Home again, Home again, jiggety jog

This blog is finished.

Jeff kindly rang me at 4-30am but I was already up. They were picked up at 4-45 but my driver wasn’t due till 5-30. after checking out, I had time for a last breakfast. The ride to the airport, in another Volvo with seat belts and speedo working, was quite quick since even in Bangkok there’s not that much traffic at that time.

Then it was queue for check in – not helped by standing behind 3 American ladies who had e-tickets, especially when the compuer was “laying down”. Eventually moved to another queue and checked in, then another queue for exit payment, then passport control. I had time to snap a photo of the tug of war between good and evil, and buy some perfume, before heading tot the departure lounge where I caught up with the others. It was a relatively short time after that that we boarded. This was a direct flight so a couple of hours shorter than going up and had 2 movies I hadn’t seen before – The Lake House and Breaking up.

My son, David was going to meet me so I called his mobile while I was queing for Passport control and got his message service. Called again once I’d cleared customs with the same result, so I sent an SMS. I was just about to call his brother when he rang me. Apparently he’s having problems with his phone and has top turn it on and off occasionally. He of course was at the domestic terminal so another 25 minutes passed before he arrived.

We stopped at a mall on the way home so I could buy him a shirt and X box game for his birthday. Brian came over and we had fish and chips, then I made him look at my shots so he could see what he missed.

So it’s over. Back to work again, if not tomorrow, then the next day. The prospect isn’t all that appealing but reality and mortgages deem it so.

Monday is me-day

This morning, we headed down to the River City area where there are lots of jewellery stores. While Lyn found what she was after I didn’t have any luck. I was after silver with genuine stones, but the stores seemed to have Zirconias, be wholesale only or didn’t have anything I liked.

In the end I went back to the hotel and (as advised by the concierge at the Sheraton) called the Gems Gallery for a free pick up. I have bought a number of pieces from the Phuket store over the years and I know they have good quality, even if they aren’t bargin basement prices. I was initially looking for ruby and silver and after finding some earrings and a pendant that weren’t too bad, I went to look for bracelets. They had none with rubies but a very nice piece (at about $240) with sapphires and diamonds, which I bought instead.

I had some snacks at the Club for lunch and caught up with an American girl I met in the afternoon. I then went to a beauty salon near the hotel where I had a manicure, pedicure, cut and colour for about $70 including tips.

By the time I was finished the others were already in the Club. WE decide not to eat out and just had snacks there, followed by a last trip to the street stalls. Another shirt and a few DVDs and that was it. I leave at 5-30 in the morning so I need to pack.

Teak my breath away

After a very quiet day yesterday, I have been busier today, visiting two famous Teak buildings in Bangkok. Earlier, we again went to the weekend markets again this morning where I got some clothes and books returning to the hotel by noon.

From there I took the Sky train to the Jim Thompson Museum. He was an ex CIA agent who re-established the silk industry in Thailand. He created a house for himself by combining a number of traditional Teak houses he bought from the country. He also collected various statues, paintings and furniture to fill them and created lovely gardens to surround them.

From there I took the Sky train and then a bus, to Dusit Park. This park includes, several throne rooms and the Golden Teak Palace – the largest Teak building in the world. It is 3 storeys and has 72 rooms and is still used by the royal family for receptions, although they no longer live there.

Also next to the palace are other teak houses built originally for commoner guests.

The Royal carriage museum is also in this park displaying hand, horse and motor vehicles used by the royal family over the years.

I headed from there to the Sheraton via another bus, then the water taxi. We had planned to meet there for cocktails but when the others didn’t show, I took a tuk-tuk back to the Dusit and found them in the Club. They thought they were too late to meet up and were worried we’d pass each other. Tonight we went to the Mango Tree and had the best Thai meal for the trip, for B560. This is where we were heading the other night when we got sidetracked to the Fish place that was so disappointing. That was a big mistake.

Saturday, in the park

This morning I woke up about 6 and after fiddling around on the notebook for a bit, went to the park across the road. There were numerous groups doing tai chi, kung fu, yoga, some sort of fan fighting, sword fighting, playing badminton, walking, running and cycling. Most groups wore similar t-shirts or more elaborate uniforms. The park itself is quite picturesque, with several lakes, gardens and statues. I also saw tennis courts and a pool.

