Our trip to Bangkok and Phuket, Thailand

During the kids fall break from October 18-26, 2008 we took a trip to Thailand.  We spent a day in Bangkok and a week in Phuket.  The flight to Bangkok is about six hours from Tokyo.  The first photo is a picture of Bangkok from our hotel room.  You can see the Grand Palace, the official residence of the Kings of Thailand since the 18th century.

In Bangkok, we took a boat ride to the subway station from our hotel.  

Then we took the subway to the Weekend Market (love this subway sign that says to offer your seats to monks - you don't see that everyday).  This was by far the biggest market we've been to yet.  They sold everything from used clothing to animals (very sad actually). 

 It was very crowded and hot but a lot of fun.  This market is known for pickpockets so we saw a lot of the people wearing their backpacks on their fronts rather than their backs.  Thank goodness we brought our own tissues because here you have to pay to use the bathrooms and yes, you even had to pay for the toilet paper.  For lunch, we ended up buying some kind of mystery meat on a stick - and I say mystery meat because well, it was like nothing we had had before.  We ended up throwing two of them away after taking a bite (we really hope it wasn't dog!).   

 Toward the end of our shopping day we all sat down and enjoyed a leg and foot massage.  Maddie and Nathan loved it so much they almost fell asleep.  A 45 minute massage was about 200 baht (the name of the currency in Thailand) which is about $6.00 USD!  

On the way back to the hotel we decided it would be fun to take a tuk tuk (say the "u" like ooh as in "ooh, gross!").  Well, let's just say it was crazier than a ride from Disney World and that is not an exaggeration!  At first it was fun but after about 15 seconds of seriously thinking we were all going to die on this tuk tuk, we had the driver take us back to the boat instead of directly to the hotel.  As if it wasn't enough that he was weaving in and out of traffic at 30 miles an hour like a mad man, he actually popped a wheely taking off from a traffic light!  People in Thailand drive crazy - we couldn't understand the rules of the road.  Motorcycles and tuk tuks obviously, have no rules of the road!  We video taped our ride on our camcorder so when I transfer it over I'll post it so you can experience our wild ride.

The next day we left for Phuket, Thailand.  It was about an hour and a half plane ride from Bangkok.  We stayed at the Phuket Hilton Resort and Spa.  It was a beautiful hotel with three pools, waterfalls and slides.  Here is a picture looking onto Karon Beach from the balcony of our room.  I'd be lying if I said I didn't think of the Tsunami from 2004 while here.  Below there is even a Tsunami Evacuation sign.

Unfortunately, Madeline only got to enjoy one day of the water slides and beaches.  I'll tell you why later.

The first day we were there we played on 

Karon Beach near our hotel.  The water was a little rough but the kids had fun playing in the waves.  There was no swimming since the rip tide was so strong.  There was a lifeguard on duty telling people not to swim.  

The next day we took a speedboat out to the Phi Phi (said "pee pee" - giggle giggle) Islands to go island hopping.  They are stunning, huge mountain islands with trees.  James Bond Island is here where they filmed a James Bond movie.  They also filmed Leonardo DiCaprio's movie "The Beach" on one of the islands we went to.

On one of the islands there are wild monkeys.  We threw them watermelon and bananas from the boat.  

This island is called Viking Cave where guards actually live to protect the Swift Birds nests during harvesting season against robbers.  

Local residents will raid the cave to collect these nests which are made out of the male birds saliva.  They use these nests to make Bird's Nest Soup.  It is sold as a tonic for very high prices and is believed to promote growth.  These nests are high up on the ceilings of the caves and are dangerous to harvest.  The guards also protect these nests from snakes, eagles and natural predators.

We went snorkeling near a reef where the tour guide was throwing bread to the fish so we could swim through them.  Nathan took some good photos with his underwater camera (not pictured here).  After that we went to an island were we got to stand on the shore to feed the fish.  Who would have thought that fish love bananas?

  

The water was so clear in some sections that you could see the fish swimming and see clear to the bottom of the ocean floor.

Remember earlier I told you that Maddie only got to enjoy one day of the hotel pools and beaches?  We were all having a great time swimming in a little cove between the islands until Maddie was getting back into the boat and cut her knee, very deeply, on the engine propeller.  I knew right away it was deep enough for stitches.  

Thank goodness the hotel had a nurse on duty until midnight each day.  To make a very long story short, we opted (per Maddie's frantic tears and our fear of what the hospitals might be like in Thailand) to not get stitches.  Instead the nurse bandaged her cut with butterfly bandaids (not like we use in the USA).  I told Maddie that if she could keep her leg really straight and it healed without infection she wouldn't have to get stitches.  So, each night we would go back to the nurse before dinner and she would disinfect the wound and put on clean bandages.  I've never seen Maddie walk with her leg so straight for that entire week.  Thank goodness the wound healed perfectly with no stitches.  

So as a result, we had to plan some other excursions that didn't include water since Maddie couldn't get her knee wet for the week.

One of my favorite excursions was Elephant Trekking.  There is a place called Siam Safari that rescues elephants no longer needed to work in the logging industry.  They are the most gentle, amazing and HUGE creatures.  It was awesome touching one and being so close.  Here's some of our photos from that adventure.

