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This Week In The Loft

Thailand Day 6 – And the Rain Came


Well here we are in Phuket.  To be more precise…  Kata Beach.  We are staying at the beautiful Mom Tri’s Boathouse.  I chose this place because it is located right on the sands of Kata Beach.   One of only 2 hotels that rest on the sand.   They also offer a serviced beach.   This means that they provide the lounges, towels, umbrellas etc, and also bring you drinks etc on the beach.  It’s all pretty cool.    But not today.   Today Phuket had the most rain it has had all year.  After exploring the beach and Kata itself the skies opened and it poured with rain…  almost all day.  So we jumped a ride with a lady in her nice 4WD into Patong for 400 Baht.  We went in to do a little shopping and escape the rain.   The roads in Patong had turned into rivers because the drains were all blocked so we had to jump from the car to the kerbside to escape a possible drowning.
Patong is very busy and touristy.  I’m glad we didn’t stay here.  The people selling stuff here are also very pushy.  We bought 2 umbrellas for $20.   One of them broke within 5 minutes of buying it.   The shopping may be great, but the quality of a lot of the cheap items we are buying is very questionable.   I could see straight through Frank’s $5 Billabong boardshorts as soon as they got wet.
I hope this rain goes away.  Kata Mama’s Seafood is keeping us well fed each night for under $10 (for both of us).  The food there is amazing!  Oh…   and the cocktails here are amazing!   Everything is made with fresh fruit.   We are getting used to Kata Beach very quickly.

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Thailand Day 5 – Travel Day


Today we said goodbye to the Park Plaza Hotel with our taxi driver Willie taking us to the airport. It was another travel day for our flight over to Phuket. This time we flew Air Asia. the deal with them was that we have our bags under 15 kilos. Well from more shopping yesterday after we had already sent things home we managed to go over it together by 8 kilos. Not a problem as we paid the excess and they gave us our little Xpress Boarding sticker to get on the plane. We got there a couple hours early so we had some lunch and had a wonder around the duty free. Im always impressed at how Phillip manages to find the most unusual things, like the chocolate colon buskits.
I have to say our flight over with Air Asia was pretty good. It was my first time sitting right at the front of the plane as we got on first. The in flight menu had things like two minute noodles and Pad Thai, but we took off and arrived in about 40 minutes. It was really quick!
At Phuket International there was a line up of taxi drivers all waiting to get their fare. It took about an hour to get to our Hotel, but there was so much to see along the way. Phuket reminds me a little of Byron Bay back home but less touristy. We arrived at Mom Tri’s Boathouse on Kata beach (yes it is literally on the beach) and we were welcomed with a cocktail in the restaurant which over looks the beach and the island. After that we were taken to our room which reminds me of a little bungalow filled with Thai wooden furniture and a little balcony overlooking the pool and beach.
Time to go for a walk along the beach , but it started to rain so we decided to have another cocktail and wait for the shower to pass. This is where I saw my first sunset over the ocean. Picture perfect and something I will never forget. Dinner was at Mammas Seafood restaurant next door to the hotel. So cheap but so so tasty! After food and a beer which made us a little more relaxed than we already were, we headed around the streets for a walk, where there are heaps more shops and people to get you to buying a suit.
This place is truly amazing. Im so looking forward to going for a swim in the warm ocean. Ahh… winter? what was that again?

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This Week In The Loft

Thailand Day 4 – Steamy Bangkok


Today is our last full day in Bangkok.  A little bit of a chore day.  We woke up late and headed down to the hotel’s buffet breakfast.  They put on a great spread of hot and cold foods and will cook eggs up in front of you any way you like.  And the service is so friendly!  The hotel is just 9 months old.  So everything is bright and shiny new.
We headed to the post office and sent home 8 kilos of clothes and shoes that we no longer had room for.  The airlines have strict weight rules for our bags.  It cost something like $100 to send the 3 boxes home.
Then it was time to get out of the heat of the middle of the day.   We headed back down to Siam Square to eat at the Siam Paragon and have a little shop around.   Frank bought more DVDs and I grabbed some more jeans (GStar knock offs)…   no one will ever know that they cost me 20 bucks.   We also ate some amazing food today.   Crepes, icecreams, pastries, pad thai, pizzas and curries.   We ate a lot!   And it was all so good!

