We left the dock at Naples Sailing and Yacht Club early this am for our short trip up to Tween Waters on Captiva Island.  This is generally a great time of year for boating as the winds have not yet picked up and the rains have headed north away from Florida.

Not the case today.  Overcast skies did not put us off and we headed off with anticipation of another great time with friends, celebrating Thanksgiving and the many blessings we all enjoy.  Even the dogs seemed happy to be at sea again.  Not sure they love the travel end of it but always enjoy the adventures when we arrive at our destination. 

By the time we got out of Gordon Pass and hit the gulf the sprinkles started.  They were not bad, but enough to kept the isinglass down.  The seas were flat and for some luck, we missed the crab traps all the way to the channel heading into Fort Myers Beach and the bridge at Sanibel causeway.  Once under the bridge the rain really started heavy and we had to rely on navigating by equipment and random glimpses of channel markers along the way.  It reminded me of boating off Osterville, Hyannis, Centerville, Cape Cod, and how quickly the weather can change. 

All and all, not a bad trip and here we are, docked at Tween.  Still raining and expected to continue through the evening.  Tomorrow, looks to be better, even some cooler temperatures are promised.  Friday should be a high of 69, perfect for the fireworks and festivities that Tween puts on every year to herald in the Christmas season.

My 600-hour adventure in esthetics school. Learn about the project, or catch up with Weeks 1 and 2.

We’ve been practicing the daytime face for two weeks now, so tonight, Meg and I are messing around in our FantaSea makeup kits. They’re filled with clever compartments and secret drawers, all fitted with perfectly pressed cakes of color that beg you to swirl your brushes through them, like walking on fresh snow. There’s even a black plastic comb fitted into the hinge, though no one can explain what we’re going to do with that.

“Remember girls, the daytime face should be very, very light,” says Miss Jenny for perhaps the millionth time. She’s been toning down our preferences for smoky eyes and pouty lips all week. “Very light. You need to be very restrained with your color selections.”

Meg dips her brush in a coral blush and dabs her cheek. We peer at the orange streak. “Nice and light,” I decide. She follows up with neon blue eye shadow, while I layer on the frosted pink lipstick. ”Perfect for daytime,” says Meg approvingly. We add sparkly gloss, green shadow for contour, and more orange blush, then admire our Technicolor faces in the Fantasea mirrors. It’s the kind of makeup you used to put on at a middle school sleepover party, while your one friend was in the bathroom dying her hair some impractical color, before you all sat down to eat an entire pan of brownies in one sitting.

“My god,” says Meg. “We’re so pretty!”

“Oh you girls are making me laugh,” says Miss Jenny.

I think this is kind of the moment when we all realize that we’re becoming friends.

My 600-hour adventure learning to apply makeup, excavate pores, and wax, um, everything. (Learn more about the project, or catch up with Orientation.)

Having parted with $400, I am now the proud owner of:

1 FantaSea Deluxed Multi-Layered Cosmetic Kit.

Yes. That is like fantasy, only aquatic. Their logo includes a swan — presumably what all us ugly ducklings can become once we explore the kit’s many layers.

1 Repechage Balancing Hydrating Mask.

1 Repechage Aqua Massage Cream

1 Repechage T-Zone Balance Cleansing Complex

1 Repechage T-Zone Balance Toning Complex

1 Repechage Opti-Cleanse Extra Gentle Non-Oily Eye Makeup Remover

1 Repechage Opti-Firm Lift Cream SPF 10

Clearly, we’ll be learning more about this Repechage business. So far, I can tell you that my cat likes the smell.

10 Makeup Brushes, assorted.

1 Eye Pencil Sharpener

1 Eyelash Curler

1 copy Milady’s Standard Fundamentals for Estheticians

1 copy Milady’s Standard Fundamentals for Estheticians Workbook

1 copy Milady’s Standard Fundamentals for Estheticians Exam Review

Milady’s has been publishing the textbooks used in almost every beauty school in the country for 80 years. (They claim to have educated “10 million beauty professionals.”) They also offer life coaching.

1 student ID card.

This entitles us to 10% off at any beauty supply store. It is a major perk. We’re encouraged to experiment with different brands, add our own favorite products to our kits. As our teacher, Miss Jenny, says, “We’re professionals and that means we only work with professional products.” (Though she does admit to a Sephora addiction.)

There is much discussion of which beauty supply stores we might visit on a class field trip. “You get excited and you want to buy everything,” Barb warns. “Some of my girls went last week and they all came back with organic everything, even organic brushes.” (Did USDA develop a certification standard for makeup brushes when I wasn’t looking?)

1 Black Duffel Bag. To carry it all back and forth! I saw one girl had upgraded to a roll-along suitcase. She seems smart.

[Photo Credit: My iPhone. Hence the poor quality.]

