Step by Step

This morning I went to do my regular morning weather reports at 91.5FM Phuket FM Radio as per usual. However, this time I had to do all the microphone checks and handle the radio equipment by myself! It was quite exciting yet I was rather nervous at the same time in case anything went wrong. It all went well until I did the 10.30am forecast as I was a bit too loud. My biggest problem is that I need to work on is controlling the volume and pitch of my voice! Whenever I do a microphone check, the volume of my voice is always fine and at the right volume. However, when it comes round to doing the weather, I have this strange habit of making my voice much louder. It’s almost as if I feel like I can’t  be heard or something so I have to shout.

Each day that passes gives me more of a chance to try and solve the problems I have and work on improving myself. I have to remind myself that not everyone can start off being a perfect presenter who will know exactly what to do. As DJ Doris told me, it does take practice so I just need to be patient and conscientious of what I am doing wrong in order to remedy them.

On a side note, I will be staying on the Afternoon Show with DJ Doris for a while after I finish my 12.30pm weather forecast. I won’t tell you what we will be chatting about, but lets just say you may want to tune in if you don’t know what to do on the weekend 😉

That’s all from me, Alice the Weather Girl.

Settling in

Hello again from Alice, 91.5FM’s newest intern and weather girl! I’ve gotten into a regular routine of announcing the weather in the mornings and I am finding it really fun. It’s not without its difficulties though, namely technical difficulties. There is a lot more than you think going on behind the scenes and it’s taking me a while to get comfortable with all the equipment in the studio. That said, there’s nothing I love more than a challenge. There’s also been the odd embarrassing stutter or ‘um’ on air but I am sure that will remedy itself the more air time I get and the more I announce the weather. I actually got the chance to listen to a few of my weather announcements the other day that had been recorded. Let me tell you, it is really weird to listen to yourself! It was useful though as it let me see what exactly I needed to work on and what I was doing wrong.

I’m not sure if you caught it or not, but I got to sit in from 12.30 until 1pm with Doris on his afternoon show. This was great as we discussed a variety of things, not just the weather, which was a chance for me to be more confident on air. It was more interactive than my usual morning announcements which made it that bit more comfortable and enjoyable.

Hopefully by the next time I post an update I will be feeling more confident about the technical side of the radio!

The Weather Girl

Hi there everyone! My name is Alice Williams and I am 91.5FM’s newest intern and Weather Girl for the next three weeks. I couldn’t be more excited to work with everyone at 91.5FM and learn as much as I can about what happens on a day to day basis at a radio station.

I will be announcing the day’s weather on the Breakfast Show at 9.30am, 10.30am and 11.30am as well as on the Afternoon Show at 12.30pm. It will be a great way for me to get used to being on live radio and as a way of being able to practice being comfortable speaking into a microphone and being listened to thousands of people! Everyone at the station has been really friendly and have been helping me out a lot, ensuring I feel comfortable when I do the weather announcements and just making it a nice environment to work in.

I am eager to see how the next three weeks will go, and you can check up on my internship journey by listening to my weather announcements and checking out Today in Phuket. A special mention to Simpson Marine for sponsoring the weather announcements made on the Breakfast show.

Phuket Wan

Once again the greatup to the minute news site PhuketWan tells it as it is as the local Phuket print news media continue to go head to head.

From the Phuketwan report ……

Precisely what this welcome change in approach means in the context of the Gazette’s arm-wrestle with the News for Phuket readers is difficult to gauge, but the Gazette’s new-found openness clearly implied that prospective advertisers should ask the News how their visitor numbers compare.

The News has recently completed its third online remake since the Tweedledum-Tweedledee weekly launched in March, shaking the Gazette out of years of monopolistic complacency and providing Phuket’s English readers with greater choice.

You can read the full article here

In reading the online news and the speed that Alan and his team break the “latest” news you can soon start to understand why they win awards.

Phi Phi Island

The Phi Phi Islands

Located in Thailand, between the large island of Phuket and the western Andaman Sea coast of the mainland. The islands are administratively part of Krabi province.

Ko Phi Phi Don meaning “island” in Thai language is the largest island of the group and is the only island with permanent inhabitants, although the beaches of the second largest island,

Ko Phi Phi Lee or “Ko Phi Phi Leh”, are visited by many people as well.

The rest of the islands in the group, including Bida Nok, Bida Noi, and Bamboo Island (Ko Mai Phai), are not much more than large limestone rocks jutting out of the sea.

Phi Phi Don was initially populated by Muslim fishermen during the late 1940s, and later became a coconut plantation. The Thai population of Phi Phi Don remains more than 80% Muslim. The actual population however, if counting laborers, especially from the north-east, from the mainland is much more Buddhist these days.

Becoming A Healthy Eater..

Healthy eating is all about balanced and moderate eating, consisting of healthy meals at least three times per day.  Healthy eaters eat many different types of foods, not limiting themselves to one specific food type or food group.

Eating healthy requires quite a bit of leeway.  You might eat too much or not enough, consume foods that are sometimes more or less nutritious.

When someone is unable to take control of their eating, they are also likely to get out of control with other aspects of life as well.  They could end up spending too much, talking too much, even going to bed later and later.

You should always remember that restricting food in any way is always a bad thing.  Healthy eating is a way of life, something that you can do to enhance your body or your lifestyle.  If you’ve thought about making your life better, healthy eating is just the place to start.  You’ll make life easier for yourself, those around you, and even your family.

