To me, there is no place like home. My friends and blog readers would know what a blog addict I am. The thought of taking a holiday WITHOUT my laptop raised my blood pressure for almost a week before I left for my holiday with my boy last week. My close friends said time away from my blog would be good for me but I begged to differ.
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.
There is something I have observed for as long as I remember - MeN aRe JuST HaPPieR PeoPLe. I know some ladies might be throwing rotten tomatoes at me...but with due respect, much as I hate to admit it, it is true that men are just happier because of the way they look at life, themselves and others. Here are some examples...Thanks to dearest Angela for sending me this list via email. Have a great start to the week everyone and may your day be filled with laughter, joy and happiness.
NICKNAMES
If Laura, Kate and Sarah go out for lunch, they will call each other Laura, Kate and Sarah. If Mike, Dave and John go out, they will affectionately refer to each other as Fat Boy, Godzilla and Four-eyes.
EATING OUT
When the bill arrives, Mike, Dave and John will each throw in $20, even though it's only for $32.50. None of them will have anything smaller and none will actually admit they want change back.
When the girls get their bill, out come the pocket calculators.
MONEY
A man will pay $2 for a $1 item he needs. A woman will pay $1 for a $2 item that she
doesn't need but it's on sale.
BATHROOMS
A man has seven items in his bathroom: toothbrush and toothpaste, shaving cream, razor, a bar of soap, shampoo and a towel. The average number of items in the typical
woman's bathroom is 337. A man would not be able to identify more than 20 of these items.
ARGUMENTS
A woman has the last word in any argument. Anything a man says after that is the beginning of a new argument.
FUTURE
A woman worries about the future until she gets a husband. A man never worries about the future until he gets a wife.
SUCCESS
A successful man is one who makes more money than his wife can spend. A successful woman is one who can find such a man.
MARRIAGE
A woman marries a man expecting he will change, but he doesn't. A man marries a woman expecting that she won't change, but she does.
DRESSING UP
A woman will dress up to go shopping, water the plants, empty the trash, answer the phone, read a book, and get the mail. A man will dress up for weddings and funerals.
NATURAL
Men wake up as good-looking as they went to bed. Women somehow deteriorate during the night.
OFFSPRING
Ah, children. A woman knows all about her children. She knows about dentist appointments and romances, best friends, favourite foods, secret fears and hopes and dreams. A man is vaguely aware of some short people living in the house.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
A married man should forget his mistakes. There's no use in two people remembering the same thing!
SO, send this to the women who have a sense of humor and who can handle it... and to the men who will enjoy reading it.
