4 December 2015 - Ice skating in Bangkok!!l

We are waking up early due to jet lag and also that's just what you do in the tropics. According to the weather prediction, we were due to have rain by 10 AM and when it rains in Bangkok, it pours.  This helped us plan our day a bit as we wanted to do most of our walking while the weather was fine.

Benchasiri Park

Train tracks and market, side by side

The kids and I decided that it would be a good day for ice skating which was another one of our "have to do" pilgrimages in Bangkok.  The indoor skating rink is on the third floor of Central World shopping plaza and for 260 Baht each, the kids got 90 minutes skating with only one or two other skaters to share the rink with.  A lovely coolish activity to do out of the humidity and heat.

It is about 7 kms to walk there, so we paced ourselves and enjoyed ambling along catching the shade where we could.  Walking is always good to discover the places you didn't know existed!  We noted that the prices of massages increased as we neared the end of Sukhamvit Road and made note of where the local cheaper massages are.  We don't want to walk for miles for a massage as by the time you get back, all the benefits of the massage have worn off!

I've never quite understood why snowy themes even rate a mention in Thailand!

999 elephants - some sort of campaign

 

Ice skating with "Sealie"

Bangkok's "winter wonderland"

Painting with coffee!

After ice skating we had a quick detour to Big C to buy some more elephant pants for Annika who had ripped hers quite severely ... it was one of those HAVE to replace the trousers NOW situations!   We bargained with the lady and got 3 pairs for 500 Baht.

Don't fear the unknown...go travelling for a year with three kids!!

Aww!

Own your strangeness - good advice!

More snowy themes...and one doesn't even feel like chocolate in the heat!!

On to the Pantip Plaza which was not too far but through very crowded streets.  We have noted that although the paths are often in poor repair, they are swept and washed often, unlike Rome's footpaths and gutters which were always full of rubbish and dog poo.  The traffic, whilst crazy here, really isn't much worse than the traffic in Rome!   Just like in Rome, you take a deep breath and step out to cross the road and at least in Bangkok, there are often pedestrian overpasses.  In neither city would I like to be pushing a child around in a stroller or ride a bike  or be elderly with a walking aide!

TRAFFIC!!!

Pantip Plaza is a HUGE 5 or 6 level market of computer and technology goods, cheap DVD's and CD's and everything you'd ever need as far as technology goes...even Segways!  We had a great time browsing and walking up and down the static escalators - saved us looking for the up or the down escalator as they were just used as staircases!

Pantip Plaza!!

DVD stall!

Hover board!

Hover board, like a Segway without a handle!

Train driver!

Home on the train after a quick pilgrimage to Amarin Centre only to find our favourite Bubble Cup place wasn't open today.  And the 10 AM rain still hadn't poured down by the early evening!  So much for following the weatherman!

Street art

Plan for the evening: Dinner with the help of the new rice cooker which our hosts dropped off for us...and then swim in the pool in the balmy Bangkok air...and eat fresh pineapple and dragon fruit for refreshment!

P.S. Plan accomplished!

3 December 2015 - A pilgrimage in Bangkok!

Feeling foggy, I dragged myself out of bed, willing myself to enjoy Bangkok.  We are not here for long this time and there are places we want to re-visit and things we want to enjoy again.  As Annika said, it was like a pilgrimage more than a reconnaissance mission!

Coconut drinking!

We set off down the road, calling into our local market on the way for important things like coconut milk straight from a coconut and pork on a stick and other things that remind us of our time here almost a year ago.

Ah! Back in Thailand

Street topiary

We had a vague plan for the day of walking but ended up extending the distance somewhat, stopping several times to buy water and refreshments.  There was little shade as we sauntered along the main roads until we reached the famous wet market and turned in there.  The wet market is wet:  it has a constant amount of water being sprayed about to clean the paths and to keep the various creatures alive (sort of) and moist.  It would be awful on a rainy day as it would be drippy as well as soggy so to speak.  The water did have the effect of slight evaporative cooling as we carefully stepped between the stalls.  Luke was particularly fascinated, as usual, by all the live/half dead fish, eels, frogs and turtles and sundry other meat.  I wasn't as eager as he was to stop as each stall to check out their particular animals and the big kids had had enough of all the meaty fishy smell.

Frogs!

More frogs

Not pets, I fear!

Squirming eels

Wet market with extras!