How bazaar

Jeff and Kellie had plans for a special dinner, so I went to the club on my own where I met a couple from Perth. He is a lawyer and they have come to Bangkok regularly for years. We chatted till about 8, interspersed with trips to refill drinks and plates. After that I went to the night market. This is on the other end of the park from the hotel and a B15 ride on the underground.

There is a large Ferris Wheel near the entrance and a number of pavilions full of the usual stalls, selling clothes, handicrafts, CDs etc. My purchase for the evening included a T-shirt, CDs, DVDs, Scarves and a pen sized gadget that is a pointer, laser pointer, torch and pen for about $5.

Backpacker district

After a leisurely breakfast and then a swim and a sit around the pool, we got a taxi to Banglamphoo, which has cheap accommodation and shops so it is a favourite of students and back packers. After battling the traffic we finally got there and had a lunch for about $4 each – I had Pad Thai and a soft drink. We then wandered around the street markets for an hour or so. I bought a Thai-English dictionary, so CDs and a T-shirt with the Thai alphabet on it. I wonder how long I’ll persist with my study of the language once I get home?

We again took a water taxi back, to the Sheraton this time and then a taxi from there. Much quicker. We had a juice each at Jim Thompson’s the upmarket silk shop, which cost about the same as lunch. Mind you, the ambience was a bit better with lovely teak panneling in their cafe.

Guess wat I saw today

I decided to do the tourist thing today and head to the Grand Palace and temple of the Emerald Buddha. Since it is closed from 11:30 to one I decided to leave it to the afternoon and went to the bookshop in the morning, where I bought a map of the city – bit better than the free tourist maps, a Thai for beginners book and a lonely planet guide.

I spent the rest of the morning looking at the language book. I do have a phrase book from earlier trips but I didn’t find and pack it for this trip.

I got a taxi from the hotel and got to the temple just after 1. It is very colourful, as you can see from the pics. Quite unlike the Muslim buildings in India and more like the Hindu ones.

The complex has the temple of the Emerald Buddha, actually made from jade, which was close this afternoon because, I heard, a visit from the prince. I got a shot using the zoom and overexposure but it’s not very clear. The first shot is the front of the temple and the second the side and the bell tower.

The upper terrace has a number of buildings including the gold tiled reliquary and behind it is a model of Ankar Wat. The buidlings also have figures of demons and angels on them.

All around the enclosing walls are murals depicting the story of the Ramakien, some of which were being restored at the moment. I suspect this is a never ending task, like painting the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

After exiting the temple area you come to the palace grounds, with a number of meeting halls and the palace itself, which has a weapons museum on the ground floor - swords etc to the left, guns to the right.

There is another museum with items from the restoration, original pieces etc. Unfortunately you can not takes pics inside most of the buildings, but the stone figures were out the front of it..

I checked out the Royal coin and insignia museum before I left the complex and caught a water taxi south and then a taxi back to the hotel.

After another session of pre dinners drinks in the club, we headed out and finished at a sea food restaurant. I felt this was the worst meal for value and perhaps for what we had as well. For nearly half as much as the Seaside in Hua Hin we had river prawns in garlic and lemon – 1 each, sea bass – which was good, a spicy crab salad – only mediocre and fish cakes. It was one of those places where they weight everything and charge by the gram. Ho hum, hopefully it’ll get better again.

Through an airport door…sideways

Or as Confucius says, going to Bangkok.

I had until noon to check out so a leisurely breakfast, read of paper and cross words were in order, followed by a last swim in the pool. I took these pics later in the morning.

After a shower I packed most of my stuff and then headed to the Internet café for a last visit. The total cost for my use for the week was under $5. I checked out and had a lunch of steamed crabs at the restaurant across the road, where we’d eaten the night before.

My car for the trip was a Camry and much newer than the Volvo coming down and both the seatbelts and speedo worked. We left about 1:20 and got to the Dusit at 4:10. The trip took longer than going down because we hit a heavy storm on the way and then the afternoon rush hour when we got to Bangkok.

