Family Fun
Friday, January 27 
I was extremely excited during my 40 minute taxi trip to the Bangkok International Airport to pick up my parents and sister! I arrived at midnight, the exact time they were due to land, so I knew I'd have a long wait as they picked up their bags and headed through customs.
As it turned out, I had been waiting for over an hour in the wrong area! They arrived at Terminal 2 and I had been in Terminal 1, but my sister called my cell phone and we figured things out. Apparently, the pronounciation of my name was so butchered that my mom asked if she could take over the mic, but seconds later I saw my sis and the much awaited hugs began!
They had a lengthy 25 hour journey from Minneapolis to Bangkok via Portland and Tokyo, so they had many tales to tell during our taxi ride back to my apartment. I introduced them to my Thai ghetto, we hopped out of the taxi, and they were greeted by the security guard with their first of many wais.
I had left my aircon on, which I haven't used since the first day I moved in, and unfortunately it didn't seem to be pumping out too much cold air. We set the bags down and crawled into bed. Although I had purchased a mattress pad earlier that day, I warned my parents that my bed resembled a wooden plank and they couldn't believe what a true statement it was! My sis and I slept on the fold-out couch, which was quite comfortable, and we all fell fast asleep.
Saturday, January 28
I had the week off due to Chinese New Year and we began Saturday with a fantastic breakfast at Crepes & Co. http://www.crepes.co.th/ on Sukhumvit Soi 12. It was hilarious watching my family zip down the soi on the back of the motorcy to the Skytrain!
After breakfast, we headed to the Chao Phraya River and took a river taxi to the Grand Palace http://www.into-asia.com/bangkok/attractions/grandpalace.php, Temple of the Emerald Buddha http://bangkokmag.infothai.com/emerald.htm, Temple of the Reclining Buddha, and finally a tuk-tuk to the infamous backpacker hangout of Khao San Road http://wikitravel.org/en/Bangkok/Khao_San_Road.
We ate lunch and turned away dozens of noise-making, frog-selling Hill Tribe women, as well as did our share of freak-watching. There are a variety of interesting dreadlock wearing individuals that call Khao San home. It also proved as the introduction to the gross-old-western-guy dating the young Thai girl that we'd repeatedly see throughout their week-long stay.
We eventually hopped in a taxi and headed back toward my neighborhood where we enjoyed a delicious dinner and traditional entertainment at the Vientiane Kitchen http://www.vientiane-kitchen.com/ on Sukhumvit Soi 36.
Sunday, January 29
On Sunday, we headed to ChitLom for a bite to eat and shopping. The food courts are full of fresh, healthy selections from all over the world, very unlike the fast-food options in the States. After brunch, we took a taxi to Pawntip Plaza, an electronics mecca with five floors dedicated to everything from batteries to laptop computers. We shopped around for a couple of hours before getting thirsty for margaritas and heading to the Skytrain.
Our walk was a bit longer and hotter than we had liked, but we eventually made it to Nana BTS station. My sister wondered how far our next jaunt would be to Charley Brown's, but it was quite close and unfortunately very closed! We decided to hop in a taxi, grab our bags, and head for Hualamphong Train Station.
After a near-death taxi ride at speeds of 120 kph (although my sister truly thought we were going 120 mph!), we arrived a couple of hours early for our overnight train ride to the northern Thai province of Chiang Mai. We enjoyed several Beer Changs and ate dinner at a restaurant overlooking the waiting area, quickly killing the time with good conversation and more people watching.
We boarded the train and continued ordering Beer Chang from our waitress-turned-drinking buddy who was more than happy to bring us beers, helping herself to her own glass. After a couple of hours, Charlene and I decided to seek out the party car, much to the dismay of our drinking buddy, who tugged on our arms and begged us to stay.
We met a lively group, danced, sang, and laughed with a hilarious Australian chick! We also enjoyed several beers from a new Thai-guy friend. They finally kicked us out around midnight and we stumbled to our upper bunks.
