We began the time in the Thai capital Bangkok, a pulsing mass of steel and concrete, traffic clogged arteries below Sky trains purring overhead, and a constant cloying and sapping heat. The conditions are relieved at regular intervals by another gigantic and salubrious air-conditioned shopping mall, full of designer gear which is copied and sold at a 100th of the price by the hawkers sweating on the footpaths just outside.
Our hotel, the Park Plaza was a hidden gem just off Sukhumvit, with a spacious, well appointed corner room offering a stunning view of the city, a rooftop pool to relieve the heat and an amazing breakfast along with coffee, tea and snacks all day. We ventured from here to various points in the city via the conveniently close Asoke sky train station, taxi and even tuk-tuk. Most of the time however, being so conveniently located, we braved the din and the sweat and walked.
First stop, the esteemed Empire Tailors, where I was measured up for a bespoke 3 piece suit of the finest wool/cashmere mix along with two bespoke Egyptian cotton, cuffed shirts. What an exceptional "shopping" experience this was, coming from a life-long committed non-shopper. Service and knowledge at the fore, Sunny and his calm team made the first of three measuring sessions to produce what is an amazing product...I reckon it has achieved a pretty remarkable feat of even making me look good!
Of course the Thai food was paramount each day. We dabbled a little at breakfast, snacked on the local cuisine for lunch and went all out with multiple ethnic dishes of the realm at dinner time. Some of the meals we had were unforgettable: to the extent that the Thai restaurants we have here will fade in our estimation of their excellence after the fare we sampled in the homeland.
We travelled by taxi across the city to visit the twin attractions of the Grand Palace and surrounds as well as the reclining Buddha. After donning appropriate "leggings" to cover my offensively naked legs,we strolled with a crowd into the inner sanctums of the complex. Let it never be said that the Thais be outdone on covering their precious temples with gold: the dazzling spectacle that greeted us at every turn was retina achingly magnificent, if not more than a little over-the-top. It certainly provided us with some perfect photo opportunities..in fact I drained the camera's batteries taking shot after shot. We walked a long way (later, I realised the wrong way around!) to get to the Temple of the reclining Buddha. Apparently, the largest gold-covered Buddha in the world, it seemed like we were doing a mini "Super Buddhas of the World" tour, because we'd seen the largest wooden Buddha in the world just at Christmas time in Japan! Anyway, this guy was certainly a wondrous sight and the incredible oversized nature of the Buddha has to be seen to be believed.
On Saturday, we braved the seething hordes at one of the world's largest markets, Chatachuk Markets, to again experience the enormity of the place, mix with 200,000 other humans in a confined place under a hot tin roof, and perhaps secure a few bargains of Thai silk and others. After an intense train ride to the end of the line we were spat out to join the spawning salmon as we swam and jostled upstream, spilling off the narrow footpath onto the road and dodging a cacophonous tide of endlessly beeping, chaotic traffic all the way to the market entrance. Mercifully, at this point, the roads divided to many insertion points into the market proper, and while the tidal surge reversed to sweep us along, it was a lot easier to make a few adjustments to our pace. Inside, we made sure to replenish our water supply at regular intervals and we managed to secure a few trinkets, among them belts, pillow covers, t-shirts, ties and cuff links (for my new cuffed shirts!).
I had a special treat on Sunday when I visited the famous Ratchadamnoen Stadium, not only with front row ringside seat, but also to join the after party of one of the victorious boxers! Cass demurred on the opportunity, so I left her luxuriating in the opulence of the hotel to travel across town by tuk-tuk. Each bout was exciting, but no more so that when the only non-Thai boxer, an Aussie boy who had been raised in Thailand, knocked out one of the local favourites. After witnessing the frenetic betting of the men in the bleachers and the atmosphere as one fighter became more dominant against his opponent and the crowd whipped itself into a raucous frenzy, at the end of proceedings, I was invited to a bar to celebrate the young guy's win. Although he mainly had orange juice, his dad and other entourage proved to be willing and enthusiastic participants in an exciting bar crawl across the city...good fun!
Our hired car whisked us away for a three hour drive to Hua Hin at much the same time as Cassy's parents were doing exactly the same thing. We'd been working on a surprise for Cassy's birthday for some time, culminating in organising Chris and Val to come and stay at the same resort as for 5 days. After a few minor hiccups, I got Chris and Val to come across to our room as they'd arrived a couple of hours before us. The result can be seen in the video above or here! I don't think you can get a much better reaction than that! The subsequent five days were a lazy hazy crazy mix of eating fine cooked breakfast at a very decadent hour, lazing by the pool for the majority of the day before heading out each day for yet another superb dinner of the most mouthwatering Thai cuisine you could find. Cassy and i both had lots of time to sit and chat with her parents, and I think it was the most magical birthday for Cass. On her birthday itself, we ate at a restaurant overlooking the Gulf of Thailand, right on the beach, and relaxed from late afternoon through to the evening. Lights twinkled on boats in the gulf almost like a birthday cake emblazoned with candles and the fine food, wine and especially the company made it a night to remember. At the end of our time it was very difficult to wrench ourselves away and start the long journey back home: especially as Chris and Val were going back to Bangkok before traveling on to Chiang Mai!
I've subsequently celebrated my big birthday this weekend and it was marked by a small select gathering of the brethren at KGB (burger joint down town), before we did a bit of bar hopping around the city. I remember being in cabs for a great portion of the night, but perhaps that was an illusion! Gurecki left his camera somewhere, so I've volunteered to help retrace our steps this evening in a quest to find it. I'm sure there won't be anything on it quite like in the movie, "The Hangover", but we still want to find it! On the day itself, Mum rang up and I got dozens of well wishes via text, email and facebook from friends and family...it was really nice to see how many people wanted to celebrate the dawning of my old age (!) Oh, and as a little challenge I set myself, I also did 70 consecutive pushups just to show off...video evidence available soon!
Photos: two old people with their cards up top, before lots of Thailand photos. Also a slide show up top for a while, or here later on.