This time I’m staying in a corner room – an upgrade on my upgrade. The layout is different than the previous room and it’s a bit larger, but the major difference it it has twice the balcony area. I’m right at the front so have a great view of the park.

Jeff and Kellie going in 30 minutes after me, despite leaving about the same time. We had some drinks at the club, meeting an Aussie couple on their honeymoon and then had dinner at one of the restaurants we’d been to last week. Neither Jeff nor I were drinking alcohol so it was very cheap (under $10).

Last night in Hua Hin

The days have just flown past, filled with a lot of doing nothing. This morning I had breakfast, read the paper and played with some video editing routines, to see if I could convert the sound tracks from a DVD to an MP3 – no success so far.

At noon I went to the pool for a game of volleyball, once again being on the winning side. All matches have been won 3-2 so they are close and hence good fun.

I then had a long soak in a bubble bath. I wonder what the rich people did today.

I took the elevator to the 17^th floor and got a few pics of the town and water from up there before heading to the Internet café.

I headed over to the Sofitel with my drinks about 4 and took some more pics of the amazing topiary there. The big elephant is over 800years old.

The others had planned a session in the swim up bar, but I headed for a walk to explore the southern extent of the town. and the new mall there. They have a Tesco’s where I bought a couple of mango peelers and a jacket with the king’s logo on it. The Thai people are being encouraged to wear yellow shirts on Mondays to celebrate his 60^th year on the throne. Monday because he was born on a Monday and yelow because that is the colour for Monday. They have these shirts in polo, t-shirt and other forms and as I found as jackets. I chose the white jacket with the logo and some yellow stripes rather than the full yellow version. I wouldn’t want to be mistaken for an umpire when I got home.

It was 5-30 when I got back and the others had finished there swims and cocktails, so we had a few drinks in the rooms before heading out to eat. We first went to a German restaurant cum bakery opposite the Hilton. They had some Thai food as well as various western dishes but it was too hard to work out how to order from that menu so we moved to a Thai/seafood restaurant down the road a bit. Here we had no trouble finding 7 or 8 dishes. It was pretty good but the Seaside was voted the best of the stay.

I wondered again through the night markets and in the end only bought a couple of second hand books so that I won’t run out of reading material.

Another fine day in paradise

The days are starting to blend into one another, must mean it's almost over. This morning it was breakfast, read the paper and then a couple of hours work. In the afternoon, it was reading by the pool and some volleyball.

When I visited the Sofitel, the boys were playing pool so I joined them to make 2 teams. Again it was on a full size table so we all showed our incompetence.

Dinner was at another seafood restaurant on a pier, seen here in the day time. This was suggested by Rudi and turned out to be even better than the first one, and slightly cheaper. The tables were glass topped with shells etc arranged beneath. Our Fisherman’s mix of Morton Bay Bugs, prawns, crabs, squid and mussels was supplemented by steamed crab, fish, fried morning glory (the hottest dish in our selection and a bit of a surprise) and fried prawns in garlic. For entrée we had seafood pizza. This place also had a guy playing the guitar and singing, mainly ballads from the 60s and 70s. Simon and Garfunkel and so on. At our request he did a great version of Streets of London.

After dinner I went up to the night markets where I found the stalls selling DVDs and CDs that are common in Phuket all the time. I bought one movie and 2 music DVDs.

The day before, Kellie was helping Pauline select some sunglasses at a small stall. In the process, she accidentally put her own pair down on the table and took a different pair by mistake. When she realised it the next day, she went back to try and swap them back. Her pair was on sale for B250 and in the end she decided it was easiest to just buy them back, after bartering them down to B200. Lucky nobody else had bought them as they were an expensive pair she’d bought in Canada.

Below are some photos of the front of the hotel and the attached bar with old boats used as part of the floor.

An alarming development

It was raining this morning during breakfast. I had again sat with Rudi, the German I met a few days ago. Afterwards I went to the mezzanine and wandered through the gym area etc. I read the paper and then had a game of snooker on my own on the full sized table. I was reminded how badly I play the game.