Harrison Crew

Yesterday’s article in the Naples Daily News about Man Helping Manateeby Elysa Batista was certainly an inspiring one.  In south west Florida we share our waterways with the wondrous manatee, often called the sea cow.  As the waters cool with the passing of summer and the start of fall the slow moving mammals to find their way into the warmer shallows, often boating channels or salt water shallow flats.  In the case of the big guy this morning, his lumbering speed didn’t get him out to deeper waters in time for the low tide retreat and the forming of a sandbar at Clam Pass just south of Pelican Bay.  Luckily for him (her), a couple out for an early morning stroll spotted him and alerted the Collier County Sheriff’s department and Cpl. Carmine Marceno, along with Collier deputies, Collier parks rangers and Pelican Bay District staff worked feverishly to create the pathway that led the manatee out to deeper waters.  The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission biologist Denise Boyd said the stranding was just a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. 

This story, a happy ending for sure, reminded me of our local author Randy Wayne White and his character Doc Ford, another marine biologist.   As far as my husband and I are concerned, we are a couple of the growing cult following Randy and his writings since his first book dating back to 1990.  Randy was a light-tackle fishing guide at Tarpon Bay Marina, Sanibel Island for 13-years, did more than 3,000 charters, and draws heavily on those experiences for his novels about Dr. Marion Ford and friends at Dinkin’s Bay.   Since the area that he writes about is the area that we boat in most often, we truly feel we are living characters of his writings.  His words bring to life the area waters, beaches, and local characters like no other I know, aside from John D. MacDonald and the Travis McGee series.

We are blessed in south west Florida to have calm waters most of the year and can easily run from Naples to Key West or north to Sanibel, Captiva, Boca Grande and Useppa.  The waters are the most gorgeous aqua to deep Safire blue and even margarita lime on the occasion.  Wildlife abounds with manatee lumbering, dolphin playing and sea turtles flapping their way. 

As my husband Tom, along with our Yorkies Sophie and Sadie enjoy our boating trips this fall, I will be writing in the ships log (my blog) to share, as best I can, those gems we come across in our travels along the coast of south west Florida.

I was lucky enough yesterday
to be invited to the Shedd for a dress rehearsal of the new marine animal presentation, Fantasea. They even let me bring my four-year-old son, so we had a great time exploring the aquarium all day.

For my review of the show, go to the Windy City Guide Web site.

It’s been a few years since we went–my son has never been, so we were very excited to see our favorite underwater creatures. The Wild Reef is an exceptional exhibit with plenty of amazing views and the whole place is one big learning opportunity disguised as entertainment. We learned the names of fishes, stood on glass under which stingrays were swimming, learned how to tell male and female sharks apart and discovered different colored sea urchins. The Shedd is totally fun–we could have stared at the octopus all day. Definitely a museum worth seeing, especially once the Fantasea show begins in earnest. –By Helen

Another island hoping trip! As we planned to check out, we packed the luggage and brought together with us along the trip.  Well, each of us got a small backpack and I got another backpack for my camera.  It is always advisable to travel in ease rather than too much luggage.

Today, we are going to Koh Khai Nui + Maya Bay + Loh Samah Bay + Pileh Cove + Viking Cave + Phi Phi Don Ton Sai Bay + Monkey Beach. If you are curios how the route looks like, see the map below. By the way, the trip cost 2400THB/pax.

For this trip, some of the island and bay are just sight seeing, means you don’t get to go near or not to go walk on the sand there.  For example, Viking Cave, we just passed by the cave, where observing some long bamboo sticks structure was built. According to the guide, it was used to collect the cave bird nest.  I was thinking, the bird nest that I drink everyday back at home, where does it comes from.

Here is the photos.

On the way to the pier in the morning, passing by the sea gypsy village at Siray Island.  Sea gypsy is the real locals of Phuket. Current day, there are rare such local village in the island, and this is one that is on the Phuket map.

Here this is the pier, Asia Marina.

Before we depart, fins for rent.

Viking Cave, where the bird nest is collected.

On the speedboat, Pileh Cove.

Snorkeling at Loh Samah Bay

Maya Bay, a famous place after the ‘The beach‘ was filmed here in 1999, acted by Leonardo DiCaprio.  The film has become the inspiration for a lot of traveler to make a trip to Phuket.  Will ‘Mama Mia‘ does the same for Greece?

Beautiful Maya Bay

Monkey Beach, where a numbers of monkey on the tree and beach.

Phi Phi Don, where we had our lunch.

Phi Phi Don, Ton Sai Bay.

Khai Nui, for swimming and relaxing.

Beach for fun! Go nearer to find out why!

See the colorful fish just near the beach!

Beautiful water and sky.

Another one

The beach from the spec

oh…

Personally, I would think the trip is too rush and pack with too many spots to visit.  I thought that if it covers more spots, it worth the price. But the rush really doesn’t worth anything.  Advise to myself, let’s don’t be greedy. I would opt for more relax trip in the future.

We reached back at the pier around 5pm. We actually asked the van to transfer us to On On Hotel as we have checked out Mook Anda Place and will check in On On Hotel. The driver wasn’t fussy as On On was in the town too and he was Okay to send us there.  Once reached On On, we rushed to the tour agent which about 5 shops away from On On to buy the voucher to FantaSea Phuket! Really spontaneous huh!  Well, 2000THB/pax! Which include van transfer, buffet dinner and the show.

