Back to Bangkok
Today we had another day of travel ahead of us as we made our way back to Bangkok. At 9:45am or van arrived and we were on our way to Phuket airport. This time around, we allowed some extra time along the way to do some shopping in Khao Lak –thanks to Tui, who called our driver the night before to let him know. At 2:00pm we boarded our plane and we landed in Bangkok at 3:30pm.
After we collected our bags, we headed to the Airport Rail Link train (ART) to make our way to our hotel. We boarded the ART and exited Makkasan station. We walked into the thick of rush hour to get to the Phetchaburi MRT (subway) station. Motorbikes were zipping by, police officers were blowing their whistles to direct traffic and mobs of people were everywhere. Kevin and I were wearing two backpacks and had parcels in our hands, trying to maneuver through all of this without losing our children. We couldn't help but to laugh at the humour of the situation as we tried not to bonk into people. At one point, we crossed a road and Kev walked around the back end of a car with the girls and I went around the front where it seemed less congested. Sure enough, the girls squeaked by, but Kev looked more like a salmon swimming up stream as more and more people kept walking toward him and he had no where to go. I couldn't help but to laugh out loud as I watched him struggle. I wish I had caught that moment on film.
While we were waiting for the MRT, Aislinn was sitting on the floor with her backpack half open, drinking some juice. When we saw the train coming, Kevin and I prompted her to put her juice in her bag and get ready to get on the train. The MRT arrived, the doors flew open, tons of people poured out and the mob of people we belonged to made their way on the train. Aislinn was still on the floor just starting to put her juice away. Kevin and Jasmine got on the train, while I kinda stood half in and half out to make sure the doors didn't close. "No! No!" yelled a female security guard as she came running over. Okay, so maybe the doors on the MRT aren't like an elevator... I stepped completely off the train and the doors closed. Aislinn and I watched as Kevin and Jasmine zoomed away. It was the first time our family has been separated during our whole trip. Thankfully, it wasn't necessary to panic because we were getting off at the next stop. I talked Aislinn out of the panic-stricken expression she had on her face and we successfully avoided a 5-year-old melt down. She learned a valuable lesson about listening and following instructions promptly, though. The tricky part will be trying to recreate the MRT experience back in London to maintain her newly gained knowledge.
Less than 10 minutes later, the next train came and we got on. We got off at our next stop, which was Sukhumvit and caught up with the other half of our family. Jasmine, in her wise, big sister way let Aislinn know it was her fault we were separated. Kevin gave her a nudge and reminded her about the conversation they had before we arrived and she quieted down... for the most part.
We walked from Sukhumvit to the Asok skyrail (BTS) station, which was a new experience for us. We entered the station and it was CRAZY!!! Again, Kevin and I were laughing and having fun as we figured out where we needed to go to get our tickets. We found a spot where we could put all of our bags down to give our bodies a break and make it a little easier for Kev to get our tickets. Jasmine and Aislinn sat on the bags and I stood there in awe at the amount of people bustling around us. What I didn't mention before was from the moment we were reunited on the ART until now, we were basically escorted by security through each station. We were either being really well taken care of because it was rush hour and we were a family with small children or we were identified as remedial travelers because our party had been separated. Either way, we were happy to have the extra guidance.
Kevin came back with the tickets, we hopped on the BTS and got off at our stop. Our next task was to figure out if we should take a taxi or walk to our hotel. We approached a giant map and met up with an American who offered to help; his name was Mike, his wife was Thai and they currently lived in New Delhi. If we planned on walking, Mike offered accompany us and help carry some of our bags. According to Mike, to get to our hotel we would have to walk through the red light district. Right about then, Kev and I became a little nervous. What if our hotel is in the red light district??? Mike assured us he would check our hotel out and let us know if it was a spot for "working girls".
We started walking and within 5 minutes we were in the more "colourful" part of Bangkok where there were lots of bars filled with white males and Thai women. Please don't let our hotel be in this part of town... Mike asked for directions to our hotel a couple of times along the way and in both instances we were pointed farther up the road. Just keep going... just keep going... 10 minutes later we turned onto a little side street called Soi 4 and at we were at our beautiful hotel, Boss Suites, which is only costing 1205 Baht per night (= just over $40 CAD per night). Again, our accommodations well exceed a basic hotel room back in Canada that we would normally pay at least $80 CAD for. We unloaded our bags and left for dinner.