When I was in Phuket previously, I wrote a little program to display the time on my laptop in digits big enough to be seen across the room. I have been using it here, since the clock in the room is an analogue and can’t be seen at night. Since I had set it up as black on yellow it also acted as a nightlight. Today I played with the program adding features to change the digit and background colours and then added an alarm feature which plays music when it goes off. I have successfully turned a $2500 computer into a $25 digital clock.

Later I went for a walk, gleaning more information on golf options and clarifying some other issues. The upshot of it all is that it’ll still cost$60 to $80 for a round and we have decided to give it a miss. I had walked over to the Sofitel to discuss this and managed to catch both Rick and Kevin with relative ease. I then joined the girls on the lawn for a bit of a read before heading back to the Hilton for a late swim. I suspect my holiday will outlast my books.

Tonight we had drinks around the pool at the Sofitel before eating at another of the numerous Thai restaurants, this one near the Hilton. A quarter of the price of last night’s dinner.

Pool fun, oil massage and posh dinner

This morning I ate breakfast alone but did talk briefly with a Dutch family at the next table. It’s been 21 years since I left Holland so I was pleased how much I remembered.

I read in my room for a bit then went to the pool, and read some more. I finished my first 600 plus page book last night and have started the second. I then joined in the pool volleyball game, which was good fun. A mix of young and old and several nationalities. My team eventually won 3 games to 2 after trailing 1-2. I found I was quite reasonable at serving, but jumping for the ball was difficult because your feet slipped on the tiles.

About 2-15 I headed over to the massage place and, since my guy, Wei, was busy, I left and I got some info about golf from the Mexican restaurant manager. After 20 minutes Wei was free and today I had the oil massage. This is virtually a full body massage and you wear no clothes at all. He worked more on my back than in the other massage styles, which was good, but also did the backs of the legs for quite a while. My calves were still tender from before. The massage itself is a lot more gentle as well, more the type of massage people think about getting for pleasure rather than to address and injury.

Kellie was just finishing her daily shampoo downstairs when I finished so she came first to my room, and then I went to hers, taking over my drinks for tonight.

Tonight we dined at the poolside restaurant at the Sofitel, after the usual drinks on the balcony. The decked area is lit by fairy lights on frangipani trees; unfortunately the pic is a bit blurred. It was first class dining with prices to match. I had a Harvey wall banger and a Pina Colada, entrée was a crabmeat salad followed by a pepper steak, which was flambéed at the table. They provided cool towels before and after the meal, a tasting plate and a sorbet between courses. It was all exquisite but it cost about $60, including the service and vat which add nearly 18%, so it won’t be a repeat affair.

On the way back to their rooms, we passed the giant chessboard. Someone had just played frog to Q7.

Shock! Horror! I do some work

I had breakfast with an older German man today, who was also on his own. He also had friends at the Sofitel but was unable to get a booking himself. However he has to change hotels 3 times in his 17 days here. I guess it is quite busy, even though it’s low season.

After that I decided to do a bit of work on the help screens for the Indian project. I had another email last night wanting bank details, which I had already supplied, in addition to a request for the SWIFT code the day before. They must be about to pay me.

A bit before 11 I wandered down to have a massage. The guy who did it yesterday wasn’t in yet but they rang him and he was there by about 11. That gave me a chance to get to the shops and then get some money from the ATM. Today I had a foot massage which includes most of your legs as well and a quick massage of arms, back, neck and shoulders at the end. Again it was very painful as he worked on my calves. When he finished they felt quite tight, even though they are probably loser than they’ve been for a while.

I then went for a walk around the town, down the little alleys and past the local markets. I got to the golf course on the other side of the railway line and checked the fees, hire clubs etc with the intention of playing on Monday. I also bought a cheap polo shirt to wear then, as nothing I’ve got has a collar and most are sleeveless as well. I also bought and put on some sunscreen as I felt I was getting burnt.