Monday, January 30
Upon arrival in Chiang Mai on Monday morning, we hopped in a songtaw (truck with two rows in the back for passengers) and headed to the Top North Hotel http://www.asiatradingonline.com/topnorth.htm. We got settled, put on our swim suits, and ate hamburgers and fries at the pool.
Later in the afternoon, my mom enjoyed a Thai massage while my sis and I had a one-hour foot reflexology in the shade at the pool. We headed up to our room, showered, and found yet another excellent Thai restaurant, Aroon Rai, located outside the eastern gate of the Old Quarter recommended by the Lonely Planet. We haven't been able to go wrong ordering Thai food! We went back to our hotel, watched reality tv, and turned in early.
Tuesday, January 31
On Tuesday, we had breakfast at the Zest Restaurant & Bakery http://www.chiangmai-mail.com/012/dining.shtml right next to our hotel and hopped on rented motorcys for a trip to the mountaintop temple of Doi Suthep http://www.thaiwave.com//benjarong/beyondphuket/doisuthep.htm.
We'd barely made it out of the Old Quarter when a police officer stepped out in front of my motorcy, forcing my sis and I to pull over. Two different officers wrote us each a citation for not wearing helmuts, while my parents, both donning the proper safety equipment, waited ahead. Upon request of our driver's license, Charlene handed over her Minnesota license and I gave them a poor, laminated copy of my passport. The officer told me we'd receive our IDs back after we paid 200 baht ($5) for our citations.
We continued our 12 km journey and safely arrived at the temple. We walked around taking pictures and my dad ventured inside one of the various areas of worship and was blessed by a monk! The monk motioned for my dad to kneel up front, spoke several words in Thai, sprinkled holy water over the heads of the worshippers, tied the traditional string bracelet around my dad's wrist, shook his hand and said thank you and goodbye. It was a fun and interesting experience!
On our way down the mountain, we stopped at a national park and relaxed. My dad took several pictures of a waterfall and we picked out a restaurant for dinner. We headed back to our hotel and were pretty relieved to drop off our three death machines (my mom rode on my dad's, which was definitely a good thing) before walking to the Ying and Yang Restaurant for a late lunch.
After lunch, we walked to the Night Market, stopping along the way for a round of margaritas. They weren't quite what we were expecting, but we enjoyed the conversation and, afterwards, we walked to the market to shop like crazy for the next couple of hours.
Wednesday, February 1
We woke up early, quickly ate breakfast, and hopped in a minivan for a day of elephant and ox-cart rides, bamboo rafting, and orchid farm viewing. We met some great people in our group and spent the morning entertained by elephants who could perform tricks, such as picking up a basketball with their trunk and kicking it to their trainer, and usually WAY over his head, who was standing about 50 yards away, dancing
to music, and giving massages to volunteers laying on their backs on the ground in front of them. Elephants are also talented artists! We watched one use his trunk to draw a flower, dipping the paintbrush into different ink containers to create a pretty, green-stemmed red flower. Amazing!
We also watched the trainers give the elephants a bath and had the opportunity to ride an elephant for about an hour, which was plenty. After that, it was ox-cart time, which was a little cheasy but it certainly made you appreciate what the early settlers of North America went through on the Oregon Trail! What a bumpy ride!
The trip ended with an excellent meal at a resort outside of Chiang Mai and a walk through an orchid farm inclusive of a demonstration of the life of an orchid. The pupose of that stop was most definitely to get a few baht out of the tourists, but pretty nonetheless.
We returned to our hotel in time to make a quick run to the police station to pay Charlene's helmut ticket. I let them keep the copy of my passport, as I didn't need it back. Always the rebel!
We took showers and hopped in a songtaw to the Riverside Bar & Restaurant http://www.theriversidechiangmai.com/gallery.html which sits, as the name implies, on the river bank east of the Old Quarter. After more phenomenol (and always cheap) food, we took a night cap at Pat's outdoor pub on Moon Muang Road near our hotel. My parents went back to the hotel and my sis and I chatted for a while before turning in ourselves.