We walked down Sukhumvit (away from the red light district) and found a little restaurant full of locals, so we went in. We all agreed we needed a break from rice. Aislinn ordered crispy spring rolls and the rest of us ordered pad thai. Kev and I topped it off with some Chang beer. The food was delicious and for the first time since we've been in Thailand, I was a little tipsy. Kevin made fun of me and then we started taking turns reading words from the sex talk section of our Thai/English dictionary and laughing hysterically: "daa chan drong nee" (touch me there) "jai yen yen na" (easy tiger!) re-ou keun (faster) "raang keun" (harder). Our kids wanted to know what was so funny, so we had to act like responsible adults again and lie. We paid for our meal (which cost us 330 Baht = just over $10 CAD) and called it a night.
After we collected our bags, we headed to the Airport Rail Link train (ART) to make our way to our hotel. We boarded the ART and exited Makkasan station. We walked into the thick of rush hour to get to the Phetchaburi MRT (subway) station. Motorbikes were zipping by, police officers were blowing their whistles to direct traffic and mobs of people were everywhere. Kevin and I were wearing two backpacks and had parcels in our hands, trying to maneuver through all of this without losing our children. We couldn't help but to laugh at the humour of the situation as we tried not to bonk into people. At one point, we crossed a road and Kev walked around the back end of a car with the girls and I went around the front where it seemed less congested. Sure enough, the girls squeaked by, but Kev looked more like a salmon swimming up stream as more and more people kept walking toward him and he had no where to go. I couldn't help but to laugh out loud as I watched him struggle. I wish I had caught that moment on film.
While we were waiting for the MRT, Aislinn was sitting on the floor with her backpack half open, drinking some juice. When we saw the train coming, Kevin and I prompted her to put her juice in her bag and get ready to get on the train. The MRT arrived, the doors flew open, tons of people poured out and the mob of people we belonged to made their way on the train. Aislinn was still on the floor just starting to put her juice away. Kevin and Jasmine got on the train, while I kinda stood half in and half out to make sure the doors didn't close. "No! No!" yelled a female security guard as she came running over. Okay, so maybe the doors on the MRT aren't like an elevator... I stepped completely off the train and the doors closed. Aislinn and I watched as Kevin and Jasmine zoomed away. It was the first time our family has been separated during our whole trip. Thankfully, it wasn't necessary to panic because we were getting off at the next stop. I talked Aislinn out of the panic-stricken expression she had on her face and we successfully avoided a 5-year-old melt down. She learned a valuable lesson about listening and following instructions promptly, though. The tricky part will be trying to recreate the MRT experience back in London to maintain her newly gained knowledge.
Less than 10 minutes later, the next train came and we got on. We got off at our next stop, which was Sukhumvit and caught up with the other half of our family. Jasmine, in her wise, big sister way let Aislinn know it was her fault we were separated. Kevin gave her a nudge and reminded her about the conversation they had before we arrived and she quieted down... for the most part.
We walked from Sukhumvit to the Asok skyrail (BTS) station, which was a new experience for us. We entered the station and it was CRAZY!!! Again, Kevin and I were laughing and having fun as we figured out where we needed to go to get our tickets. We found a spot where we could put all of our bags down to give our bodies a break and make it a little easier for Kev to get our tickets. Jasmine and Aislinn sat on the bags and I stood there in awe at the amount of people bustling around us. What I didn't mention before was from the moment we were reunited on the ART until now, we were basically escorted by security through each station. We were either being really well taken care of because it was rush hour and we were a family with small children or we were identified as remedial travelers because our party had been separated. Either way, we were happy to have the extra guidance.
Kevin came back with the tickets, we hopped on the BTS and got off at our stop. Our next task was to figure out if we should take a taxi or walk to our hotel. We approached a giant map and met up with an American who offered to help; his name was Mike, his wife was Thai and they currently lived in New Delhi. If we planned on walking, Mike offered accompany us and help carry some of our bags. According to Mike, to get to our hotel we would have to walk through the red light district. Right about then, Kev and I became a little nervous. What if our hotel is in the red light district??? Mike assured us he would check our hotel out and let us know if it was a spot for "working girls".
We started walking and within 5 minutes we were in the more "colourful" part of Bangkok where there were lots of bars filled with white males and Thai women. Please don't let our hotel be in this part of town... Mike asked for directions to our hotel a couple of times along the way and in both instances we were pointed farther up the road. Just keep going... just keep going... 10 minutes later we turned onto a little side street called Soi 4 and at we were at our beautiful hotel, Boss Suites, which is only costing 1205 Baht per night (= just over $40 CAD per night). Again, our accommodations well exceed a basic hotel room back in Canada that we would normally pay at least $80 CAD for. We unloaded our bags and left for dinner.