I eventually got to the Sofitel after a couple of hours of walking. The stiffness in my claves was pretty much gone by then. After a fruitless search for my friends round the pool, I found one couple in their room. On the way back to the Hilton I wandered a bit more and eventually had dinner in a Mexican restaurant. I had just passed a couple of guys in the lane, who had finished a round of golf and one of them was the manager there. They told me of a cheaper course than the ones available through the hotels and golf shops.

I read for a while after lunch and then headed down to the pool and read some more. Happy hour started so I had 2 daiquiris for the price of one. The B200 on the price list become B235 by the time service and vat was added, so roughly the same as 2 drinks in a restaurant outside the hotel. As they say, cheap at half the price. Jeff turned up while I was between drinks with the plans for the evening. I had a quick swim before I headed to my room to get ready for dinner.

I joined my friends at the Sofitel and the couple I’d caught up with earlier were in their new room. The original one only has twin beds and they are now in a King room with a balcony 2 or 3 times bigger and closer to the pool.

On our first night here we left our original choice restaurant because they couldn’t serve cocktails and wandered down the street to where 2 restaurants were opposite each other. On the toss of a coin we went to the left one. This time we went to the other, after pretending to toss a coin again. The owner was so grateful. She got quite distraught when she saw us tossing the coin, since, she said, she always loses. The food was, we decided, even better than the first night and the cost was again about $13 or $14 including cocktails.

A big breakfast and a painful massage

This morning I work early and decided to move my still damp washing from the bathroom to the balcony and then went back to sleep. When I finally got up around 8-30 I found it was raining and had to move them again.

I then had my first breakfast at the Hilton. The breakfast restuarant covers some 3 areas so it’s a bit more spread out than in Bangkok where everything was together at one end of the room. It is also several times the size.

There’s a counter just for getting fresh squeezed juices and a separate one for bread and toast in the first area.

In the middle there’s a chef cooking omelettes, together with the usual assortment of other eggs, bacon, sausages, tomatoes etc.

The third area has a long table with salads at one end and Japanese dishes at the other. There’s a small table with cereals and another long one with fresh fruit plus 3 smaller ones with water, juices and kids meals. Not going to starve here. There seems to be more choices than at the Dusit, eg There’s fresh dragon fruit and bananas, and some fruit salads and compotes also available in the fruit area as well as the usual pineapple and 3 melons.

Since it was still raining I spent the rest of the morning reading in my room until Jeff called in about 11-30. I then realised I needed to get my laundry in somewhere so I did that and then wandered up to some shops and bought a cotton top.

I skipped lunch and headed for the pool where I had a swim and then sat on the lounge and read for a while. I then went to the Sofitel to meet up with the others and did more of the same.

On the way back I had a 2 hour Thai massage. I’ve had lots of painful sports massages over the last few years but usually I had them because I was already sore with some injury or potential injury. However today I wasn’t actually feeling too bad until he started working on my calves. Like most of my muscles, even when they aren’t injured, they are tight. He started working on the top inside calf muscle and it was just excruciating and it went on and on. …..Then he did the other leg. They are still quite tender an hour or so later after a shower but hopefully much looser than before it started. The rest of the massage was by comparison quite painless. Dodgy Dave – this is not a challenge.

Tonight we ate at a seafood place at the end of a pier. After Fish cakes and fried prawns for entrée, we shared a fisherman’s basket with crab, prawns, squid, mussels and cockles, pineapple rice, noodles, vegetables, barramundi and omelette. 2 rounds of drinks again (pineapple daiquiri and a margarita for me) and the bill was $20 each including tip. It’s been a great day with no pressure to do anything or be anywhere at a particular time.

Hua Hin here we come

I was up early this morning and had breakfast and was ready to go well before 9-30, so I read my book for a bit till then. The driver was waiting for me when I got too the lobby and went to get the car from the parking area. This time it was a Volo and not too new at that. The left rear seat belt wouldn’t close so I sat on the other side and later as we were driving through Bangkok I looked to see how fast we were going only to find the speedo didn’t work. We made good time with one toilet break at a service station. They didn’t cater for westerners there so that was a bit of a challenge. I spent most of the trip reading my book.

