plane thoughts

I thought I'd shoot pictures during my weekend in Phuket, but I left the camera on in view mode after I shot one picture. I returned later in the evening to find the battery drained.
I, on the other had, had my batteries recharged. The usually-too-nice-for-my-travel-tastes Hilton was exactly what I needed. My days consisted of wandering the beach, eating, sitting by a pool, reading, getting a massage, more reading, more sitting by a pool, grabbing a coffee, sitting on my balcony, reading and looking at the ocean (see photo), more massages, followed by dinner and more reading and sitting by a pool. Quite nice.
A few observations:
1) On the Thai Air flight down, one of the safety precautions messages advised people that lying down in the aisles during the flight is not permitted. I would expect this message against chaos on an Air India flight, not on Thai. But then again, apparently some people acquired bird flu in Thailand by blowing the snot of of a rooster's nose before a cockfight.
2) The same flight from Bangkok included a tasty chicken curry dish. Included on there was a little flyer touting how the chicken was cooked to 90 Celsius. So don't you go worrying about that bird flu, folks. But don't bitch to the stewardess about your dried out chicken, either.
3) Lately, I've had a number of discussions about how the more people travel, the more they find stereotypes are true. Growing up in the middle of bumfuck nowhere, I never wanted to believe those stereotypes. Then I traveled. And realized, yes, you can tell the Americans because they're loud or the only ones wearing athletic shoes when not actually in an athletic event. Or that Japanese tourists often do operate as a groupthink conglomeration. Or that yes, Asians do get drunk really quickly on very little alcohol.
And what's the latest stereotype I confirmed. That Europeans, especially Germans, love their Speedos, despite their age or physical shape. And their nude sunbathing. Thailand believes in modesty in public settings. And while thought the old German women wouldn't go topless, they would try to lower the straps and whatever garment was covering their bust as much as they could. And you really haven't been scarred until you've seen a 50-something German woman in an ass-floss bikini, or even beter, a 100-kilo, 70-year-old woman in a 2-piece swimsuit.
4) Nearly everyone at the hotel spoke English, but all you heard on the beaches was German and Italian. Probably wondering why the only American around wasn't wearing a Speedo, I'm sure.
5) And as to the inevitable devastation question, saw none. Not in the resort, not on the beach, not in the nearby houses. The only way you could tell a tsunami hit is on my ride from the airport to the hotel, there was a sign about trying to collect money for a memorial.