December 09, 2005

That Asian Connection, Bangkok Part 1

A couple of weeks back, I suddenly announced in this blog that I am going on vacation. It was an unplanned vacation and it was actually a 15 day recuperation of all my husband's overtime work. Originally we wanted to travel somewhere near which basically sums up to Europe and the Middle East. Since I was holding the ever so limited green passport and my Schengen visa already expired, we both came to a conclusion to visit the place we miss the most other than the Philippines without the hassle of visa applications. Just an impromptu trip. We finally decded to go to the first two countries we visited together when we were still going out ---> Malaysia and Thailand. On top of it, we realized that our good friends in Hong Kong are now living in the above mentioned countries and it would be a good idea to touch base with them again.

From Istanbul, we took Singapore Airlines with a stopover in Dubai and Singapore and, after almost 22 hours of travelling and waiting in between airports, we landed in Bangkok. The first thing that greeted us was the morning traffic. What a lovely welcome! We weren't annoyed a bit with the traffic jam. We were just so happy to be there. Arriving at our hotel, we ended up falling asleep the rest of the afternoon. Thanks to the six hours time difference and the head spinning jet lag we had.

Come late afternoon, we met up with our old friend and colleague in HK, Monsieur and Madame D and their beautiful bebe toctoc. Madame D was already pregnant when we left HK last year and the last time we saw her was in Paris when we met up and had lunch together minus Monsieur D who was busy working in HK that time. Bebe toctoc was born early January of this year and it was so good to see him for the first time in person already crawling everywhere.

We then went straight to their flat and had dinner with the whole family. After hours and hours of chatting and wine drinking , we called it a night at half past one in the morning and went back to the hotel to get some shut eye. We had a long schedule the next day and needed to wake up early.

Grand Temple and Wat Phra Keo

Wat Arun

Our first trip to Thailand, we only stayed one night in Bangkok and went straight to Krabi Island for one week. This time, we decided to explore the chaotic and exciting city of KrungThep and enjoy all the Wats ( or temples) that we can see. The first thing on our agenda was visit the three Major Temples Bangkok is known for. These were the Grand Palace, Wat Pho, and Wat Arun. Armed with a touristy map and infos taken from Virtual Tourist, we spent one whole day discovering and taking pictures of these Wats. Unfortunately, Wat Pho was closed on the day we decided to do these three temples and so we ended up walking around the area discovering other buddha images.

Pooh Khao Tong and Wat Indrawiharn

One of the highlights of our day was a tuktuk ride all over the place and a pleasant surprise from husband dear who bought me a ring with ruby (my birthstone) and diamonds. I felt like a teenager and the gemologist even thought we were on honeymoon. As corny as it may sound... love was in the air ( I can't believe I just typed that!).

Come dinner time, husband and I decided to try out mahanaga. It was a thai fusion restaurant with very nice ambience. The food was good although the quantity was not enough for voracious eaters like us. We then went to Brown Sugar, a small bar that plays superb jazz music live. After having a couple of drinks and good beat tapping, we headed back to the hotel.

When we arrived at the hotel, husband was again hungry and said he would like order something to ( take note) nibble from Room Service. He ended up eating a steak with french fries! i couldn't care less I was too dead tired and excited for our next day travel to Kanchanaburi...to be continued

Next Stop : Kanchanaburi, Thailand
-Buddhas inside A cave
-Acrophobia with the Bridge over the River Kwae
-our first elephant's kiss
-hotta hotta thai food
- river rafting

Posted by duke at 12/09/2005 03:35:00 PM

11 Comments:

Analyse said...: nice photos! everything was too thai till i read steak-frites! hehe, that's a good idea to end a day from a grand chef at that!; 12/09/2005 06:45:00 PM
Airwind said...: wow ... eventhough its not ur honeymoon you can still consider it as your 2nd honeymoon. YIHEEE!!!!; 12/09/2005 10:14:00 PM
JO said...: enjoy your vacation!; 12/09/2005 10:40:00 PM
MrsPartyGirl said...: cant wait for the next installment :) inggit ako, i've never been to bangkok, and unfortunately it's last naman on my hubby's list of "places to visit" kasi he worked/lived there before for 6 years. haaay. i would leave him behind sana and go there on my own (with ninna siyempre) kaya lang he's fluent in the language, pwedeng-pwede ko siyang gamitin pag tawaran sa shopping, hehe :D i'm glad you had a fun vacation :); 12/10/2005 12:35:00 AM
Owen said...: that's a nice chronicle of your trip to bangkok!

cant wait to see your post about kanchanaburi. i have a special attachment to that place.; 12/10/2005 04:43:00 AM
Anonymous said...: Tsk! You din't include HK in your itineraries. I missed this Temples during my visit to Thailand kasi sarap manood ng naked people sa Phuket beach nun, hahaha.

On FOOD: Tum Yum? Pomelo salad? Thai food kicks the ball real good. hehehe.

On Alahas: Baka talagang humingi ka ng diamonds?

On Part 1: parang Trilogy ang posts na to.. will wait for the 2nd n 3rd part. Damihan ang letratos.

Seng Dan Fai Lok - Merry Xmas!; 12/10/2005 06:36:00 AM
Anonymous said...: On Anonymous: ACOTO - KnOizKi; 12/10/2005 06:39:00 AM
silentmode_v2 said...: huwaw, nice pics! i wish i can go there!; 12/10/2005 08:39:00 AM
duke said...: Ana hehehehehe sometimes hubby can't help his french side coming out! lol

Airwind feeling honeymooners kuno... hahahahahha

jo really did have a good time!

meeya really? your husband can speak thai? you already have such abig advantage in haggling! With me, every single person there thought I was Thai and spoke to me in their only to find out that I'm a pseudo thai :D

Owen Thanks! Kanchanaburi was a good trip as well---> with lots of funny moments for us on the side!; 12/10/2005 09:36:00 AM
duke said...: K heheheh you can never have too much girly shows in thailand! Sorry wala ang HK sa itinerary.. kinulang kami sa days!

food in thailand was amazing as always...pomelo salad--> YUM!I also ate tons of curry and rice and satays and eggs and those thai desserts I buy in the street!

I was too shy to ask for diamonds as a gift! Buti na lang he got the message! hihihihi.. just kidding.

meri krismas!

Jeff youa re back in manila na pala. I heard from sha that you left on the 6th. I was actually in Dubai airport the same day kaso early morning.If your flight was in the morning baka nagkita pa tayo dun! enjoy your paskong pinoy! SARAAAP!; 12/10/2005 09:42:00 AM
dreaming-neko said...: wow! great pics! it looks like my (old) home :)

what a great trip!; 12/14/2005 05:14:00 AM

Confessions of an Expat's Wife

December 09, 2005

That Asian Connection, Bangkok Part 1

11 Comments:

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