I arrived at the Hilton just after 12 and after filling in the registration was told I had a complimentary massage and did I want to take it now. Later I said, until they told me my room wasn’t ready. The spa area was very posh, with teak and marble, quite unlike our upstairs place in Bangkok and the massage was mostly relaxing. However at 7 times the price It needs more than that to get me to go there as a paying customer.

My room was ready but the time I got back to the desk and it is a really big room at that, although the furniture is rather low, more in the Japanese style. My bag arrived somewhat later and after a drink, I wandered through the beautiful pool area, along the beach to my friends’ hotel. I can just see the third floor from my room and later worked out which was my room, which I could see from there. The Hilton is a 17 storey high rise, while the Sofatel is 2 or 3 storeys only but on extensive grounds, full of topiary. Only Rick was there so we had a few drinks till the other returned from there shopping, drinking and/or massages.

I returned to my room and changed and rinsed out some clothes since I’ve nearly run out, then headed back to The Sofatel. We headed to a Thai restaurant for cockaails and dinner only to be told the cocktail waiter wasn’t there. Up we got and wandered af ew 100 metres to then next one where we had a couple of rounds of Pina Coradas (apparently), Mai Tais or Long Island Teas and a great Thai meal for under $10 each.

I found an Internet café nearby and so I headed back to my room to update this blog. The hotel has wireless internet available in the rooms for B750 per day ($20) so the café at B1 per minute looks very cheap.

Klong Tour

I was the first of our group at breakfast this morning and had not only a freshly made omelette but also a waffle. Diet won’t start till I get back.

At 10-30, four of us headed to the river to do a tour of the canals (or klongs as they are called.) We had seen a brochure for a tour company, which charged B1400 per person for a similar tour but by hiring a boat directly and splitting the cost it wasn’t much over a quarter of that each. The boat was a long tail, so called because it is driven by a car engine via a long (15-20 foot) drive shaft and propeller.

The river was close to flood levels and in fact some of the buildings we saw seemed to be flooded already. The river itself was quite rough and shortly after we started, the rain came down quite heavily before fining up again. We entered the klongs through a lock since they are some 6 ft or so lower than the water level in the river. While we were waiting a lady in a small boat came up and pestered Jeff to buy a beer for our driver at an inflated price. In the end he got him a soft drink.

Once inside the klongs, the water was quite calm and we had a very enjoyable couple of hours cruising past houses, old and new, fancy and run down as well as numerous temples, lush vegetation and flowers. The pictures describe it better. The people we passed all seemed pretty happy as well, we quite envied them their lifestyle.

We had a drink and a light lunch on the water after our tour before wandering through River city mall for a bit and then heading back to the hotel. I got dropped on the way and bought my golf shoes and some tees.

It was a bit late to fit in a 2 hour massage and I was thinking of going for a swim. However a call from a client with a problem gave me enough to do until that too was off my list.

Dinner at Cha Chas and Golf in the Red light district

After returning from our massages we retired to our separate rooms. At about 6 we met again at the club for the happy hour. Tonight my choice was a Bloody Mary but after 3 or 4 I just had tomato juice. About 7-30 we headed out to an Indian restaurant called Cha Cha’s and son. Jeff and Kellie went there when they lived here in the 80’s and the original founder has since passed away but the son runs it in the same tradition. Again the food was superb although we had trouble finishing it. The boys had a big lunch and I’d had a number of serves of the finger foods at the club earlier. I’d skipped lunch and only had some fruit since breakfast, so it was hard to wait.

Speaking of fruit, with bananas at $12 or more per kg in Australia at the time, my friends back home may be interest to know they are less than $1 per kg.

After we’d finished eating, we took a taxi to Patpong, where one of the group filled a wish list for DVDs from her kids. I looked at CDs but didn’t see anything I really wanted. We walked back to the hotel – not that far – and then 4 of us had a few drinks in my room before finishing about 11pm.

Monday

I slept much better last night although I woke with a sore neck. I arrived for breakfast as the last of the others were leaving and when I got back to my room I found 2 of the girls had headed to Chinatown already. I met Jeff in the lobby and we wandered down the street, stopping at Robinson’s department store for a bit before heading for the Asiabooks shop in Patpong, which at night is the red light district.

