Thailand Trip

En route to India, we decided to take a short trip to Bangkok, Thailand.

 FRI, JUN 8 2012

Singapore Airlines flight SQ11 landed in Changi airport @ 3 am. Baggages took a long time to arrive. We collected our baggage, took a taxi  and arrived at Hari's place @ 4:30am. The taxi cost from airport to race course road was S$25. After the initial meeting up and exchanging pleasantries, we all tried to catch up some sleep. Woke up @ 8 am. We all got ready by 11am and walked to Murugan Idli kadai for a brunch. Had Idli, Onion Oothappam, Sambar Vadai, Pongal, Sweet Pongal & Jigirthanda. Ajit had 4 idlis and 2 Ghee dosai.

At 12:30 pm, we left by taxi to Terminal 1 in the Airport to catch the Air Asia’s Bangkok flight. I and Ajit indulged ourselves in the free Foot massage chair for about 45 minutes. The flight took off at 2:40 pm and landed in Bangkok at 4 pm local time. The flying time was 2 ½ hours. We then took a taxi to Novotel which was located in Silom, Bangkok. Bangkok traffic was really crazy in the evening and we finally arrived at the hotel at 7 pm. After checking into the hotel, we took a walk to a nearby market called Tops Market. I had Green Curry with Chicken and Ajit had Padthai with Crab claws meat. The total came up to 280 BHT. Here is the breakup cost:

Rice – 17 BHT

G.Curry – 65 BHT

Padthai – 110 BT

Juice – 45 BHT

Water – 17 BHT

We then walked back to the hotel and retired for the day.

SAT, JUN 9 2012

Woke up at 6:30 am, got ready by 7:30 am and went down for the Buffet Breakfast at Novotel. Had Mini pancakes, Beans, Chicken Sausage, Bacon, Omelette, Boiled veggies (Carrots, Broccoli, Cauliflower), Broiled Tomatoes, Rice porridge and Fried rice.

The previous day, we had arranged for a whole day taxi for our trip to Floating market for 1400 BHT. Our Tourist taxi driver was waiting outside our hotel and at 8 am we left by the taxi for Ratchaburi which was 100Kms away from Bangkok. We arrived Ratchaburi @ 9:30 am. We started bargaining with the boat tour vendors and finally agreed on US $100 for 2 hour boat trip to the floating market and 1 hour elephant ride. En route, we bought souvenirs of Hat, Photo frame & Fridge Magnet (300 BHT).

Coconut Farm

The boat stopped for few minutes at the Coconut Sugar farm. There were lot of eatables and arts, crafts and clothing made out of coconut tree by-products. We just took a look and got back to our boat. We then headed towards floating market.

Floating Market

Floating market is the most popular and most photographed destination in Bangkok. Here we saw the lifestyle of Thai people along the canal. There were many small boats laden with colorful fruits and vegetables and paddled by Thai women wearing bamboo hats.  We had 4 tender coconut waters for 20 BHT each, Sita Phal (Custard Apple), Mangustaan and Lychees, all for 300 BHT. Several times, there were traffic jams caused by the numerous boats trying to maneuver in the canal.

The boat dropped us off at a Pier @ 11 am for a walk and lunch. We sat down at a small place for lunch. DS had Tom Yum soup, I had Pad Thai w/ chicken, and Ajit had Chicken Noodle soup. Everything together came to 300 BHT. The weather was hot and humid. Not a day to have hot soup.

Elephant Village

We came back to the boat and left @ 12:00 for the Elephant Village. After a short boat ride, we arrived at the Elephant village.  It was a 20 minute elephant ride. Each elephant has a master and follows a path through jungle, including water. There is also a monkey show, although we didn’t have time to visit this.

Rose Garden

Our final visit was to the Rose Garden. It was an hour taxi ride from the Floating Market en route Bangkok. DS decided to stay put in the Taxi. I and Ajit took a tour of the Garden. Ajit expected something spectacular and felt let down. I found it beautiful. It was a nice garden surrounded by lakes and lined with trees and plants and a huge lawn. There was a Massage spa close by and the view was spectacular from there. There was a beautiful traditional Thai Mansion by the lake with a water fountain in the middle of the lake. We took some pictures, relaxed for few minutes and went back to the taxi.

We finally arrived at our hotel @ 4 pm. It was hot and humid and on top of it, we were all jetlagged and promptly went for a nap. Had a nice 3 hr nap and woke up at 7 pm. Later, around 8 pm, we walked to the same Tops Market and had dinner at the same place as previous night. We had Green curry Rice, Shrimp Pad Thai and Crab Meat noodle soup. The dinner with drinks cost was 260 BHT. Here is the breakup cost:

Green Curry Rice – 85 BHT

Shrimp Pad Thai – 60 BHT

Crab Meat Noodle Soup – 85 BHT

Travelling with Kids

Kids become avid travelers when you start travelling with them when they are still young. Though it’s challenging, it’s doable. When I grew up, we were a family of 6. My dad was with (India) Govt and had the LTC (Leave Travel Concession) plan and took us all out on a 10 – 15 days trip once every 4 years until he retired from govt service. It was an All-India bus trip while i was 5 and Hyd-Banglore-Mysore-Ooty trip when i was 10. I vaguely remember those places that we visited until age 10, but somehow took a liking to travelling and learnt to adjust well. No fancy accommodation or fancy eat outs. Still, we all thoroughly enjoyed it. Dad used to plan A to Z for our trip, the time line, booking the train tickets, accomodation etc. My mom used to write travelogues during each of our trips. I still remember the one line where it said "Nangalil thangal, pinbu soodana pongal".

We did the same thing with our son while living in Europe. We went around Europe when he was between 4 and 7 years. I thought he is not going to remember anything, but surprisingly he does. He is a foodie who loves exotic cuisines (no kid’s meal for him) and associates each place with the food he had eaten there J Spain is Shrimp Paella, Germany is Schnitzel, Prague is street side food, Italy is Pasta di Nero (Octopus), Calamari, Vongole (Mussels), Seafood Pasta/Pizza, Alaska is king Crab etc. No matter how he remembers the places, as long as he has a hang for travelling, my task is accomplished. He is now 10 and already has his travel wish list which includes Brazil’s Amazon Rainforest, Kenyan Safari, and unlimited cruise to anywhere anytime.

At any point in life, we are not going to remember the material things (like clothes and jewelry) that we possessed in the past. But experiences and memories will be part and parcel of an individual which we will cherish until we die.