The Engleson Files

Sorry, I just like this picture I took down at Victoria harbor the other day - I hope you enjoy it too!

Yesterday the four of us went down to the inner harbor and went on a little ferry ride out to the Fisherman’s Wharf for some fish ‘n’ chips. The kids just love tootling around on these things and it is a great way to kill off a few hours in Victoria. The weather was great and so were the fish ‘n’ chips (even though they cost us a fortune!)

If you have not been, Naramata has one of the most beautiful and neat little beaches in British Columbia. The charm(s) of this beach is the beauty that surrounds it and the funky clientel that hangs around there. Naramata has long been a place of lodgings for the artsy-fartsy’s and Quebecois fruit pickers, and that always creates a unique ambiance. So, if you are ever in the Penticton area be sure to swing by Naramata beach and have a visit!

As I mentioned earlier, I spent a few days in Princeton visiting my old friend Dallas Stinson and while there we managed to sneak in a few rounds at the Princeton Golf Course. Now, here’s a couple known facts about the Princeton Golf Course: it was basically home to me for many years while I lived in Princeton and another old friend, Ian “the Big Elk” Elko, is the head grounds keeper there - so it was great to go back and reminisce. Anyways, my friendship with Dallas over the years has always had a very special synergy (even though we have had a few tough times as well) and we always seem to be able to keep each other well entertained - even though this often comes at the frustration of others. Together we have been able to accumulate a wealth of good memories and have shared a lot of classic moments with each other. While visiting the Princeton Golf Course we seemed to have done it again. Basically, during my two-day visit there we spent every waking minute either golfing or sitting at the clubhouse drinking beer and liasing with the locals. One day we spent 14.5 hours at the course and ate breakfast, lunch and dinner there and then finished off the night with a high stakes game of poker (which I have no idea how to play!) It was a great trip back and was great to see everyone again - Princeton, BC, 3 hours east of Vancouver on the Crowsnest highway.

Well, I am back in the Okanagan after a wonderful few days visiting friends along the Crowsnest highway. The first night had me drop in on Chris, Millie and Nika in Walnut Grove/Langley. It was great to catch in with them and see their wonderful house and their beautiful new baby girl (and going 2-0 in bocce didn’t hurt either!) Next, I went up to Princeton to visit my good friend Dallas where I spent a few days catching up with old friends and soaking in the nostalgia of my old hometown - more on the Princeton trip later. But now, I am back in Penticton and am awaiting the arrival of Kristin, Magnus and Svea from Windsor tomorrow. Can’t wait to see them and can’t wait to get out and enjoy everything the Okanagan has to offer!

P.S. - Thanks to my wonderful cousin Kristy (who is a total computer geek!) I now have the technology and insight on how to do these slide show thingys - love it - thanks!!

Well, ladies and gentlemen, the time has come for our final farewell since we have sadly (for us at least) reached the end of our 2008 vacation memoirs. We hope you all enjoyed journeying with us into Myanmar and Southern Thailand. It was a fantastic trip that gave us all thousands of wonderful memories and it was great to relive them all again with you on the blog; but, all good things must come to an end and it is now time for us here at the The Engleson Files to be moving on.

On our last day at Nai Yang, we decided to book a longtail boat and go check out the sights and sounds around the surrounding area. During our time out on the water we were able to set anchor for awhile and do some snorkling; the captain knew of a nice little spot and let Magnus and I go at it. While Magnus was a little hesitant at first (due to Kristin scaring the crap out him about sharks) he did showed his true spirit and jumped out of the boat and went searching for some fish. He claims to have found Nemo (which we did not see) but we were able to see some pretty magnificent tropical fish, which excited him greatly. Great way to end off the vacation!

After our time at the Marriott, we were going to go back to Tohko beach on Ko Phi Phi island and ride out the rest of our vacation there visiting friends; but, after meeting up with the Brown’s they were able to give us a hot little tip on a great place just minutes away from where we were, and just five minutes away from the Phuket airport: and that place was called Nai Yang beach. While the transition from the Marriott to Nai Yang was a little difficult at the start, this little beach was a fantastic place to end off our vacation. Here, everything was nice and cheap and place just oozed with character - Nai Yang beach is what Thailand is all about.

The strip alongside the beach was funky and had many bars and restaurants alongside the beach. Every night we were able to find a new place to eat absolutely monster king prawns for dinner (I mean off the charts big!) and then we were able to have a nice walk along the beach at sunset. During the day we just lazed about at the beach and swam in the beautifully warm and crystal clear ocean. Simply said, Nai Yang beach is a great little place and we enjoyed it fully during our last three days there!

One key advancement Magnus had during this vacation was his use of waterwings while swimming, whether it was in the pool or ocean, you could be rest assured to see him puttering around with them. In general, I would classify Magnus’s swimming as pretty good for his age; he loves to get wet, and what we found was the waterwings just gave him that much more freedom to play around while swimming around. Being able to go in the deep areas excited Magnus greatly and made him want to go in the water even more. For Kristin and I, it just gave us total peace of mind knowing he was that much safer while playing around. I don’t know who it was that invented these waterwing thingys, but if I could I would like to thank them personally for one hell of an invention!

While at Nai Yang this tasty little dish before you was definitely the Engleson choice for lunch - phad thai with a lemon shake. Mmmm mmm, just writing about it now makes my taste buds tingle with pleasure. Phad thai is basically this: sprouts, fried egg, yolk noodle, crushed nuts, and a few veggies mixed in with your choice of topping(s) - chicken, prawns, beef, etc. This dish can be a little spicy if you choose, but with just the right sprinkle of lime your mouth is soon involved in a wonderful taste explosion. Then, to wash it all down, you take a nice, refreshing sip of an ice-cold lemon shake. Yes folks, that is what vacation is all about!

Another routine we were happy to partake in while at the Marriott was going to watch the big gala sunset show. Here, in a big reflection pool up near the main concourse, a group of drummers, dancers and fire-twirlers (I think that is what you call them) would put on a traditional show every night at sunset to signify the end of another day. All of them were dressed up in traditional clothing and all wore very strange masks. The show was quite spectacular and we always got up to the main level early in order to grab the best seats by the pool and to ensure that our mojito’s were just the right temperature before the festivities began - there is nothing like sunset in Phuket!

Basically, our entire time at the Phuket Marriott was spent right here: at the kiddie pool. The beauty of this pool was the fact that it was shallow enough for Magnus to tool around in and not be in any danger; he was basically free to swim wherever he wanted. This gave him an enormous sense of freedom and with all the other children around there was always enough friends to hang out with. During the week, it is a very safe estimate to say that Magnus spent 6 hours a day here flopping around. Oh yes, sleeping at night was not a problem at the Marriott for young Bjorn!