The building it is in is a golf ghetto, with over 30 golf shops there. We met up with the rest of our group there as well. We looked but didn’t actually buy anything (other than some socks – how exciting) and then got back to the hotel. We then took taxis to the Shangrila Restaurant in China Town, where we met the other 2 and one of their friends who is a Buddhist monk, for a dim sim lunch. Food again was great, although it was a bit soon after breakfast for me.

The other 3 girls went shopping again after lunch but I went with the 3 boys to the massage place the girls had visited yesterday. The boys had foot massages but I opted for the full Thai massage of 2 hours. The masseur was only a slight woman, under 5 foot and slim but she certainly knew how to put pressure on a muscle. She massaged (almost) every muscle in my body right down to the finger tips. There was a bit of pain and she kept saying “hard” and pointing to my calf, quads or whatever. My experience with sport massage at home left me with an expectation of a painful experience that leaves you better than you started and this was no exception. I feel fine now, some 7 hours later.

We had another happy hour at the club, this time I opted for Bacardi and cokes. I had enough finger food, combined with the lunch, to not want to eat an actual meal for dinner. The others had a meal at the Banana House, a Thai home cooked style place, which cost them about $6 each. Rick and I have plans to play golf later in the holiday so I headed to the golf building to try and buy some shoes and balls, while they were eating. As you can see, the street looks different night and day. A lot of the golfshops were already closed, including the one with the cheap shoes, but I did manage to get us 10 balls each for about $11. I joined the others back at the restaurant and resisted offers to try this or that. While I was sitting there one of the waitresses came over with a plastic bag, which she gave to me. It contained another 7 golf balls. What an unexpected gift!

We had a brief visited to the shopping area for more DVDs and then headed back for a few drinks before bed. I'm hoping that the pillow I bought earlier will help with the sore neck problem.

I had a reply to my email to the place I bought my camera from. The suggestion of a reset seems to have fixed the sync problem, so I am able to get some night shots again.

At the markets

I had trouble sleeping last night, waking up at 2.45 and eventually getting up to put in the previous posting. I did eventually drop off again and got up for breakfast about 8.15. 4 of my friends were there and I dug into the complimentary breakfast with a serve of scrambled eggs, bacon etc followed by fresh fruit. I then took the photos of the hotel in the previous post, returned to the room, got connected and did an upload.

By then it was 10 and we all headed off to the Jetujak markets. WE took the underground which is very modern, clean and high tech. It was B39 for the trip. The markets are where the locals shop and cover clothes, hardware, craft and food amongst other things. It was supposedly not overcrowded by normal standards.

I only bought a pair of tie pants and a hand sewing machine but the others did much more shopping for grand kids etc. The guys went back early and we stayed till about 3 before catching a taxi back. Three of us girls then went for a foot massage which was quite relaxing although she found a few painful spots. We went to a less salubrious place upstairs lying on mattresses rather than the chairs of the posher places but we also got a back and neck massage as part of the deal, and all for only $10 equivalent.

On the way out, Kellie had a word with the front desk and now my internet is complimentary. Always good to have a travel agent along with you.

Getting there

It was an early start with the alarm going off at 5.45am and I was in the taxi to the airport by 6.15. I met up with my friends there but as we checked in separately we were not seated together on the plane. After a milkshake for me, and coffee, tea and/or breakfast for the others, we cleared customs and security and wandered round the duty fee area for a while. I ordered some Tequila and Bacardi to collect on the way in and picked up the “200ml Johnny Walker Black for $5” offer to have a starter when I got there.

The plane was pretty much full. I was in the “basinet row” at the front of the last section, so I had a bit more legroom at the expense of the inconvenience of the fold out table. Not quite the luxury of the business class seats on my Indian trip. The plane stopped in Phuket with a couple of meals and 2 movies on that first leg. I watched the new Garfield movie but unfortunately the other movie – The Devil wears Prada – was one I’d seen the previous Sunday.

I caught up with my friends in the transit lounge in Phuket and after about an hour we were on the last, shorter, leg to Bangkok. We landed at the new airport there, which had only been open a week. Although we raced through the passport check, there still seem to be some teething problems and we were joking about whether the wait for our bags was longer than the flight from Phuket. Eventually they arrived and we cleared customs with barely a pause.