We walked down Sukhumvit (away from the red light district) and found a little restaurant full of locals, so we went in. We all agreed we needed a break from rice. Aislinn ordered crispy spring rolls and the rest of us ordered pad thai. Kev and I topped it off with some Chang beer. The food was delicious and for the first time since we've been in Thailand, I was a little tipsy. Kevin made fun of me and then we started taking turns reading words from the sex talk section of our Thai/English dictionary and laughing hysterically: "daa chan drong nee" (touch me there) "jai yen yen na" (easy tiger!) re-ou keun (faster) "raang keun" (harder). Our kids wanted to know what was so funny, so we had to act like responsible adults again and lie. We paid for our meal (which cost us 330 Baht = just over $10 CAD) and called it a night.
December 21 Goodbye Bangkok, Thank You Thailand
_
This morning I almost didn’t want to open my eyes. I wanted
to believe that if I just kept on sleeping we wouldn’t have to leave. But
reality settled in and it was time to move. We only had one day left to enjoy
the sights, sounds and chaos of Bangkok.
We started off with a breakfast buffet at our hotel, which for our whole family cost 300 Baht (= approx $10 CAD). We then made our way to the Siam Paragon Shopping Centre, not to shop, but to visit southeast Asia's largest aquarium, which should give you an idea as to the size of this particular mall. We took the BTS to the Siam station and were immediately wowed by its “bling”– we hadn’t even walked inside yet. Built in 2005, the Siam Paragon Shopping Centre was a real showpiece. Not only did it have an aquarium, but it also housed a skating rink, cineplex (with 15 theatres), IMAX theatre, bowling alley, art gallery, exhibition hall, opera concert hall, several luxury car showrooms and of course, more stores than you could possibly visit in a day... or two (and there's still more features I didn't list here) In the food court there were rows of tables with large fish tanks as centerpieces so you could watch the fish while you eat. We had never seen anything like it before.
We made our way down to the lowest level to where the aquarium was and no surprise, it was way more than just an aquarium. For extra money you could ride the glass bottom boat or have a behind the scene tour. We opted for just a basic entry into the aquarium and this also included access to a 3D movie on aquatic life for a cost of 2800 Baht (=$100 CAD) We were there for a good 2 hours watching all of the beautiful marine life. At times, this experience seemed kind of odd to me considering we were just in Koh Surin snorkeling and as Kevin would say, I had a few PETA moments as I felt bad these beautiful creatures weren’t in their natural habitat where they belonged. With that being said, I do have to admit the most beautiful aquarium I have ever seen was in Bahamas at the Atlantis hotel, but this one was also worth visiting if traveling in Bangkok with kids. The only downside was the Americanized “exit through the gift shop” approach– right down to the coin flattening machine. We successfully exited without buying anything and went straight for the food court instead.
In the process, Jasmine was attempting to delete some pictures off of her camera and accidently erased our entire trip. Not one single picture she took was left… now that was heartbreaking. Kevin and I felt terrible for her. We hastily created our best “look on the bright side” approach; our two other cameras would have a lot of the same pictures and we were so lucky that we had those extra cameras. I then gave Jasmine a special assignment: to spend the rest of the day collecting images that mommy and daddy wouldn’t catch and to add her own artistic flare to them. The sparkle came back to her eyes and we were all ready to move on.
After lunch, we went on a quest to find the perfect Buddha to bring home, something we neglected to do in Chiang Mai, which would be my only regret. We knew our best bet would be a market, so we started walking and stumbled upon the Viva Town market. It was full of young fashion designers selling their wares. I was in heaven to the point where it almost became hell because I couldn’t take five steps without being wowed by someone else’s creations. But then I found this beautiful dressmaker. All of his designs fit me perfectly and it was hard to choose. I ended up walking away with three beautiful dresses and a nice belt for $1300 Baht (= $46 CAD) I don’t think I could’ve smiled harder.
As for our Buddha, we found him at the MBK shopping centre on the 6th floor which was more like an indoor night market. Bartering was still the protocol and I found the perfect one carved out of mango wood for $1500 Baht (= $53 CAD). It didn’t have the same feel as buying it in Chiang Mai, but it would do. Time to go back to the hotel to pack and get ready to head back to Canada. Our time in Thailand was quickly ending.
