Bangkok, Thailand 2008

My NESA teacher's conference was scheduled for April 5-7 and for the first time since I started attending the conferences away, the family would be joining me - Yay !

Day 1 -We arrive in Thailand

We arrived to a hot and humid Thailand early evening April 3rd and after waiting a while for our arranged transportation, we headed to our hotel. All sorted, we dropped the bags and took a walk down to the 7-11 to get some snacks and drinks for our room. Andre and the girls getting their first look at the streets of Bangkok hehehe We ended up having a late dinner on the terrace by the river. Didn't last long as we were all really hot and tired. Up to the room, washed and ready for bed, couldn't sleep because "our clocks" were saying 8pm, Bangkok clock said midnight :(

Day 2 - Free day to explore ...mostly

Bit of a sleep in, we headed down, thankfully still made breakfast out on the terrace which was still cool enough to enjoy.

After breakfast, first stop was at the Bossotel Inn, Lyn-La Spa - my favorite spot for foot massages ! Girls were a real handful, not knowing quite what to expect, giggled the entire time.

After this we headed on to the river to explore a bit.

First day done, I had to attend a meeting before Andre and I headed out to dinner at Cabbages & Condoms. We managed to pick up a bite to eat for the girls at McDonald's and the girls had their first ride in a Tuc-Tuc - think they enjoyed themselves hehehehe

This started out with our first trip on the SkyTrain and then a walk through some very crowded and busy streets. The restaurant is very interestingly decorated ;) Take a look at the link for a history and purpose.

We had an excellent evening with all the teachers from my school attending the conference. It was however cut short with a phonecall or three from Aimee missing us :( (The girls had stayed at the hotel with a babysitter). We quickly finished our meal and headed back.

Day 3 - Conference

Up the next morning, we dropped the girls off at child care before I headed off to my first day of conferencing and Andre headed off to find a spot to watch rugby. The girls had a ball, they had visited Safari World, and returned that evening exhausted. Andre had managed to watch The Sharks play The Hurricanes at a bar downtown called The Office.

We were scheduled to attend a welcome reception around the pool that evening but Aimee having had a difficult night the night before, I headed down on my own. As I arrived, I remembered they'd have an elephant there for photo ops so the family was called. Andre quickly got the girls dressed and they came down for a photo or two - the first time up close to an Asian elephant. The girls both got ON the elephant but because of the humidity, the camera misted up and those photos were blurred :(

Day 3 - Conference Day two of conferencing, the girls were headed to the Tiger Zoo where they were lucky enough to feed a baby tiger !

Back that evening and before they got too exhausted, we took a walk, passing through a local fleamarket, heading to the closest McDonalds. Can't visit Thailand without having a photo with their very special Ronald !

Day 4 - Conference

Day three of the conference, the girls headed off to Dream World amusement park. Thankfully Aimee agreed to having a babysitter this last evening. Pretty important as it was the closing dinner/dance for the conference and I did not want to have to go alone. It was under the condition that Andre would come back up to the room every 30minutes or so to check on them though. Not such a late night for us because we would be leaving the hotel at 7am for our first day of tours. We had used the conference travel agent Niche Travel to arrange tours for the two extra days we'd be staying in Thailand after the conference.

Day 5- Tour 1 - Bridge on the River Kwai & Tiger Temple

It was a two hour drive out of Bangkok during which time we all had a chance to sleep after our early wake-up call. We stopped at the JEATH war museum and our guide "Pepsi" gave us a bit of background while we looked through the photos and articles.

We then took a long-tail boat ride first down and then up the river, finally ending up at the actual bridge (the wooden one no longer being there). After our walk on the bridge and a few photos, we headed off to the SaiYok Elephant Park.

Not part of our itinery but we had time and it was definitely an interesting experience. The elephant Aimee and I were riding was very interested in getting as close to the edge of the river bank to snack as possible - this of course freaked Aimee out as she was convinced we'd end up IN the river - don't think her shrieks each time the elephant moved helped matters hehehe. Our 'riders' were definitely snap happy and thoroughly enjoyed holding our cameras to photograph us as we strolled through the forest before entering the water for a quick 'swim' . We then enjoyed a quick show, Aimee received a "massage" from an elephant and the girls both got to feed the baby. Of course we pointed out how well behaved the elephant was because as soon as he finished his bottle of milk, he walked over to throw the bottle in the garbage basket hehehe. After this we headed off for a Thai buffet lunch at a local restaurant on the Death Railway.

We entered the Kra Sae caves alongside and Pepsi gave us a background about the local people who would have lived in the caves long ago and thus the purpose of the Buddha that was inside the entrance. After a stroll through the market, purchase of a fan each for the girls and an ice-cream to try and combat the heat, we headed to our main attraction, The Tiger Temple. We had been told before the trip that we should make sure to wear dark or light colored clothing, just NO red or bright colors. We had not been told anything about the length or style of shirt so of course when we arrived, I had to purchase a new shirt because the sleeveless top I had on was not suitable. After entering, we had a walk through the temple grounds to the canyon where the adult tigers are kept during the day. We joined the queue for the general photo, only because we didn't have enough cash on us to do the "photo of a tiger's head in your lap" and some souvenirs for each of us and well it's all or nothing so ...We stood in line and waited silently for a volunteer to fetch each of us to walk among the tigers and pose for a photo or six.

