Returned to Bangkok for the 2nd time with pretty much the same agenda - shopping & tennis! This time, Marat Safin is playing, yesssss!!
Booked for the trip ages ago yet almost didn't go due to the coup. Finally got mom's greenlight to go like 18 hours before flight time so it was a frantic dash to sort things out like changing money and packing. Left for Bangkok on the 4th day after the coup - luckily nothing out of the ordinary happened. Came back from the new airport, Suvarnabhumi - on the official opening day too.
Huge airport! Unfortunately, it was narrow and long, hence I had to walk for ages that my feet hurt. No walkalator, of course. No signage to show which direction our gates were at too. And when we asked the people who worked there, of course, they didnt speak English, and didnt know ;)
The new airport seemed nearer to town, or maybe our hotel is nearer to the main road leading to the airport, who knows. The airport was totally packed with locals checking out the airport and getting first day postage stamps and postcards postmarked with the airport's name. They bought them by the dozens so I had to wait for quite awhile before it was my turn to use the rubber stamps.
It was fasting month during our trip and our 2nd day in Thailand was the start of the fasting month. Fasting while at Jatujak Market under the hot sun was quite tough! Esp. as everyone else was having iced drinks and ice cream ;)
When I first arrived in Bangkok last year, the one thing that immediately caught my eye was how Bangkok has a lot of shopping malls yet are still building new ones! The Siam Paragorn was under construction last year and now it's open. Went for a look and damn it is expensive! And of course, an even bigger mall (Central World) is under construction!!
This time round, everyone was wearing yellow shirts - turns out it's their King's 60th anniversary as a monarch so they wear yellow on Tuesdays - the day the King was born. Of course, they wear it on other days as well. And the King's 70th (iirc) bday is in Dec so they'll be wearing those yellow shirts till the end of the year. How I admire the Thais love for their King. If it was not for him, who knows what would've happened during the coup.
Planned to go to Ayuthaya this trip but didn't get round to it as we went to Pattaya. Can't say I like Pattaya that much but I thorougly enjoyed the watersports. Parasailing there was dirt cheap. Can't believe I still tried the ski thing while being tied to the boat, even tho I haven't been to gym for months. My arms & leg were killing me after 2 rounds. The banana boat which I went on next was a much better choice hehe. Best part being getting dumped in the water 3x :)
FINALLY tried Thai Massage after much cajoling from the other girls. I like it a lot actually.
Next year will definitely try to go to Ayuthaya, and if time permits - Chiengmai. If we dont get sidetracked with the shopping, of course!