At 11:45pm, we boarded our plane. Now we are on our way home. We’ll stop once again in Seoul Korea and if we're on time, arrive in Toronto at 9:30am Thursday (tomorrow) morning.
It’s been a pleasure having you follow us along on our incredible journey; we don't intend for it to be our last. Over the next month or so, we look forward to gleaning the nuggets of insight and personal growth this trip has bestowed upon us. More importantly, we hope we’ve inspired you to get out there and not just see the world, but be in the world, whether you have kids or not. The rest of your human family and the earth home we share are waiting for you. We wish you all much happiness, health, joy and prosperity in 2012.
With Love and Much Peace,
The Diachina Family
We started off with a breakfast buffet at our hotel, which for our whole family cost 300 Baht (= approx $10 CAD). We then made our way to the Siam Paragon Shopping Centre, not to shop, but to visit southeast Asia's largest aquarium, which should give you an idea as to the size of this particular mall. We took the BTS to the Siam station and were immediately wowed by its “bling”– we hadn’t even walked inside yet. Built in 2005, the Siam Paragon Shopping Centre was a real showpiece. Not only did it have an aquarium, but it also housed a skating rink, cineplex (with 15 theatres), IMAX theatre, bowling alley, art gallery, exhibition hall, opera concert hall, several luxury car showrooms and of course, more stores than you could possibly visit in a day... or two (and there's still more features I didn't list here) In the food court there were rows of tables with large fish tanks as centerpieces so you could watch the fish while you eat. We had never seen anything like it before.
We made our way down to the lowest level to where the aquarium was and no surprise, it was way more than just an aquarium. For extra money you could ride the glass bottom boat or have a behind the scene tour. We opted for just a basic entry into the aquarium and this also included access to a 3D movie on aquatic life for a cost of 2800 Baht (=$100 CAD) We were there for a good 2 hours watching all of the beautiful marine life. At times, this experience seemed kind of odd to me considering we were just in Koh Surin snorkeling and as Kevin would say, I had a few PETA moments as I felt bad these beautiful creatures weren’t in their natural habitat where they belonged. With that being said, I do have to admit the most beautiful aquarium I have ever seen was in Bahamas at the Atlantis hotel, but this one was also worth visiting if traveling in Bangkok with kids. The only downside was the Americanized “exit through the gift shop” approach– right down to the coin flattening machine. We successfully exited without buying anything and went straight for the food court instead.
In the process, Jasmine was attempting to delete some pictures off of her camera and accidently erased our entire trip. Not one single picture she took was left… now that was heartbreaking. Kevin and I felt terrible for her. We hastily created our best “look on the bright side” approach; our two other cameras would have a lot of the same pictures and we were so lucky that we had those extra cameras. I then gave Jasmine a special assignment: to spend the rest of the day collecting images that mommy and daddy wouldn’t catch and to add her own artistic flare to them. The sparkle came back to her eyes and we were all ready to move on.
After lunch, we went on a quest to find the perfect Buddha to bring home, something we neglected to do in Chiang Mai, which would be my only regret. We knew our best bet would be a market, so we started walking and stumbled upon the Viva Town market. It was full of young fashion designers selling their wares. I was in heaven to the point where it almost became hell because I couldn’t take five steps without being wowed by someone else’s creations. But then I found this beautiful dressmaker. All of his designs fit me perfectly and it was hard to choose. I ended up walking away with three beautiful dresses and a nice belt for $1300 Baht (= $46 CAD) I don’t think I could’ve smiled harder.
As for our Buddha, we found him at the MBK shopping centre on the 6th floor which was more like an indoor night market. Bartering was still the protocol and I found the perfect one carved out of mango wood for $1500 Baht (= $53 CAD). It didn’t have the same feel as buying it in Chiang Mai, but it would do. Time to go back to the hotel to pack and get ready to head back to Canada. Our time in Thailand was quickly ending.
At 11:45pm, we boarded our plane. Now we are on our way home. We’ll stop once again in Seoul Korea and if we're on time, arrive in Toronto at 9:30am Thursday (tomorrow) morning.
It’s been a pleasure having you follow us along on our incredible journey; we don't intend for it to be our last. Over the next month or so, we look forward to gleaning the nuggets of insight and personal growth this trip has bestowed upon us. More importantly, we hope we’ve inspired you to get out there and not just see the world, but be in the world, whether you have kids or not. The rest of your human family and the earth home we share are waiting for you. We wish you all much happiness, health, joy and prosperity in 2012.
With Love and Much Peace,
The Diachina Family