Lucy was first and was taken directly to the first tiger who was lazing on his back. "The Monk" decided she should sit on his belly and directed the volunteers to put her there. Everything is done in gestures or very low whispers as no one wants to alarm or startle the tigers. Aimee was then taken and had several photos with various tigers, including one where she is "spooning" with a tiger. She gave "The Monk" a great laugh as she jumped when the tiger moved. It was after this that Lucy realised just how upset she was that she only had a photo with one tiger. We assured her this was because she was younger and the people didn't want small children wandering around the tigers for too long. After we'd all had our thrills, we walked over to the cubs - just too adorable ! One of the volunteers mentioned that they have an option for people wanting to volunteer for a day to basically come and tire the cubs out during the morning, play with them until the temple is open to the public and then walk the adults down to the canyon at 1pm. During the walk back and out, we walked through the area containing the wild deer, pigs, cattle, birds and water buffalo. An altogether AWESOME experience. We were now well and truly experienced out and headed back to Bangkok and the hotel.

Day 6 - Tour 2 - Grand Palace & Emerald Buddha

Pepsi arrived to pick us up at 8:30am and we headed through town. We went through the area called China Town, obvious with all the red and Chinese symbols. This area was created for all the Thai Chinese people who were originally settled in the area where the Grand Palace is located. There was a flower market filled with local and imported flowers, absolutely breathtaking. Pepsi told us it was open 24hours a day so there is no excuse for not getting flowers for a special occasion if you live in Bangkok hehehe. As soon as we exited the car at the Grand Palace we were bombarded with street vendors selling umbrellas, hats, fans, prints and more. We had already come prepared with hats for the girls and Andre but bought two umbrellas and headed inside.

It was teeming with people, many in black to which Pepsi explained that the king's sister had died on January 2 of this year and the mourning period of 100 days was coming to an end and people were visiting to pay respects. The Thai new year would also be celebrated starting on Sunday April 12 and the King would be visiting to change the Emerald Buddha's golden robes. He is in fact a single piece of jade but because of his coloring he became known as the Emerald Buddha. He has three different golden robes, and is changed according to the three seasons experienced in Thailand - Winter, Rainy/Wet and Summer. The visit to the Grand Palace and to view the Buddha was inspirational, the opulent decoration, the intricate and amazing workmanship were just awesome. We left to relax at the hotel, quick swim and then Andre had a snooze while the girls and I went for one last foot massage.

They actually fell asleep this time hehehe. It was to be a late night as we were going to the Thailand Cultural Center to watch a show. We headed out on the girls' first experience of the SkyTrain.

Before we headed to the theater, which would include a ride on the underground too, we stopped at a handicraft store to do some last minute shopping. While walking there, I managed to twist my ankle rather well and to top that when we got to the building we discovered it was scheduled for demolition ! A very helpful gentleman in an adjoining hotel told us where we could find some of the stores that had been inside the building and we headed off in that direction. A quick walk through and some souvenir t-shirts, we headed back to the SkyTrain and off in the direction of the theater. Siam Niramit was amazing. You enter the Cultural Center, greeted with an orchid and a traditionally dressed lady posed for a photo with each of us.

There are elephant rides - we didn't opt for this after having done it the day before but we did stroll through the village they have created.

The village is full of local people busy with traditional activities, like cooking - so you have taste testing throughout, massage, weaving, mask-making etc. After our walk through, we relaxed in the main courtyard to watch some dancing and posed for photos with some of the characters from the show. And then the show - WOW !!! They have a real river on stage - an actor actually jumps in for a dip in one scene and when the elephants bring the King and Queen in in a scene, they're real elephants ! The stage is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records. We were all glued as the scenes changed and actors moved through the audience, the amazing costumes and special effects. The last act is interactive - Andre sitting in the aisle had his hands washed - which would have been part of the SongKran festival celebrations and the girls were invited to the stage to reenact Loy Krathong (Festival of Floating Bowls). We were absolutely finished by time we returned to the hotel - close to 11pm. Andre still dashed down to McD to grab something for us to eat as we hadn't had a chance. Thus it was close to midnight before we turned the lights out after our fun filled last day in Bangkok. Absolutely amazing trip both professionally for me and personally as a family and that's where it ended. We arrived back to find all of our luggage had been lost ! Andre picked everything up at the airport today, thankfully all in tact and it was just an inconvenience for 2 days. Back to being able to charge cellphones and laptops, guess it means we can't hide anymore and we have to get back to reality hehehe.