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This Week In The Loft

Thailand Day 3 – Seiko inside!


It’s time to become a real tourist and see some of the sights of Bangkok today.  We headed out early to beat the heat and the crowds.  It raining slightly all morning so that helped keep things a little cooler.  We caught the Skytrain all the way to the main ferry wharf.   The ferry ride down the murky  Mae Nam Chao Phraya river to the Grand Palace.  We wore our own long pants this time so we didn’t have to rent a pair.  And then we grabbed a tuk tuk ride over to Wat Po to see the massive reclining buddha.   We got very lost afterwards and eventually a tuk tuk driver came to our rescue.
Back at the hotel we settled into the swimming pool and learnt that Thai law does not allow our hotel to serve margharettas before 5pm.   After a couple of hours swimming and resting we headed down to the Pratnum area.  We did some more shopping and then headed to the Pratnum market.  They had started closing as we arrived.  So a young tuk tuk driver took us on one of the wildest rides of our lives across Bangkok to the massive night market in Silom.  Along the way he offered us places to eat, girls to meet and shows to see.   It was all VERY funny while trying to hold on for our dear lives as he darted in out of the traffic.   The night market was enormous.  I don’t even think we saw a quarter of it before we were too worn out to walk anymore.   Then came our wildest tuk tuk ride of all.   The young guy driving took off across 4 lanes off a busy road to cross to the correct side.  And then at the traffic lights he popped a wheelie with Frank and I and all our shopping in the big.  He took us at break neck speed all the way back to our hotel.   And the funniest part…  as he pulled in to our posh hotel’s forecourt in front of the doorman he pulled on the breaks and skidded to a stop.    Well after we finished laughing we eventually got out and checked to see what shopping we migt have lost along the way.   We have made a few videos during the trip so far so I’ll try and pop those up on YouTube soon.
NOTE:  For those concerned about the political trouble and the current state of emergency in Bangkok.   We are being very careful to stay away from the trouble hot spots.   The hotel staff have been very helpful.  Bangkok is a huge city.  While the problems may not be far away, it seems the rest of the city is going on as normal.

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Thailand Day 2 – We have your size!


We all settled into our new home now and ready to explore Bangkok.   What better way to start then with  Skytrain ride down to Siam to do some shopping.  The Siam Paragon Centre food court is amazing!   This would have to be the most amazing food court we have ever seen.   All of the food looks delicious and they are cooking everything fresh in front of you.   We also checked out the Siam Centre where we bought up all the Cons trainers and then Siam Discovery.    After lunch we headed over to the incredibly massive MBK centre.   Let’s go shopping!   We only managed to see 4 of the 6 floors here because they are so huge.   We bought loads of t-shirts, jeans, sunglasses, DVDs, and boardshorts.   After spending 10 hours shopping we only managed to spend less than $200.  The best part of the day was getting our hour long foot massage…   which strangely extended to the legs, back and neck.   I felt like jelly afterwards and give me my second win to shop some more.  I was tempted to get a tattoo while I was there, but then I was reminded that I wouldn’t be able to swim for a few days.
I’m so tired right now.  Only slept a few hours on the first night after getting in from our flight at 2am.

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This Week In The Loft

Thailand – Day 1


Sunday was flying day.  I got up early and fnished packing.   My brother was going to drive me to the airport.  I grabbed a Qantas flight to Sydney where I would meet Frank at the international terminal there and make sure we get seats together on the BA flght to Bangkok.   We walked around the shops in a bit of a daze before heading to the Qantas Club for some free food and drinks.  The BA fligt itself was okay.  The plane was a little  old.   I don’t think the British Airways service is as good as Qantas.  Strangely the Qantas flight going to Bangkok on the same day was about $500 more expensive.  Well we watched movies, chatted, ate and drank for all the 9 1/2 hours to Bangkok.   Even though there was some political turmoil in Thailand the flights were all still full.
I should mention our taxi ride from the airport into Bangkok.  The driver was crazy!  Twice he stopped on the side of the road and once he actually walked out into the oncoming traffic for no reason at all!  And we had a very close call with 2 B-double trucks.
Our hotel is less than 1 year old and really nice.   It has a great little bathroom, freezing aircon, and a beautiful rooftop swimming pool.   It’s right next to the Asoke Skytrain.   Though we have worked out that Tuk Tuks and taxis are quicker to get around in.