Pigs' heads

Annika and I had been to this wet market on our "Cooking with Poo" experience last time and were keen to find the sticky rice and mango lady we had visited.  With a little bit of asking and our memories we did find her and bought 3 bags of the delicious freshly cooked rice with accompanying coconut milk and 2 mangoes to serve it with (210 Baht - $8.50). 

Ah...sticky rice and mango

Tuk tuks

Banana pancakes

As Lumpini Park wasn't too far away we decided to continue on our way.  The kids were more than thrilled when we saw a pancake/roti cart and they were able to tick another "Thailand" re-visit "have-to-do" off their lists: banana pancakes!

In Lumpini Park we saw the familiar landmarks and giant water monitor lizards and cats in "Cat Alley" and other things of interest which we remembered.

Familiar fauna at Lumpini  Park

Orchids

Yeah! Lumpini Park

Little temple - bomb site earlier in 2015

From there, it was down our "old" street, Soi Lang Suan, past our "old" apartment and on to Chit Lom Road.  We walked past the little temple on the corner near Center World which had sadly been bombed since our visit.  There was no sign of damage now but we did give a thought to those who would have been killed or injured, mostly the passersby or the Thai stall holders who eke out a meagre living, minding their own business on the streets selling floral wreaths for the temple.

In Italy it was pasta and here it is rice!!  The choice is unlimited!

At this stage, Tim decided he'd go in hunt of a technology market, which he did find and bought what he wanted and returned late, exhausted.  The rest of us, cruised through Big C and bought supplies.  Luke, Annika and I took the Sky Train home with the heavy shopping, called into our local market for some veggies and sunk into our seats with plenty of cold water once we got home.

Mmmmm, not sure how PMT and "hourglass (figures)" go together!

Mango and sticky rice a la Annika

After a serving of mango and sticky rice, we felt revived!! We headed straight to the pool where we were joined before long by Tim and it was so relaxing and refreshing.  Then the tropical rain storm rumbled into action and cleared the air a little.  Most of the pool is covered but it was time to go back to our  apartment and cook a bit of dinner.

2 December 2015 - Arrival in Bangkok and all is familiar!

When this day officially started I have no idea as with time zone changes and flying, it can never be certain! But 2 December 2015, came and went in a jet-laggy exhausted blur and there are a few things to note.

Our transfer from one Air Sri Lanka plane to another at Colombo was fine with only 60 minutes between flights and even though we merely swapped gates we still had to go through security again and take off shoes and belts and everything and repack our day packs.  Joy, oh joy!

We all tried to watch movies on this leg of our flight but we were all so dozy that I am not sure if we got the whole gist of the movies we saw and it was also a bit disruptive with passenger  announcements in not only Singhalese or Tamil and English but also Chinese as the flight was continuing to China. When languages totally unfamiliar are spoken, I find myself a bit irritated as I can't even try to decipher what they are saying. If it is in French or German or some other vaguely familiar European language, I sort of enjoy my "self" challenge to follow the announcement, but in Singhalese or Tamil and Chinese, I have no hope!

Colombo, Sri Lanka - our plane from Rome to Colombo

Colombo airport!  Luke wearing all his coats he needed in Rome to save carrying them rolled up under his arm!

Lounging back - semi conscious!

Tim showed me that the head rests can be molded to fit your head - Go Tim!

When we landed in Bangkok, everyone clapped for some reason!  The service was nice and the landing smooth, so maybe that was why!  It was slowish going through passport control but all our baggage had arrived and we were on our way before long, on the familiar Bangkok trains passing familiar stations.  It was great to be back in Bangkok and the kids were excitedly looking forward to their favourite things!

 

Close to the top of the list was Bubble Cup with large tapioca balls and before we even switched to the Sky Train, we tucked into our first Bubble Cups of this stay in Bangkok. 

Bubble Cups !

The air conditioned trains were very welcome as the humid heat of Bangkok's 35 C hit us as we knew it would - with a slam - after cool, sunny Rome.  In no time we were back in familiar districts and to our station, Ekkamai.  We found our accommodation with little trouble but although we didn't have to walk more than 500 metres, I for one, found it exhausting.

Once inside the apartment, with cooling in full swing, we caught our breath and guzzled cold water and rehydrated ourselves. Ah! It is a nice apartment, smaller than our last one, but enough room and two bathrooms and importantly a lovely swimming pool.

