Back to Bangkok

March 11, 2011

Senne's Summary: We left Auckland and flew to Bangkok. We mostly wandered the streets, shopped and ate. Saving the touristy thing for when we come back at the end of our month in Thailand.

When we left Auckland we were lucky enough that Hoori was able to get us a little bit of an upgrade on our flight to Bangkok (it pays to know people 😉). He tried to get us bumped up to business class… but no go (it was full), but he did manage to get a seat blocked off between us (because we often fight, and the flight attendants hate that. Once we almost got kicked off the plane… mid-flight… okay, maybe Steve made this part up.) Anyway, we were lucky enough to have three seats for the two of us, and on a 12 hour flight, this is huge! When we started boarding the plane, they called us back to the desk and bumped us up a little closer to the front. These seats had a bit more leg room! So not only did we have 3 seats, we had extra leg room! THANK YOU, Hoori!

This is the best flight we've had so far. Thai Airways is awesome. We had a direct 12 hour flight to Bangkok, so Steve was not looking forward to being on the plane that long. There was no need to worry though… those in-flight entertainment systems on the back of the seats are truly wonderful. Steve watched 4 or 5 movies, a little bit of TV, I laid out across the seats to sleep, and suddenly we were there! The staff on Thai Airways were also great. They fed us three times (included in your fare by the way!), offered free wine with the meals, and walked up the aisles every half hour or so with trays of water, juice and pop. I can’t say anything negative about this airline… the price was even very reasonable… about $500 for a 12 hour flight!

We had a six hour time change from Auckland to Bangkok, and it seemed I was having a little trouble adjusting (Unless of course you think going to bed at 6 in the evening and getting up at 3 in the morning is normal? 🤷) It’s four days later now, and I think I’ve finally adjusted. The beauty of this trip is that it doesn’t really matter if you’re having trouble adjusting… we just sleep when we want… but to be honest… Steve is not fond of me waking up at 3:00 AM and turning on the computer!

As my toe is still mending, we figured we’d save the trip to Ayutthaya for when we return to Bangkok at the end of the month. This means we had no touristy things on our list to do and were free to wander about at our leisure. This is also something that we are getting to be quite accomplished at!

We probably did more walking than I should have, but the toe gets better every day, and it’s not particularly interesting to hang out in your hotel room every day.

The first day we headed down to Paragon and MBK (BIG malls). We wandered a bit, did some window shopping, picked out the Jimmy Choos I would buy if I could (electric blue… simply stunning!), and then headed over to the International food fair in MBK. I have been thinking about the Greek Salad since we were here last time. I was wondering if it just tasted so good last time we were here, because we had spent 3 months not eating fresh salads. Turns out that wasn’t the reason. It is seriously the best Greek Salad I’ve ever had… even better than Greece (go figure?). Who knew we’d come to Bangkok and one of my favourite things to eat would be Greek Salad?!?

The next day we did more wandering, ate more Greek Salad, did a little shopping (Steve bought only the second wallet of the whole trip… that’s restraint I tell you!), wandered some more and then headed home to rest.

Oh, I almost forgot we went to the movies today. We decided to see the Adjustment Bureau (the movie was okay, but not great). The movies here are cheap. It cost about $4.50 a piece to get in, and then about $6.00 for two big drinks and a giant popcorn. I’d come to the movies all the time if I lived here. The cheap price is not because the movie theatres are lacking any modern amenities. As a matter of fact, the seats were more plush, bigger and actually reclined a bit. Next time we are in Bangkok, Steve wants to check out the VIP theatres, apparently they are even better!

I was looking longingly at all the foot massage places. They are everywhere and so cheap! I hope my foot is better before we leave Thailand so we can get at least a few!

We didn’t buy too much when we were shopping although there seems to be so much we want to send home. We had heard it will be cheaper in Chiang Mai, where we are headed next. I suspect the next house will have an Asian-themed room, based on all the things we’re wanting to buy!

On the last day we wandered the street markets instead of the mall. We did more preview shopping to get a general idea of what we wanted and how much things cost, we admired the beautiful signs in the market (New Porno… It was wonderful… It was Great! It makes me giggle every time I see it!), and we found a nice little restaurant to eat lunch. While we were eating we met some people who were from Calgary… small world.

After lunch we headed out to see if we could find the post office. I was curious about whether you had to pre-package or if they had the supplies at the post office. (I suspect we’ll have a large box to send back home, by the end of our month in Thailand 😀) We didn’t find the post office…we just found a lot of hookers! In the middle of the afternoon… I wondered why I was getting weird looks when we first arrived in the area… but it turns out we were in an area that is popular for picking up bar girls…not walking with your wife.

Well that’s about it for our three days in Bangkok. Very laid back and relaxed. We didn’t even take any photos this time!

We are headed to Chiang Mai next which should have lots of interesting things to do and see!