Thursday, February 2
Our last breakfast in Chiang Mai was cut short when our ride for The Master Thai Chef Cookery Course showed up at 8:30 am right on time. Charlene and I took our sandwiches to go and piled into the songtaw with my mom, waving to dad as we rounded the corner onto Moon Muang Road. We picked up a few more participants, stopped at a local vegetable market to buy and learn about the necessary ingredients, and headed to a quaint kitchen on the outskirts of town.
We put on the aprons provided and got to work, learning how to "have adventure" in the kitchen by creating giant, scary flames in our woks! My sis and I realized that we shouldn't quit our day jobs, as I had trouble following directions and Charlene managed to get more food on the floor than on her plate!
As is typical when I spend time with my family, we had a ton of laughs and were glad that we had signed up for the class. Our teacher was a comical Thai guy named Suriyan who provided additional opportunities for laughter. He drove us back to our hotel after we enjoyed a lunch that we miraculously created and we went to the internet cafe to check emails while waiting for my dad to return from his exploration that day.
We headed to the airport and had time to kill while waiting for our 5:00 pm flight back to Bangkok. Charlene and I went to buy sandwiches and ramen noodle soup to enjoy while we waited and spent the rest of the time visiting and reading the guide book for more information on what we'd been up to all week.
We landed in Bangkok after 6:00 pm and took a taxi back to my apartment. We spent the evening relaxing and watching Forty Year-Old Virgin before crashing for our last uncomfortable night's rest in my apartment.
Friday, February 3
My mom thought it'd be a good idea to get a hotel room for their last night in Bangkok, as it was not easy for them to sleep in my apartment. I'm obviously acclimated to the temperature, so I don't even use my aircon, but when you're coming from Minnesota and you're not used to the heat and humidity of Bangkok, it's tough to get a good night's rest without it. It's a shame I didn't know that it didn't work because I could have had it fixed in seconds, as I learned immediately after the family left town.
We headed to Thong Lo (Sukhumvit Soi 55) in a taxi for breakfast at Au Bon Pain http://www.sgtowns.com/mt-archives/001454.html. After breakfast, my mom headed to the Take Care Salon for a pedicure and my sis, dad, and I sat in the air-conditioned restaurant, reserving a room in the Asia Airport Hotel http://www.asiahotel.co.th/asia_airport.htm.
We went through a bit of a fiasco arranging a taxi that would bring us back to my apartment for our bags and onto the hotel. After two different taxis and dealing with their reluctance to use the meter, we got our way and made it to the hotel. We even had a Thai bystander on the street tell me not to agree to a flat fee and to make sure we use the meter. It was pretty nice that he was concerned with me not getting ripped off. Thai people never cease to amaze me with their kindness.
We dropped our bags in the hotel room and Charlene and I headed to the pool for an hour while my parents explored the shopping mall attached to the hotel. We stopped in the spa for a pedicure, Charlene also got a manicure, and we met up with our parents for dinner.
We ended up at Tops grocery store where we ate Thai-style and shared a variety of tasty dishes. I bought a few beers and sodas in the grocery store and we had ourselves a nice dinner. After miscommunicating in Thai, I ended up getting three bowls of soup when I had intended on ordering one, but at Thai prices, it wasn't a problem.
We shopped at the outdoor market for awhile and stopped at an open-air pub to listen to a band and have a beer. Charlene found some last-minute gifts for Madi and we turned in early as they had to wake up in time for their 3:30 am free shuttle to the airport.
The wake-up call came too soon and we said our goodbyes. I was sad to see them go. It was an extremely fun week and after missing Christmas this year, it was just the family fix I needed to hold me over until summer.
Saturday, February 4
I woke up and watched a little tv, the channels I don't get at my apartment were a treat. I put on my swim suit, had the hotel's buffet breakfast, and spent a little under two hours at the pool. I checked out and hopped in a taxi back to my apartment, sad to be without my family and excited that summer will be here before I know it. It was a great week!
