Bangkok

We went on a fantastic trip to Thailand last weekend and met up with Graham and Roseanna (Matt’s brother and girlfriend). After a 3 hour flight on an Airbus A330 (!) we arrived in Bangkok to a wall of heat. We haggled with a taxi driver who drove the 40 km to Bangkok city centre and dropped us off in backpacker central – Khaosan Road. We stayed in the Buddy Boutique Hotel which was very nicely decorated, according to the guidebook “the most stylish and expensive hotel in the area” and we were welcomed by elephants constructed out of towels. Cue photo opportunity!

For breakfast we tried the Khaosan Road, however this was not overly relaxing, almost like eating breakfast in a nightclub as the music bleared out. The road is lined with shops, bars and Tuk Tuk touts apparently willing to take you for “a one-hour tour of the city – 5 Baht each (10p)”. After rejecting this initial offer they reduced the price to 1 Baht each. As if the price was the issue! We were not fooled having heard various stories from friends about these dodgy characters so decided to explore the area on foot, eventually arrived at the Grand Palace. However, this was not without many warning from the locals “not open until 1pm, I can take you somewhere else before....” etc. Again, we thanked them but decided to try our luck at the Palace. Unsurprisingly, it was open however we had to don floor length skirts and trousers before being allowed into the Wat (monstery temple). We paid the 400BHT each to enter (free for Thai people) and explore the amazing Wat which glistened and shimmered.

We later visisted another Wat, Wat Po which was on a much smaller scale than Wat Phra Kaeo but as beautiful and much less crowded. Inside was the reclining Buddha which was massive!

The reclining Buddha

After a lunch of traditional Thai food we took a river boat along the Chao Phraya River back to our original starting point and headed to the roof top pool in our hotel which was a lovely, cool way to watch the sun setting. We should mention that we had to wade through the river (standing on the wooden benches which normally line the waterfront) to get on and off the boat.

Having freshened up, we ate in a restaurant on our road – being the adventurous people that we are - even ordering the exact same dishes. Unfortunately, it did not taste good. We made up for this by spending the evening in some bars around the area. We were entertained by stray dogs, frogs and a street entertainer.

Another activity we thought was a must while we were there was to see the canals up close and personal around other areas of the city. We boarded a boat at the Chao Phraya River which took us on a tour of the Thonburi Canals. The ride started out choppy and we flew along the river, bumpbing across the waves which was much larger than normal because of the flooding. Our guide directed us through the canals, passing by many houses and hotels on stilts, some had been flooded and people were desperately trying to make their houses more water tight. We did notice lizards and snakes swimming along the canal too.

After this we rested for half an hour, treating ourselves to very relaxing foot massages which almost sent us off to sleep.

We also managed to fit in a bit of shopping as you couldn’t leave Bangkok without having a shop at one of the many markets which lined the streets where you can buy anything and everything from clothing to food to sofas.

We turned to the guide book for a more inspiring dinner and we went to an amazing, posh restaurant in the business district of Bangkok.

Once at the restaurant we found it was very quiet but we had delicious Thai food and were presented our napkins in pyramid wooden boxes – very smart!

In Bangkok, it appears that if you want to get a cheap taxi ride, the driver is more than happy to oblige as long as he can stop off on the way to try and sell you some horrible tat at his friends shop.

This led to conversations like this:

“To Khaosan Road please”

“100 BHT, 2 stops”

“No, not stops. Put on the meter”

“No meter, 200 BHT one stop”

“No stop, meter”

“No meter, one stop”Etc etc

Or as Graham put it “meter, meter, meter, meter, meter, meter, meter, meter, meter, meter...”

We decided that we could not leave Bangkok without at least trying a Tuk Tuk ride so we bartered the price for a 10 minute journey.

Quickly we found a ride for 150BHT, no stops, but we were crushed into the back of a Tuk Tuk and had to lean round the corners for fear of toppling.

