Hainan-Sanya-Haikou Expat

Apologies for posting this toward the tailend of the weekend...check out one of Dadonghai's newest bar & grill spots, located a stone's throw down the road from CoffeeWorld in, I think, the 2nd or 3rd beachfront villa.

Best of Luck to Simon and Cheers, Mario

This story definitely falls under the "Daily Life In Sanya" category and is ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous in how fabulous it is.

First, a bunch of guys get together and go bowling at a perfect modern bowling alley at the 5 star Shan Hai Tian hotel, we drink copious amounts of cold beer, countless bottles imbibed for well over two hours, bowl two raucous games of bowling and then walk out the door to dinner after paying the whopping sum of 42rmb per person...yea yea, right, that's including the beers!

Then, we head over to the new Mr. Wang's Sichuan Noodle joint over on Dadonghai just down from CoffeeWorld where we discover authentic Sichuan beef noodles, the best damn eggplant dish any of us ever ate, plus a few other really tasty dishes, (trust me the food is awesome, I lived in Chengdu for over a year and Mr. Wang is from Chengdu) and once again, countless more bottles of cold beer...this part of "boys night out" went on for another two hours at least and ended up with a bill split of 33rmb each for the Sichuan feast, reminding me of the good ole' days back in 1999 Chengdu...

Now tell me tell me where on planet earth can you top that night out?

Cheers, Mario

You just have to love the Sanya evenings this past week with the temp coming down and the breeze kicking up. Check out Tim's Dadonghai Dusk video here. Oh yes Sanya really IS tropical paradise. Let's not forget the facts. Somebody did complain a bit about the lack of posts...admittedly true but the reality is threefold.

First there is in fact a dearth of new news. Yes the hotels and apartment complexes are being built. Yes, real estate prices went way too high and are drifting back down as speculators and fools across China start seeing reality more clearly. Secondly, we're in the summer low season, which is a normal if not slightly negative phenomenon for tourist destinations throughout the world but as you'll read below, still many good things worth mentioning. In June, there will be student holiday arrivals and then we'll see what July and August have in store. As in the European winter, many shopkeepers close their doors during the low season. It looks like the original Dadonghai Rainbow finally closed its doors and it is officially announced the Kempinski Sanya Resort is no longer under the Kempinski name, although I think they get to use the name for awhile longer.

Thirdly, new activity and posts will be found first at the new SanyaExpat site at www.sanyaexpat.ning.com. We'll keep you linked here to whatever is going on over there which is where all the action and info is and where YOU belong!!

So moving on to much upbeat and happy, head over to Fat Daddy's for 29rmb imported Aussie beer promotion....brands include Crown, Pure Blonde, RedBack, James Hoags, VB Bitter, green curry at Pattaya Thai still works perfectly, one can never complain about 10rmb small draft beers at Dadonghai's Wave Bar and you have to try the new Shepherd's Pie at CoffeeWorld....Aussie beer list coming soon...the Dadonghai Mall makeover turned out quite nice and heaven above forgive me for never before mentioning that there is a four lane bowling alley at the Shan Hai Tian Hotel in Dadonghai...

Welcome to new members Simon Jones, who successfully found the He Ping Lu downtown dental clinic we recommended, and to Bernie Flores, entertainer extraordinaire still doing his thing at the Ritz Carlton Yalong Bay. Bernie, we want you to post some video clips PLLLEEASSEEEE!!!!

Cheers, Mario

We will send you a free drink thank you email which you can print out and redeem at either restaurant, redeemable until the end of May.

Cheers, Mario

THE HAINAN-SANYA-HAIKOU COMMUNITY IS DONE! UPLOAD YOUR PHOTOS! UPLOAD YOUR VIDEOS! START A FORUM DISCUSSION! AND CHAT TOO! ITS UNBELIEVABLY EASY AND FUN! ITS BETTER THAN FACEBOOK! WE SPENT FIVE MILLION U.S. DOLLARS TO LAUNCH THIS JUST FOR YOU!

Ok, ok just kidding on that last one folks...Offering big kudos and credits to my dear pal and supporter Tim Wilson for helping me set up this new community at Ning.com, this is the Tim Wilson whose bouncing balls we all love, um, that would be his bouncing Waboba Balls for those of you whose imaginations might be wandering off course a bit.

At the banner link below in this post and in the right column, you will now find the new fabulous, amazing, wonderful, and nifty Hainan-Sanya-Haikou Social Media Community we have just set up at Ning.com. You can post in the forum, photo/video gallery, events, activities, blog and even chat! How's that for cool?

Visit Sanya-Haikou-Hainan Expat Network

In consideration of our decision to be based in Shanghai starting the end of May, it will be easy to stay in touch with people like Tim, and other supporters including CoffeeWorld, Fat Daddys, Surfing Hainan and ShanghaiExpat to continue growing the SanyaExpat site,keeping it fresh, making it better for everyone. Adding this new social media community at Ning goes a long way to making that happen and giving you our valued readers and friends an open opportunity to be part of the community. Of course everyone is encouraged to join, share and invite friends, which Ning makes very easy with their "Invite" feature.

Thanks to Brendan at Surfing Hainan for grabbing me in the gmail chat window just now to tell me he's already signed up and starting to post photos and information even before I've finished typing this post!!...and five minutes I find Sheldon at Fat Daddy's and Erik too so we're on our way, please do join us to grow the Hainan island community! If you have other thoughts on becoming a feature contributor and supporter of SanyaExpat, don't hesitate to drop us a line to talk about it further.

Cheers and Thanks Everyone!

Mario

Surfing Hainan Houhai Beach Clean Up
后海沙滩清洁活动
Please join Surfing Hainan on Sunday, April 25th, as we head out to one of our favorite beaches, Houhai, to perform a beach clean up. For those of you who have been with us to Houhai, you know it is a beautiful crescent-shaped beach stretching for nearly a kilometer on Hainan's southeast coast. You also know that the beach can gather an unacceptable amount of trash. So we're going out for the day to clean the beach up. We leave from Surfing Hainan at 10 AM on Sunday, and get back at 4 PM. Please confirm via email if you will be able to make it. Suggested donation of 50 RMB to cover transportation costs, plus beer (this is a Surfing Hainan event after all). Just bring yourselves - we will provide gloves and trash bags. Hope to see you there!

请大家来参加我们冲浪海南4月25号的后海沙滩清洁活动！
去过后海的人都知道后海沙滩是一个延绵一公里海南东南部的的天然半月形沙滩，同时沙滩上也有很多生活垃圾，所以我们这次要把沙滩清洁干净，让沙滩回复它本来的样貌。活动行程大概是这样，25号早上10 点前在冲浪海南店铺集合，10点我们准时出发，午餐，清洁工作，下午4点左右返回大东海。如有意愿，请回复我们的邮件和用其他方式联系我们，建议参加本次活动的志愿者每人拿出50元，冲浪海南将提供往返交通，午餐，啤酒，饮品等。谢谢大家支持！（本活动最终解释权归冲浪海南店铺。）

And don't forget Brendan has his fresh, exciting new Mandarin Oriental Breakfast Paddle where you just lay on the big, fat long board like a happy, lazy seal and Brendan pulls you all the way there and back...don't forget a good paperback... Cheers, Mario