I was extremely excited during my 40 minute taxi trip to the Bangkok International Airport to pick up my parents and sister! I arrived at midnight, the exact time they were due to land, so I knew I'd have a long wait as they picked up their bags and headed through customs.
As it turned out, I had been waiting for over an hour in the wrong area! They arrived at Terminal 2 and I had been in Terminal 1, but my sister called my cell phone and we figured things out. Apparently, the pronounciation of my name was so butchered that my mom asked if she could take over the mic, but seconds later I saw my sis and the much awaited hugs began!
They had a lengthy 25 hour journey from Minneapolis to Bangkok via Portland and Tokyo, so they had many tales to tell during our taxi ride back to my apartment. I introduced them to my Thai ghetto, we hopped out of the taxi, and they were greeted by the security guard with their first of many wais.I had left my aircon on, which I haven't used since the first day I moved in, and unfortunately it didn't seem to be pumping out too much cold air. We set the bags down and crawled into bed. Although I had purchased a mattress pad earlier that day, I warned my parents that my bed resembled a wooden plank and they couldn't believe what a true statement it was! My sis and I slept on the fold-out couch, which was quite comfortable, and we all fell fast asleep.
Saturday, January 28
I had the week off due to Chinese New Year and we began Saturday with a fantastic breakfast at Crepes & Co. http://www.crepes.co.th/ on Sukhumvit Soi 12. It was hilarious watching my family zip down the soi on the back of the motorcy to the Skytrain!
After breakfast, we headed to the Chao Phraya River and took a river taxi to the Grand Palace http://www.into-asia.com/bangkok/attractions/grandpalace.php, Temple of the Emerald Buddha http://bangkokmag.infothai.com/emerald.htm, Temple of the Reclining Buddha, and finally a tuk-tuk to the infamous backpacker hangout of Khao San Road http://wikitravel.org/en/Bangkok/Khao_San_Road.
We ate lunch and turned away dozens of noise-making, frog-selling Hill Tribe women, as well as did our share of freak-watching. There are a variety of interesting dreadlock wearing individuals that call Khao San home. It also proved as the introduction to the gross-old-western-guy dating the young Thai girl that we'd repeatedly see throughout their week-long stay.
We eventually hopped in a taxi and headed back toward my neighborhood where we enjoyed a delicious dinner and traditional entertainment at the Vientiane Kitchen http://www.vientiane-kitchen.com/ on Sukhumvit Soi 36.
Sunday, January 29
On Sunday, we headed to ChitLom for a bite to eat and shopping. The food courts are full of fresh, healthy selections from all over the world, very unlike the fast-food options in the States. After brunch, we took a taxi to Pawntip Plaza, an electronics mecca with five floors dedicated to everything from batteries to laptop computers. We shopped around for a couple of hours before getting thirsty for margaritas and heading to the Skytrain.
Our walk was a bit longer and hotter than we had liked, but we eventually made it to Nana BTS station. My sister wondered how far our next jaunt would be to Charley Brown's, but it was quite close and unfortunately very closed! We decided to hop in a taxi, grab our bags, and head for Hualamphong Train Station.
After a near-death taxi ride at speeds of 120 kph (although my sister truly thought we were going 120 mph!), we arrived a couple of hours early for our overnight train ride to the northern Thai province of Chiang Mai. We enjoyed several Beer Changs and ate dinner at a restaurant overlooking the waiting area, quickly killing the time with good conversation and more people watching.We boarded the train and continued ordering Beer Chang from our waitress-turned-drinking buddy who was more than happy to bring us beers, helping herself to her own glass. After a couple of hours, Charlene and I decided to seek out the party car, much to the dismay of our drinking buddy, who tugged on our arms and begged us to stay.
We met a lively group, danced, sang, and laughed with a hilarious Australian chick! We also enjoyed several beers from a new Thai-guy friend. They finally kicked us out around midnight and we stumbled to our upper bunks.
