A DAY AT THE ZOO...AND FIRST PHOTOS UPLOADED!

Yesterday, Tim and I discovered the Phuket Zoo a short distance from our home (actually, I found it on a map and directed her towards it; she remained sceptical that it even existed until we came across it).  The posted admission price was 500 baht per adult but Tim bought the tickets and got a significantly-reduced Thai price of 100 baht each.  It's a fairly large zoo but has definitely seen better days — it could be vastly improved with just a little bit of loving care to clear the cobwebs and trash out of the cages and to clean the murky water in the tanks.  Still, I was impressed with the variety of animals and we enjoyed watching several shows (the monkey show left a lot to be desired, the crocodile show was somewhat better, and the elephant show was better than the one I'd seen at the Rose Garden Resort back in January).  I did discover that Tim is somewhat afraid of elephants and wouldn't pose near one.  All in all, it was an afternoon well-spent.

Earlier in the day, I finally had some success in uploading the first of my photos to my Webshots pages.  An Internet cafe within walking distance of our house had the Webshots program already installed on their computer and it read that I had some folders of photos on my memory stick.  However, before I could upload any of these I had to download the latest update for the software.  I did this and installed it on the cafe's computer (I just have to make sure I get this computer the next time I visit) and uploaded the first day's photos (basically, just the airports I went through en route to Phuket with a couple of Tim at the end).  It's a slow process and my memory stick is fairly small so it will take me some time before I get all the pics up to the site.  Also, I don't like to keep Tim waiting on me for very long as I think she's bored just sitting there while I use the computer.  But since this particular cafe is so close, I could just walk over there and work while she's sleeping in the morning.

I also checked my e-mail yesterday; I don't get to do this everytime I reach an Internet cafe.  I received several notes of congratulations on our engagement which I read out loud to Tim.  I hope to be able to reply to these individual e-mails within the next several days.  The entire online process will be much easier once we get our home phone line.  I need to remember to Google some Thai ISP's today so I can sign up and be ready to connect when the phone line is put in; my old AT&T dialer won't work here.

Our day ended with a stop-off at a nearby open-air market where I made another try at buying a new pair of cargo shorts.  Since the two pairs of 36's I'd purchased last week were too small (one "36" actually was a perfect fit for Tim to wear), I decided to try a size 40.  It seemed to fit at the stall but when I got it home it was way too big.  But at least I can try to wear it with a belt to prevent it falling down around my ankles.  I think I'll buy any future pants at Big C or similar department store rather than on the street (although, I'm sure Big C can't come close to the 200-baht price of the markets).  Tim bought a case for the tiny amulet she carries for good luck and then we bought our dinner — several pieces of fried chicken and pineapple for me, multiple baggies of mystery food for Tim.  Eating at home, she divided her food purchases in half to save some for the next day (and eating less in the process — I think she's realizing that she's been eating too much).  Later in the evening, we walked over to 7-Elven to buy some drinks and ice cream (and a week-old Phuket Gazette for me to attempt to find out what's happening in "the world"; looks like I'll have to track down a copy of The Nation or The Bangkok Post if I want to read any "real" news).  After listening to an Eagles CD and Tim singing along to a Thai karaoke VCD, we watched the pilot episode of "Desperate Housewives" which Tim found very entertaining although she hadn't a clue about what was happening most of the time.  I think I'm going to be on a constant search to find Western movies with Thai subtitles so that Tim can enjoy them as much as I do (tonight, we did see pirated copies of some movies that aren't officially available on DVD in America yet...).

I hope that today I can talk Tim into driving me to some other parts of the island that we haven't been to yet.  I'm trying to prevent us from getting into a rut of going to the same old places (or staying at home) all the time.  There's so much of Phuket that Tim hasn't even seen yet (hence, the zoo expedition yesterday) and that I'd like to photograph.