Ops, did I tell you, On On cost 40THB for a night? It was aircond, twin share room. Not as clean and cozy as Backpacker hostel though.  But well, it was okay.

It was 5:45pm and the van transfer would pick us up at 6:30pm to FantaSea! We caught a shower really quick at On On and it was just on time for the van transfer.  It took about 45mins to reach Kata Beach where the  FantaSea is.  Basically, it’s an area with things to see, nice buffet and local cultural show.  The setup was great and nice to see. See photo for prove.  The buffet, it’s a really big hall  with various type of food.  As usual, I would go around the food for few rounds before chosen what to eat.  I got myself some Indian food and sat down. Hup got some sushi and fresh fruits.  I got some fried noodle too. I really like Thai fried noodle, it’s different from the one we have in Malaysia.  We had it for lunch during the trip to Phang Nga Bay on second day too.

Fanta Sea Phuket

It was decorated like this…

like this…

Most of the nicely decorated shops are souvenir shops.

GOlden Kinrare, the buffer hall.

I found my seat and 2 guys was sitting on my right.  As usual, I can’t be sitting down with people around and I keep quite. Further more, I think they are from Greece. I told Hup that, they are from Greece.  he said no. Let’s bet (that’s where the caurage came!).

“Where are you from?” I started the conversation.

“We are from Greece.”

Greece friend. Ops, I forgot what his name on my right. On the left is Thodoris.

Yeah!! I told him that he really looks like Greece.  I have a special feeling towards Greece after Mama Mia.  We started conversation and took photos together.  Now he is in my Facebook too! See Thodoris in FB. He told me that his religion is Ortodox.

Er . . . @.@

After the dinner, we walked around the area.  There is elephant ride and Thodoris and friend was afraid of it’s stinking smell.  Then, the show start at 9pm. Camera was not allowed.  We got to secure our camera at the locker prepared and we were given a color card with a number.

Palace of Elephant, the show hall.

I was helping some other visitors taking photo with their P&S camera and notice that, P&S can’t get such a nice photo like this.

Do you know this? Cat fish. It can grow as big as big as you!

Elephant, the holy statue of Thailand.

The show was fantastic.  12 elephants was moving in the hall and stage! Birds were in! Chicken were in! Even buffalo was on stage! Some Thai cultural was performed.  As I watched the theater in UK before for Les Miserable play, I think the stage here was well built and structured too.   The show last 1 hour.

We came out from the hall and walked toward the locker to collect our camera.   I notice that, there were few queues where each color represent a queue and we didn’t even wait a minute to collect back our camera.  It was well planned and I must give credit on this as few hundred of people were collecting their cameras! It was raining.  We walked along the shops and finally get to the exit. Got into the van and going back to hotel for rest.

Before we go to bed, we saw some newspaper available to read for free at On On reception.  So we did some reading and having a can of Heineken.

Finally, I see myself in traveling. I love new things (things I never know before) and interesting things.  Every fresh things excites me and keep my enthusiasm fired.

Travel, is like knowledge.  The more I travel, the more I like to travel.   When I travel, I feel like I am doing a ‘research’ or ’study’.

Something really hit me, when Eli (the Israel friend) said,  ‘my country is really small, and the problem is bigger than the country.’

The more I see/know, it simply means that, different perspectives. Nothing really right and wrong.  Nothing really big deal.

Take it easy, to live.

Yeah, juz back from Phuket. Stay tuned for the photo and would share the journey in my travel blog @ http://itraveltheworld.wordpress.com

Fantasea is a fantastic show that is a must see while staying in Phuket!!

I’ve been three times and everytime I walk out amazed at the performance.

Take the family, someone special or go alone but you have to witness this show.
Filled with flying acrobatics, fireworks, water jets, fight scenes, trained elephants, the performers take you on a moving story about a King and his kingdom.
We suggest you take advantage of the sunset buffet dinner before the show starts.
While digesting the fabulous meal take a browse around some of the remarkable sculptors, fun stores, or visit the entertainment centre. 

If you want to know more don’t hesitate to contact us direct at: boosttravel@hotmail.com

6′0 AK Diamond

Inspired by the surfing of Michael Peterson, Andrew Kidman set about building himself a board to surf the grinding sand bar barrels of Kirra. Ride this one forward on the sweet spot and let the wide diamond tail and high aspect Greenough flex tip fin guide you through the pocket. Then just sit back and enjoy the view.

$675 (SOLD)

6′4 Double Ender

Wayne Lynch is one of the most creative and influential surfers ever. He never stopped doing what he’s always done, shaping and ripping in a remote corner of Australia. Same as it ever was. A Classic from 1969, Lynch’s Double Ender continues to evolve. Tri-Fin box set up for different fin combos. Experienced surfers will relish the versatility of this design. It is also a great transition board for beginners, with lots speed and vertical
maneuverability.

$685 (SOLD)

7′0 Fantasea

Widow maker setup , large single fin with 2 smaller side stabilizers, as seen in Glass Love. The ultimate
power surfing machine. Neal blows minds regularly on this board at Kirra and the Superbank.

$660 (SOLD)