present an opportunity for a bigger/faster machine.  As the NHL playoffs approach, this might not be such a bad idea.

Second...we've all come down with some sort of viral bug on our way home.  We left Langkawi on Saturday afternoon feeling pretty good.  That evening, while sleeping, I started to feel pretty crappy (achy, headache, very hot).  The next morning, after a couple advil, I started to feel better and we hopped on the plane home.  Well, after we got home, Tai-Tai began feeling the same way and expat son started in on it this morning.  Blech.

My plan in the coming days is to jot down some of the things about our trip and blog about them separately.  If you recall, we were little leery about our trip, as the hotel we have stayed at for the past 10 years, underwent some major changes.   Some of those things, such as the pools, restaurants, people and management are at the foremost in our minds.  To some, these posts may seem a bit boring or silly...but, I have the need to get these out there, in case someone may be searching up the hotel to figure out whether to stay or not. 

Bottom line, it was a good trip.  We really missed expat daughter, but we got the opportunity to see the cancer hero up close and personal...and she is doing very well.  They head back to NYC for the final injections of anti-bodies...and then she is finished with her treatment.  After that, it is a plan of check-ups and testing to ensure she is cancer free.

I had hoped to be tanned, rested and ready when I got back home...instead I am tanned, tired and dizzy with this virus!! 

Paradise!

Still the same view even with the changes to the hotel.
Download pres.smil