 

We then continued onto quite possibly the best bar in the world. The Sky Bar is located on the 64^th floor of the Lebua hotel and has views across the entire city. We attemped this trip once before dinner but the boys were informed they were not allowed in due to their attire. Roseanna and I on the other hand were appropriately dressed and took the opportunity to get some pictures at sun set.

 Our second attempt was much better and all four of us were allowed in. We were greeted by a jazz band playing out to the entire bar before them. The bar itself was on a ledge which came away from the hotel itself and hung over the city below. The view from here was incredible and I’m not sure the photos do it justice. We also took the opportunity to have a drink inside and were rewarded with olives and nuts by the barman.

The hotel

A photo of us on the Sky Bar, happy to have arrived safe and sound!

Another picture of the view - Below the glass was nothing, just the road below.

The restaurant - not really in our budget!

The Jazz band that serenaded us. Inside there was a string quartet

Seeing as the hotel had been used for a lot of the filming for the Hangover II we were determined to capture a shot which encapsulated the film. Having spotted the promo poster in the lobby, we recreated the moment. We soon scarpered.

Identical no?

From such a high we went to a huge low upon entering Pat Pong, a rather seedy area of Bangkok which hosts many bars and clubs. Not much to say about this district other than there were some good shops.

 Stocks of water and life jackets in case of more flooding

 One last drink before leaving

After an enjoyable weekend, having done a great deal of bartering, we made our way home (on an A330) with 5kg of extra baggage and back in time to get some sleep before starting work again on Monday morning.

Proud!

 

4 weeks into living in Hong Kong

Matt has been enjoying seeing another side of the business by observing some of the engineers at work. He’s been able to go onto the planes alongside the engineers to look at the problems they encounter. He even got a picture taken of him inside an engine! I will let him update you in the next blog post.

On Monday I was able to volunteer at Po Kok Primary School in Happy Valley. It’s a school where 90% of the children are from an ethnic minority background, the biggest in the city. I volunteered at an after school homework club which helps the children “who need the most help completing their homework” and also from deprived backgrounds. It was really interesting. The child I was working with, Oliver, had English homework and maths homework. The English consisted of filling in the blanks: I am....hungry, thirsty etc. He seemed good at this and his English was very good too. I think the school teaches through the English language. His maths however was a lot harder than I would have expected. The social worker explained that the children were poor at maths but I wonder whether the work was too hard for his age range. In the end we got there, working with mini pizzas as counting tools.

On Wednesdays all museums are free to visit so I took the opportunity to visit the Museum of History. It was very interesting and had lots of installations and models of Chinese buildings, people and historical artefacts.  The Cochrane family would have loved it, very flambards-esque.  

We treated ourselves to a roast chicken and roast potatoes this week from the Selfridges type deli in Times Square! Yum yum yum! This compensated for a rather grim duck and rice dish from the supermarket.

Today we are off to Bangkok, woohoo! Although we are a bit apprehensive about the severe flooding that has been reported. If we get internet in the hotel we will put up a post to let you know.

Photos galore

After a busy weekend, Monday evening was spent relaxing and catching up with the X factor. On Tuesday Katie lent her time to charity, The Home of Love which is run by the Sisters of Charity, Mother Theresa's organization. This is located in Nam Cheong Estate, about half an hour away from where we live in the centre. I made my way to the meeting point in town and was spotted by another Westerner hanging around in the station. We then made our way across town to the charity having been left behind by the other volunteers (turns out we were waiting in the wrong place!). I was greeted by the other volunteers and it soon became clear that the “American’s Womens Association” was indeed all American women who wanted to do some good in the city. I definitely felt in the wrong place but really wanted to stay and help out. The organization is based in the ground floor of a building block and houses around 20 homeless men and around 8 women with children. The women help out in the kitchen, preparing the meal everyday and the men seem to disappear off into the local area.