Since, my bookings were made separately from the other 6, although we are together and staying in the same hotel here in Bangkok, we are travelling with different tour companies. After I changed some money (27.5 Baht per A$ compared to only 24 last time I was here) I was driven to the hotel in a Mercedes saloon while my friends travelled in a Toyota minibus. The trip was also a contrast with the ride in Delhi. Here the highway to the airport is complete and we whizzed along at up to 120kph. Only when we reached our exit did things slow down taking about 10 minutes to get through the traffic lights. After that it wasn’t too bad, although as Jeff pointed out, it was Saturday evening. They were just getting out of their bus as I arrived. It had taken me 13 hours door to door.

Since we had all been upgraded to a Club room we were taken upstairs to the Dusit Club to check in. It was happy hour, so there were complimentary drinks and finger food available at the time. We got our selves some drinks - a Chivas Regal and coke for me, G&Ts for some of the others – and decided that the holiday had started. I took a few photos but again there seems to be some problem with the flash sync. Although sometimes it’s OK, other times the flash fires before the picture is taken. I thought this had been fixed, since I noticed it first at the hockey windup dinner a few weeks ago and thought it was due to accidentally turning burst mode on. After the formalities were finished, we were taken to our rooms. They are quite generous and well furnished. There was one “universal” power point that takes Australian plugs, so I was able to plug my power board in directly and set up the notebook, speakers and, when required, various rechargers.

There is also an Internet connect so I rang to organise my “complimentary usage” as it said on my welcome letter. There was some confusion at the other end since they said it was not included. Then someone turned up with an amended letter that did not include this (or the first $10 free laundry item) stating those were for a higher rate than I was paying. I have organised for the pay service, which is B500 per 24 hours. I decided to wait till the next morning before logging on.

We all met back at the Club room for several more drinks. Since the happy hour is in fact 2 hours long, we might almost be able to make up the Internet cost in free drinks. It’ll be a challenge worth taking anyway. After a 5 minute warning they took the drinks away and we all went back to being miserable again.

We then headed across the road to buy some mixers and water and then on to Anna’s, a Thai restaurant not far away, down a minor street. Not a place I’d have stumbled on myself so it is good to travel with people who’ve been here before. The food was superb and the service was also top class. They quickly moved us to a larger table when it became available and came out with a “birthday cake” – or at least a slice of cake with a candle - and half a dozen waiters sang “Happy Birthday” to Pauline. Since it’s not until December, it was a set-up by Kellie. Apparently, the staff do this all the time to random diners.

We all finished up back in one room for a few more drinks before heading to bed. So far, at least the drinking prediction has come true.

A holiday that's just a holiday

It's been a long time since I had a holiday. Sure I've been away lots and, in fact, I was away in India for 2 weeks in July followed 2 days later by 10 days in Darwin the same month. However, the first was for work with a bit of tourism thrown in and the second for the Vets Hockey Championships, where we won a silver medal. Most of my other trips over the last several years have been for hockey, work, conferences or visiting family. Not that there's anything wrong with that, as they say.

My friends Jeff and Kellie have been going to various parts of Thailand for a number of years and since she is a travel agent they sometimes go to the less obvious spots. Usually their trips clash with the Vets championships but this year they were in July since the host city, Darwin, is too hot in October.

Anyway I took this opportunity to join them this year and we have a 17 day holiday planned in Bangkok and Hua Hin staying at 5 star hotels. I anticipate there will be eating, drinking, lying round the pool, shopping and sight seeing. I will be posting pics here as well since there seemed to be some interest in my Indian blog.

Interestingly, although I have technically been in Thailand 4 times, I haven't left the airport in Bangkok. On my last visit to Phuket, I transferred through there and in the early 80's I had planned a stopover on my way from Holland to Australia. Unfortunately that time, I had a gastro attack the day I was supposed to leave, flew to Paris the next day for an alternative flight and arrived in Bangkok too late to do anything but make my connecting flight.