Sailing options

One place left on a six day competent crew sailing course leaving Phuket on Dec 12 and arriving in Langkawi (Malaysia)

http://langkawisailingschool.com/courseprogram.htm

€700

Or, on the 30th of January you could do the same thing if we spend Jan in Thailand with friends/family. I could fly to our next destination from Thailand and you could fly from Malaysia.

Singapore

I really like the looks of this resort in Malaysia right outside of Singapore:

http://www.johorresorts.net/index.html

I think it would be a good place to stay in December up until the chess tournament (when we would need to move into the city). It costs about $90 for a studio, and the resort complex has lots of children's stuff as well as three pools and pretty much everything else you could want.

Singapore Sailing

3 day "Competent Crew" Course: http://www.rsyc.org.sg/seasports/sailing_courses.htm#keelboat

The Competent Crew Course is an introductory crew training course that teaches the basics of sailing onboard a sailing yacht. Upon successful completion of this course the sailors and participants will have sufficient knowledge and skills to be an able crew member on any sailing yacht. Suitable for both the complete beginner and those who have some experience of either dinghy sailing or cruising.

costs $550, is offered on December 4th, 5th, and 12th in Singapore.

I checked six marinas in Singapore, this is the only one offering a course in December.

Compare to Whitsundays sailing school, costs $1350 for five days:

http://www.sunsailwhitsundays.com.au/sailing-school/rya-sailing-courses/competent-crew-sunsail

Resort

On a secluded private island, Telunas Beach Resort http://www.telunasbeach.com/ has rooms/dorms available in December. It is a ferry ride away from Singapore (3 hours), in Indonesia. Eco-lodge style, no hot water, no tvs, no internet, no aircon, but flush toilets and nature/snorkling activities.

Dorms $50, rooms $120, stilted bungalows $160

Singapore Chess

Chess tournament in Singapore, December 24-30

http://singchess.gotdns.com/scf/general/Calendar2010.xls

TripAdvisor doesn't really list anything for these dates under $100 that sound okay. For $130-$150 there are some nice places though.

Lonely Planet's only reasonable sounding budget choice is Sleepy Sams: http://www.sleepysams.com/. A room with shared bath is $65, it is mostly a hostel, just a few private rooms. Trip Advisor says they aren't really private rooms at all, it gets pretty bad ratings considering Lonely Planet says it is the best budget option...

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g294265-d626257-Reviews-Sleepy_Sam_s_Bed_Breakfast-Singapore.html

Ibis Singapore on Bencoolen is the highest rated hotel under $150 ($110) available over Christmas and New Years. But it is 35km away from the zoo, I'd like to maybe be closer since I envision going there at least a few times (it is one of the best zoos in the world apparently)

Thailand

If Aud and Torlief wanted to come along (or anyone else for that matter!) we could stay at a SunWing resort in Thailand for about $65 a night (long term stay discount may be available):

http://www.khaolakemeraldresort.com/index.htm

They can fly charter from Oslo direct to Phuket, 25.000kr for 15 days for two people.

http://www.ving.no/thailand/khao-lak/sunfamily-khao-lak-emerald-beach-resort-spa

Be carefully booking, though, I found another SunWing Resort that also cost 25,000 for the charter booking but instead of an independent rate of $65 per night, it was $200! So it pays to spend time really comparing the choices!

Cycling in Cambodia

Guided private cycling tours, family friendly

http://pepytours.com/tours/custom-tours


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Free teaching in Siem Reap

At an orphanage, $200 for four weeks (part time available)
http://www.acodo.org/

School in Veal, outside of Siem Reap
http://www.soidngo.org/

Nifty place to stay!!! Cheap-o 5* rooms at a hotel training center! $20-$35 free wifi, cable TV, cafe and restaurant on site. Maybe no pool though?

http://www.ecolepauldubrule.org/html/index.php?p_lang=en



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Vietnam Resorts

A pretty complete looking list of resorts in Vietnam:

http://www.vietnamstay.com/hotel/resort.htm

Examples:

3* Sandy Beach in Danang costs US$83/night

http://sandybeachdanang.com/english/default.php

4* Romana Resort in Phan Theit costs US$110/night

http://www.romanaresort.com.vn/en-US/default.cco

3* Eco-Lodge (no air/con, solar powered showers, etc) Mango Bay in Phu Quoc costs US$75-125/night

http://www.mangobayphuquoc.com/noflash.html

Flights to these cities on Vietnam Airlines from Ho Chi Mihn cost about 500NOK (1.300.000 VND) return.

Cook Islands

To stay (houses from $90NZ):
http://www.murihillside.co.ck/rates.htm

Most popular hostel in the south pacific (according to frommer's), has beach cabanas with bathroom and kitchen from $95NZ:
http://www.varas.co.ck/rates_rooms.htm

Package deals:
http://www.islandsinthesun.com/hotdeals/hotdeals.asp

Those packages look good because airfare (air new zealand) looks expensive out of Sydney, $1000NZ pp

More sailing in Australia: (whitsundays, £800 for 6 days or £1400 for 23 days)

http://www.gapyearforgrownups.co.uk/Australia-Sailing-Course

I sent an email requesting information about this volunteer program in Cambodia, near Angkor Wat. 3 weeks £750:

http://www.gapyearforgrownups.co.uk/Cambodia-Floating-School-near-Angkor-Wat

Some links

Volunteering in Malaysia:

http://www.gviusa.com/projects/Asia/Malaysia/volunteer-community-conservation-project-borneo/home

Day care classes in New York City:

http://www.gymboreeclasses.com/b2c/customer/programIndex.jsp

Day care in Sydney, $46 per day:

http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/community/childcare/RedfernOccasionalChildCare.asp

http://www.northsydney.nsw.gov.au/www/html/2173-occasional-child-care.asp