I love the video of the elephants - so peaceful.  Throughout the forest where we went trekking with the elephants, there were a lot of rubber trees.  We went on a tour of how the Thai people tap the rubber from the trees and process it into rubber.  Our Mahout (the name of elephant trainers) stopped by a tree and pulled off some rubber for Maddie.  It starts as a liquid but he rubbed it in his hands and made it rubbery.  Here's the video of Maddie showing what it looks like.

Of course we did a lot of shopping.  One Thai baht was worth about 3 US dollars.  The note below is worth about 30 US dollars.

Since Maddie couldn't do any more water sports, we decided to have a girls day at the spa while Darren took Nathan to Patong Beach for some fun on the Wave Runner.  Nathan was thrilled.  Maddie and I on the other hand were very relaxed and ready for a nice nap after our spa treatments.  We began with manicure and pedicures and ended with an hour massage - each.  She loved it and cracked me up the entire time.  "Mom, do you have cucumbers on your eyes?"  "Mom, are you on your belly?  Can you see the flowers in the bowl?"  "Mom..."  She ended her day at the spa with a hair cut.

Here are some other fun photos from our trip.  Maddie getting a few strands of hair braided.

As I said earlier, people drive crazy in Thailand.  Motorbikes have no rules of the road.  It wasn't uncommon to see a mother riding with her babies on the bikes (see the baby at the front of the motorcycle?).

Look at the hodgepodge of wires.  It was like this all over Thailand.  You could reach up and touch some of those wires.

Nathan and Maddie next to the Phuket tuk tuk. Nice and calm compared to Bangkok tuk tuks.

Needless to say, we all want to go back again.



We just returned from our trip to Beijing, China so I'll try to blog about that soon.

Love to everyone!

Finally!

Okay, you can sit back in your chair now!  Yes, I am blogging!  This one is dedicated to Monica and Joy, my faithful blog readers.

September 12-15, 2008 Darren surprised the kids and me with a trip to Hong Kong to celebrate our 17th wedding anniversary (yes, we went with the kids, how could we not bring them to Hong Kong?).  It is about a four and a half hour flight from Tokyo to Hong Kong.  We couldn't get over the prices of things - so inexpensive - even more so than the USA.  We were in heaven!  The dollars used in Hong Kong are called Hong Kong Dollars and the exchange rate was about eight Hong Kong dollars for every one American dollar.  Here are some photos from the trip.

The views of the harbor were amazing, especially at night.  We were a little surprised by the amount of air pollution and smog though.

There were so many double decker busses.  Nathan loved them.  We counted (no exaggeration) over 125 just on our way from the airport to the hotel (about a 45 minute drive).  They don't have double decker buses in Tokyo.

We had a blast shopping at the Ladies Market.  It was hot but fun.  We had to be careful of pick pockets since they work the market.  They seemed to sell everything here and the dealers were ready to sell - trying to lure you into their lair!  Fun for us bargain shoppers!  

There is a famous shopping street in Hong Kong called Nathan Road.  Here is Nathan on "his" road.  We bought him a sign that says Nathan Road for his bedroom.

We took a double decker bus up to the Stanley Market.  The drive up the mountain side was very scenic.  The bus ride itself was interesting - curvy and narrow and the bus driver driving like a crazy man!  I did manage to snap this shot.  Despite the smog, it is beautiful.

This is Stanley Market.  It was even better than the Ladies Market.  We had our names written in Chinese here and had it framed.

You'll have to click on this photo to read the words.  Never heard of that before!  Another sign said that wax burning is an offense so don't get burned. 

 

We went to Toys R Us while in Hong Kong.  It was so great to see so many toys at an affordable price!  The kids seem to have Christmas every time we go to another country.  They love it of course.  At first look, this is the most expensive Little Pet Shop toy I've ever seen!  It's actually about 25 US dollars (still a little pricey).  

We took the train a few times while we were there.  The subway consists of two tracks basically - night and day from the spaghetti tracks of the Tokyo subway system.   There is very limited seating as well, with most everybody standing.  If this was Tokyo, most every person would be wearing their dress clothes, heels, etc.  It was refreshing to see people wearing casual clothing.  Although, I have to admit, it was nice coming back and seeing people dressed really nice again.  Oh no, I think I'm turning Japanese!!!!   

We met our friends the Walkey's while there.  They moved to Hong Kong from the USA shortly before we came to visit.  Johnathan was in my Kindergarten class a few years ago.  We went to the Mid-Autumn Festival together (also known as the Moon Festival or Lantern Festival).  During the festival, people celebrate by carrying lit lanterns around and admiring the full moon.  I bought the kids fish lanterns but we forgot them at the hotel.  Maddie uses hers as a night light in her room now.

Before we left for the festival, we went to the Walkey's apartment for moon cakes.  Not like the moon cakes we grew up with in the USA.  These are sweet cakes made from ground lotus and sesame seed paste and egg-yolk.  They were, well, interesting.  

We had a fun stay in Hong Kong and it was great catching up with friends.  The night before we left we went to the grocery store and stocked up on cereal that they sell in the USA.  That is probably the one thing I miss the most is cereal choices.  Since the Japanese aren't big cereal eaters, there isn't a lot of cereal here.  Plus, the prices for a box of Kashi here is about $8.00 US.  

I'll update "soon" about our trip to Thailand (Bangkok and Phuket).  We're off to Beijing, China this coming week for the kids' short winter break.