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.