Starfish at Koh Yao Noi

Starfish or sea stars are echinoderms belonging to the class Asteroidea. The names “starfish” and “sea star” essentially refer to members of the class Asteroidea. There are 2,000 living species of starfish that occur in all the world’s oceans.

Starfish are among the most familiar of marine animals and possess a number of widely known traits, such as regeneration and feeding on mussels.  Starfish possess a wide diversity of body forms and feeding methods.

Starfish are capable of both sexual and asexual reproduction. Most species are dioecious, with separate male and female individuals, but some are hermaphrodites.

2km Kids Run at Laguna Phuket International Marathon 2011

ALEENTA PHUKET-PHANG NGA WINS FOUR MAJOR ASIA PACIFIC HOSPITALITY AWARDS

PHUKET, THAILAND – Aleenta Phuket-Phang Nga has scooped the Asia Pacific Hotel Awards 2011 for Best Small Hotel and Best Sustainable Hotel in both the Thailand and Asia Pacific categories in another milestone achievement for the luxury boutique resort. The awards are held in association with Bloomberg Television.

In an evening of high excitement, Aleenta Phuket-Phang Nga first won five-star awards for the Best Small Hotel in Thailand and Best Sustainable Hotel in Thailand before being selected also as Asia Pacific winners in both categories.

Winning the Asia Pacific awards – which counts The New York Times and Google among its sponsors – now means that the resort will go into the final round and compete against other regional winners from Africa, the Americas, Arabia and Europe for the World’s Best Small Hotel and Sustainable Hotel in January 2012 in London.

Aleenta Resorts Founder and Managing Director Anchalika Kijkanakorn was on hand to receive the prestigious industry awards at a glittering gala dinner ceremony held at The Longemont Hotel in Shanghai on May 31.

The event is part of the International Property Awards, which have been established for 17 years and the award winners’ logo is recognised as a symbol of excellence throughout the global industry.

“We are thrilled to be recognised for these awards and it is testament to the hard work that the whole team has put in over the years since we launched in 2006 that Aleenta Phuket-Phang Nga is now able to win these awards in Thailand and the wider Asia Pacific region,” said Ms Kijkanakorn.

“We are indeed proud of the achievement – not only for ourselves – but for Thailand as it makes a major statement to the world that Thailand is not only able to provide exclusive accommodation but has management and operational expertise that is sustainable and of the highest international standards.”

Aleenta Phuket-Phang Nga is managed by Akaryn Hospitality Management Services (AHMS), an innovative hospitality management firm founded by Ms Kijkanakorn to handle the properties she owns as well as offer this service to other owners.

Aleenta Phuket-Phang Nga also is very active environmentally, pioneering a coral reef regeneration programme through the Pure Blue Foundation and participating actively in the nurturing of endangered leatherback turtles. These are all experiences that guests can also enjoy at the resort.

The London-based Asia Pacific Hotel Awards goes through a rigorous submission and approval process and are ultimately judged by a panel of many of the world’s leading authorities in the travel, hospitality, finance and media industries. As a result they are seen as some of the most coveted accolades in the business. For more information on the awards visit: http://www.ihotelawards.com.

Phuket Tasar Champion Crowned at Bel Air Panwa Tasar Series

The Bel Air Panwa Tasar Series recently finished in Phuket, Thailand with some close racing from this growing one-design fleet. Phuket is famed for its ‘big boat’ regattas with the Phuket King’s Cup Regatta, Phuket Raceweek, Bay Regatta and the SEA Property International Phuket Multihull Challenge, however, a recent resurgence in dinghy sailing and junior sailing is seeing a diversification in the Island’s sailing choices.

In 2007 the Tasar Worlds were held on Phuket, off Cape Panwa in the southeast of the Island, providing the initial impetus to Tasar sailing on Phuket. Four boats were bought by Phuket sailors to compete in the Worlds and since then the fleet has grown to eight, all based at the Phuket Yacht Club in Ao Yon on Phuket’s East Coast.

The Bel Air Panwa Tasar Series was organised by the Phuket Yacht Club and consisted of three events over two months, sailed off Ao Yon. Close racing throughout the nine-race series meant it was very easy to go from hero to zero in this one-design fleet. The title fight went to the wire at the last event of the series. Two drops were allowed and after a flat calm and rain greeted the sailors at the final event, racing finally got underway with good breeze.

Hot favourites, G-String – skippered by Phil Lawson when winner of the Tasar Class at the 2009 Phuket King’s Cup Regatta – was skippered by Leslie Hand in the Bel Air Panwa Tasar Series and after finishing fourth in the final, finished fourth overall.

In third place overall was Dragonfly, skippered by Liam Kealy from Seakitt Casschris, skippered by Muzza Nordstrand in second, who after a great start to the series with a 1,1,2, fell off the pace later in the series. Winner of the Bel Air Panwa Tasar Series was Slipstream, skippered by Andrew de Bruin. A number of firsts and consistent high placings saw them take the series by three points.

Club racing is seeing a resurgence on the Island with a regular big boat program offered by the Ao Chalong Yacht Club, junior sailing and Optimist events offered by the newly formed Phuket Youth Sailing Squadron, and one-design racing and junior sailing programmes offered by the Phuket Yacht Club – Phuket’s oldest Yacht Club.

Preparations are underway for the next Tasar series and there are still opportunities for more teams to enter. If interested, contact class captain, Andrew de Bruin on andrew@leemarine.net. The Phuket Yacht Club are looking to host a weekend Thailand Nationals for the Tasar class in the near future.

For information on Phuket Yacht Club, email phuketyachtclub@gmail.com or visit www.phuketyachtclub.info.