Bathroom

Main bedroom with window seat bed for Luke

Bunks for Tim and Annika

Kitchen

Loungeroom

We went out on a little reconnaissance to find local market and food and, as is fairly common in Bangkok, there was a market and food stalls very close by  as well as a 7-11 Store which we have come to expect in Thailand. There is nearly always a 7-11 Store per block if not more frequent!

It was fun buying the delicious Thai bananas and varieties of bok choy, little cucumbers and sticky rice which we remember from our last visit.

Looking down from our balcony.

But before dinner the kids and I headed straight for the pool which was, in one word, SENSATIONAL.

Our pool

Luke getting wet!

Resting on the water couches.

Spa time!

The kids tumbled into their beds early and were asleep in no time, even Luke!  I thought I'd be the same but no, my body clock had other ideas.

1 December 2015 - Arrivederci Roma!!

And so today, we finished the European leg of our year away.  We planned our itinerary to comply with Schengen regulations as we are travelling on Australian passports.  It may have been easy enough to stay longer but I had enough running around prior to leaving Australia sorting out other visas that I wasn’t about to make more work for myself!  Back to the Schengen Zone, it is basically Western Europe and as Australian passport holders, we are permitted to stay 90 days in the Schengen Zone out of 180 days with no visas.  In UK, as Australians we are permitted to stay for 6 months without a visa and we were grilled fairly thoroughly, but nicely, when we entered UK back in May this year. Anyway, suffice to say, we were on the cusp of our Schengen welcome, with a day to spare, as we left Europe!

A quick trip to our local supermarket, Conad, for lunch supplies and a clean and tidy of the apartment and we were out the door, on time, at 10 AM!

Farewell Rome and nice cool weather!

 We left our Rome apartment in fine sunny weather and trundled along to Lepanto Metro where we took one train, before we changed lines to Line A, to take the second train of the day to Ostiense where we took the third train, the airport train, to Fuimicino Aeroporto.  This process took about two hours and all went smoothly.  Then came the bus part of our journey! Shuttle bus to Terminal 5, where we arrived at 12 MD only to find that this particular terminal doesn’t OPEN until 1 PM!!!  At this stage, my thoughts turned to the Tiger Airways terminal at Tullarmarine which is simply described as a shed!  Tiger Airways is OK for trips to Queensland but I didn’t fancy a super economy trip to Colombo, Sri Lanka to connect with our Bangkok flight!  It was noted that Air Sri Lanka partnered with a few other airlines including Malaysian Airlines which has not had a great reputation of late.

Only one more moving day after this one!

Notice on subway!

Waiting for airport train

Looking tired before the journey begins!

 We waited and ate the lunch items we’d bought at Conad which was just as well as we would have been a bit peckish without food!  The signs stuck on the wall were not too encouraging!

See what I mean about Terminal 5 - classy, eh?!

 Before long, we joined the throng, and checked in.  We pleased that our gear came in under the required weight but we were ASTONISHED at tiny little Sri Lankan women putting on 45 KG bags (or heavier) and arguing the point with the airline staff.  We were permitted 30 kgs each.  I did think that as two of the women who were trying to take heavy gear would have only weighed about 40 kgs each, then perhaps luggage plus person would equal a permissible combined weight!  And then we noted how much hand luggage many of our co-passengers were bringing on board to crowd out the overhead lockers!  We had a day pack each and many others had three!  I am still puzzled as to how this was permitted but we also saw it on Air Asia flying to India.  Jetstar would just not permit it!

Then we had the second bus ride of the day, another shuttle bus to another holding spot.  At this stage, I was really rather concerned about choosing the cheapest airfare!  AND yet another bus to take us to the plane!  So far, 3 trains and three buses!

 

On board, UL0582, great seats at the rear of the plane, close to the lovely stewards to ask for endless cups of water!

With trepidation we climbed up the rear steps of Air Sri Lanka UL 0582 and were pleasantly surprised!  Air Sri Lanka was fabulous!  The service was excellent, the food was delicious (although 3 main meals in a row was rather filling!) and the seats were comfortable and the toilets were clean! 

The sunset over the fairy floss clouds was a lovely display and as it was clear for much of the flight we could see cities and coasts of Arabic nations as we flew over them. 

 

Delicious fairy floss clouds!

We all watched a selection of movies and I am pleased to say that I enjoyed all of my choices: Mr Holmes, Should I stay? and Mission Impossible 5!  Luke was delighted that he finally got to see the Minions Movie.

Although I am never sure where a night flight blog should end, this may be a good spot!