Same Same, but Desperate

The Bionic Salesman
A Journey around Thailand

So that’s the end of another tour of Southern Thailand. We arrive back in Bangkok for a final three days. A month’s accumulated junk litters the baggage carousel. As if this is not enough, Misty heads straight from the airport to Chatuchak Market in search of more, coming back with bagfuls, including, for me, three pairs of unusual shoes and a dozen T-shirts.

None of the tourist T-shirts with the lame English slogans (Same Same but Different, iPood, etc.), these are tasteful shirts with arty Thai squiggles on them. I wore the first one around Bangkok for hours before some kind soul stifled her guffaws long enough to point out that the squiggles meant something along the lines of, “I’m a sad mug who’s desperate for a girlfriend”.

“My wife bought me this,” I said by way of explanation. The shirt came off.

It has been an amazing trip. We’ve got into the habit of using the car to take us away from the main beaches and then shopping around for bungalows. We were almost the only guests at a great place on Bang Rak beach in Samui.

Sabai Resort

Sabai Resort: Little Scandinavia's Little Italy

Ao Nang in Krabi is Little Scandinavia, but we found ourselves in Little Italy at the Sabai Resort, where Italians come on their scooters from all over to air kiss, drink wine and punctuate their conversation with vigorous hand gestures. The owner looks uncannily like an Italian Basil Fawlty.

In Phuket, we took a random turn off the coast road and found ourselves at the Baan Armeen, a new and pleasant little resort on Bang Tao Beach. I find the Phuket beaches from Kamala up far more attractive than the most famous beaches – Patong, Karon and Kata – and we particularly took to Surin Beach, with its string of beachfront bars.

From Samui to Khao Lak, it was good to see the Waboba Ball selling so quickly, but disconcerting to see how often it goes out of stock. We arrived in Koh Samui to find only one shop with balls.

If you have had difficulty finding a shop that has stock, you have our sympathy. This is a problem we are working to resolve.

Meanwhile, in Bangkok, finding a Waboba Ball is a bit like playing Where’s Wally. The ball is available in Supersports, but the shop apparently won’t allow the product displays to be rearranged, so Waboba is often included as an afterthought, balanced on top of some other display. But if you find yourself near the Mares sign, you’re probably getting warmer.

The Pro Ball is particularly hard to find. Our Thai stock sold out in the time it takes to say “bounces on water”, but we should have stock again in about two weeks, and this time we are also getting the baseball glove to go with the Pro, so you should watch out for that.

Waboba Video Contest – Cast Your Vote and Help Us Decide Who Wins a Holiday in Phuket

Cast Your Vote and Help Us Decide Who Gets to Win a Five-Star Holiday in Phuket, Thailand, Plus 700 USD in Cash
Watch the four videos and cast your vote in the voting box below.
Lightness and Bounce, by Tian Xiao and friends Come Alive, by Jeremy Trylch
World’s Longest Waboba Bounce, by the Sanya Cricket Club Anyone for Wennis? by Zhang Lan
We Need Your Vote
Who do you think deserves to win the holiday in Phuket, Thailand? Cast your vote in the box to the right.

This vote will be taken as an indicator of the popularity of the videos, but because of the unreliability of online voting, the final decision on who wins the competition will be taken by Waboba.

Waboba Asia Video Contest Closing Date Moved to December 31

Waboba Asia Video ContestWe have decided to push back the final entry date for the Waboba Asia Video Contest 2011. If you haven’t entered the competition yet, you now have three extra months to come up with something. Entries must be in by December 31, 2011.

Moving the date makes it easier for contestants from Australia and Thailand to make their entries. Waboba season is just getting started there. If you are from Europe or the Americas and you’ll be traveling in Asia over the winter, make sure you bring your video camera, because you are also eligible to enter the Waboba Asia Video Contest 2011, as long as you make your video while you are in Asia.

The competition winner will receive an amazing holiday for two in Phuket, including flights for two to Phuket from anywhere in Asia, plus two nights in a five-star hotel, plus 700USD in cash.

Get filming. The competition rules are shown here.

One Month Left for Entries to Waboba Asia Video Contest 2011

Here’s a gentle reminder that you now have exactly one month left to submit your entries for the Waboba Asia Video Contest 2011. The closing date for entries is September 10.

The prize is a five-star holiday in Phuket, including flights to and from Phuket, two nights in a five-star hotel and $700US in cash. You’ll find details of the competition here. If you haven’t started already, get filming today.

Stop-Motion Spells Asia Video Contest Promo

This is what you might call a ‘serving suggestion’ for the Waboba Asia Video Competition. It’s a little something I made with a box of Waboba Balls and my son’s spelling bricks.

Stop-motion animation is completely allowed, by the way, so if you feel your creative buds tingling, this is certainly a method you can consider. This was my first ever attempt at stop-motion. It’s shot on a Nikon D90, with a remote control that allowed me to shoot repeated shots without moving the camera or breaking my back. You’ll see that I initially forgot to set the lens to manual focus, but I’ll remember for next time.

The closing date for the Waboba Asia Video Competition 2011 is September 10, so you still have the whole summer to come up with something.

The first prize is a holiday in Phuket, including flights for two to Phuket from anywhere within Asia, plus two nights in a five-star hotel, plus $700 USD in cash. The competition rules are here.

Happy shooting.