Despite whatever misgivings and fears, my boy and I left for Bangkok early in the morning last Monday. I travel light and what is most important to me would be sufficient reading material to last me for five days. After my older boy dropped us at the Penang International Airport, I started suffering from my blog withdrawal symptoms. Fortunately, I could check my mail and access my blog via my pda but I could not blog or release comments. That is the reason why I was slow to respond to comments last week. My better half was given the task of releasing the comments and since he is a workaholic, he could only do so after work.
Upon arrival at the Suvarnabhumi Airport, I was absolutely appalled that the staff there had destroyed the retractable handle of my cabin bag. I found my way to the Air Asia Complaints Counter and almost collapsed from shock when the staff there told me that they could only compensate me with 200 bahts @ 20RM!!!! Mind you, it is quite a pricey cabin bag so I was absolutely miffed with the take-it-or-leave-it situation. The compensation was not even enough to pay for the 450 bahts cab fare to the hotel.
I thought the cab driver would have no problem finding the hotel. When I went to Hanoi three years ago, the cab driver took more than 30 minutes looking for the place and I seriously thought nothing would happen this time. I was so wrong.
Upon arrival at the Saladaeng district, the cab driver took me to a posh hotel and I told him that was not the hotel . After many detours and even more enquiries, he finally dropped us at the correct hotel, thirty minutes later. I made a mental note of finding the exact location of the hotel the next time I go for a holiday.
An old friend Philip had recommended the hotel and said that it was value for money. He was so right. To my relief, I enjoyed unlimited wi-fi access in my room. The lobby also had one computer for the guests to use and that was how I managed to respond to comments! I also enjoyed the 24 hour coffee bar and had more than my fair share of cappuccino, latte, mocha and expresso - enough to give me high blood pressure!!
Frankly, I am very impressed with Bangkok because of a few reasons:
* good infrastructure
* reliable Skytrain
* polite Thais - people actually queue up before going into the train and even when leaving
* cheap food, delicious
* excellent shopping - good range and cheap too!
* Thais have an eye for aesthetics
* I only saw ONE obese Thai the five days I was there
* beautiful packaging of products
The disadvantages:
* very polluted - I used my hand sanitizer to wipe my face, hands etc
* very congested
Other than that, Thailand is a much better place to live in than Malaysia because the cost of living is lower and it seems to be safer.
I am not a shopper and bought lots of stuff for my husband and boys. Surprisingly, when I came back, my luggage weighed 9kg and my son's bag was 10 kg!!!
One of the best moments was when I met up with my former student who is now a celebrity in Thailand. She took me for a lovely steamboat and we had a great time reminiscing.
En route home, I had to stay at Tune Hotel for a few hours. That was truly an unforgettable experience. While checking in, a gentle-looking Englishman went up to the receptionist and said softly, "Excuse me but my sink just fell off!" I could not believe my ears and shuddered to think of what the room would be like. Believe me - there was hardly any room for Nick and I to walk. After that experience, I decided that we would have been better off waiting in the departure lounge of LCCT! I cannot imagine that I actually paid 13rm for the air-conditioner!!! I refused to pay 5RM for the use of the hair-dryer. Everything was itemised and the final bill for the use of the room for 7 hours was 135RM!!! The only thing they provided was half a roll of toilet of paper and a floor mat. It was a good thing I had my own soap and towel with me. Even the paint was peeling from the ceiling of the bathroom! What a nightmare!
All in all, I am so glad to be home as it was a very tame and uneventful holiday safe for the shopping, visits to a few famous spots and loads of walking and eating. I slept for three solid days upon my return and have not really managed to get into the full swing of things yet - hopefully by tomorrow!
Anyway, the break did me a bit of good and also reminded me about how important is my blog!!! I made a few enemies at the hotel :-) cos another Singaporean and I were fighting over the hotel's pc :-). However, in the end, we parted on good terms :-). Lesson learnt - must travel with laptop next time!!!
Have a lovely evening, dear reader! Do share your tales about your holidays if you like.
Hafiz b Shukor Suffering from blog withdrawal symptoms?
Oh, I'm lost for words to describe how GREAT a blog addict you are!