Having peeled and chopped onions, ginger and lettuce we waited around until everything was ready to be served. There was only one incident with a cockroach – it did make me wish I was wearing trainers and not dainty sandals! At 10:30 the gates were opened to the men (yes, we are locked INSIDE the building) who came rushing in and sat down. In Hong Kong, there are around 400 registered homeless people but reports suggest there are thousands. In order to get a meal you must have your Hong Kong I.D. card alongside a personalized meal ticket. No meal ticket, no food, regardless of how hungry you are. It was upsetting seeing very frail old ladies being turned away but the Nuns were very strict. Before the meal was served a prayer was sung and then we handed out the meal which consisted of melon and meat soup (!) and noodles with vegetables. The women served themselves before the men. After a few more seconds and thirds were served, the meal was over and we had to wash up.

 Having done my good deed for the day I met Kate and hit the shops for the first time since I arrived. I was very restrained and only bought a playsuit. I am hoping that Bangkok will have plenty of goodies!

Wednesday’s mean only one thing...Happy Valley Races! We headed out to meet Matt’s friends from work for a drink and a gamble...but this turned into a rather late night ending up in a very random rock bar. A good night but Katie had a bit of a sore head the next day so her second good deed of the week was postponed until the week after!

It was soon the weekend and we wanted to make the most out of the beautiful weather that had appeared. We hit the Big Buddha on Lantau Island where Matt works. To reach the Buddha we took the cable car which travels across the water and across various hills giving us an amazing view of the island. There was the opportunity to travel across in a cable car adorned with Swarovski crystals but Matt wasn’t keen.

 Where Matt works, on Lantau Island

 In the basic cable car (boo!)

The buddha as seen from the cable car

It is the world's largest Buddha statue, by using bronze, it's 34 metres tall and weighs 250 tonnes, created in December 1993. It is a pretty impressive sight which attracts hundreds of people, either coming here as tourists or to pray at the Po Lim Monestry.

After a good look round and lunch consisting of cheese sandwiches and Pringles (we Brits know how to do a good lunch!) we headed back down by cable car and into the shopping outlet which is conveniently placed at the bottom. Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite the quality of Gunwarf or Bicester Village so we went back home empty handed.

 Matt having a go on the childrens games (darts) - health and safety is limited here!

 An airbus

Hannah, you could get a transfer!

 Realizing that Katie hadn’t eaten any Chinese food for a week (Matt has a large amount at work – including fish eggs on salads etc etc as regular meals) we went out to try the Dumplings that Matt had raved about since eating them at work. The dumplings were pork meat and soup inner rapped in a doughy exterior. Yum. Turns out the restaurant is Michelin starred so we really are living it up! We will go back there again. We include a picture of the order form however we should mention that I got someone at work to write in Cantonese what to have!


 On Sunday we met up with Jasmine and headed out to Nan Lian Garden, a recently built tranquil traditional Chinese garden. It also houses a monastery. Here we ate at the vegetarian restaurant which was very tasty. On the outside of the restaurant is a waterfall which cascades down the window – very nice!

 Birthday Buns - quite a chewy texture with a sugary mixture inside

After lunch we visited the Wong Tai Sin Temple where we had our fourtunes read.

 Here you are given a pot and must kneel on the cushions and shake the pot of sticks with a question in mind. Each stick is numbered. When the first stick falls out you must pick it up and memorize the number. This number then correlates to a story that is told by the fortune tellers.

Matt - the year of the dragon

Katie needs to get a move on if she wants to find a job and Matt’s family are to be healthy, as long as they seek treatment! Jasmine showed us around the beautifully coloured temple and then took us into a market and explained all the different foods we could buy. We bought a few of the stranger items and are keeping them back until Christmas so beware your presents this year!

Saying goodbye to Jaz we headed across to Mong Kok which hosts the ladies market. Here we purchased some traditional children’s Chinese outfits and some Paul Smith (?) pants! A busy weekend which was finished off with Baked Beans on toast and Spooks. Stay tuned for more posts this week....promise!

 The dumplings - before Katie dropped it, causing soy sauce to go everywhere

The order form - in Cantonese!