Monday, January 30
Upon arrival in Chiang Mai on Monday morning, we hopped in a songtaw (truck with two rows in the back for passengers) and headed to the Top North Hotel http://www.asiatradingonline.com/topnorth.htm. We got settled, put on our swim suits, and ate hamburgers and fries at the pool.
Later in the afternoon, my mom enjoyed a Thai massage while my sis and I had a one-hour foot reflexology in the shade at the pool. We headed up to our room, showered, and found yet another excellent Thai restaurant, Aroon Rai, located outside the eastern gate of the Old Quarter recommended by the Lonely Planet. We haven't been able to go wrong ordering Thai food! We went back to our hotel, watched reality tv, and turned in early.
Tuesday, January 31
On Tuesday, we had breakfast at the Zest Restaurant & Bakery http://www.chiangmai-mail.com/012/dining.shtml right next to our hotel and hopped on rented motorcys for a trip to the mountaintop temple of Doi Suthep http://www.thaiwave.com//benjarong/beyondphuket/doisuthep.htm.
We'd barely made it out of the Old Quarter when a police officer stepped out in front of my motorcy, forcing my sis and I to pull over. Two different officers wrote us each a citation for not wearing helmuts, while my parents, both donning the proper safety equipment, waited ahead. Upon request of our driver's license, Charlene handed over her Minnesota license and I gave them a poor, laminated copy of my passport. The officer told me we'd receive our IDs back after we paid 200 baht ($5) for our citations.We continued our 12 km journey and safely arrived at the temple. We walked around taking pictures and my dad ventured inside one of the various areas of worship and was blessed by a monk! The monk motioned for my dad to kneel up front, spoke several words in Thai, sprinkled holy water over the heads of the worshippers, tied the traditional string bracelet around my dad's wrist, shook his hand and said thank you and goodbye. It was a fun and interesting experience!
On our way down the mountain, we stopped at a national park and relaxed. My dad took several pictures of a waterfall and we picked out a restaurant for dinner. We headed back to our hotel and were pretty relieved to drop off our three death machines (my mom rode on my dad's, which was definitely a good thing) before walking to the Ying and Yang Restaurant for a late lunch.
After lunch, we walked to the Night Market, stopping along the way for a round of margaritas. They weren't quite what we were expecting, but we enjoyed the conversation and, afterwards, we walked to the market to shop like crazy for the next couple of hours.
Wednesday, February 1
We woke up early, quickly ate breakfast, and hopped in a minivan for a day of elephant and ox-cart rides, bamboo rafting, and orchid farm viewing. We met some great people in our group and spent the morning entertained by elephants who could perform tricks, such as picking up a basketball with their trunk and kicking it to their trainer, and usually WAY over his head, who was standing about 50 yards away, dancing
to music, and giving massages to volunteers laying on their backs on the ground in front of them. Elephants are also talented artists! We watched one use his trunk to draw a flower, dipping the paintbrush into different ink containers to create a pretty, green-stemmed red flower. Amazing!We also watched the trainers give the elephants a bath and had the opportunity to ride an elephant for about an hour, which was plenty. After that, it was ox-cart time, which was a little cheasy but it certainly made you appreciate what the early settlers of North America went through on the Oregon Trail! What a bumpy ride!
The trip ended with an excellent meal at a resort outside of Chiang Mai and a walk through an orchid farm inclusive of a demonstration of the life of an orchid. The pupose of that stop was most definitely to get a few baht out of the tourists, but pretty nonetheless.
We returned to our hotel in time to make a quick run to the police station to pay Charlene's helmut ticket. I let them keep the copy of my passport, as I didn't need it back. Always the rebel!
We took showers and hopped in a songtaw to the Riverside Bar & Restaurant http://www.theriversidechiangmai.com/gallery.html which sits, as the name implies, on the river bank east of the Old Quarter. After more phenomenol (and always cheap) food, we took a night cap at Pat's outdoor pub on Moon Muang Road near our hotel. My parents went back to the hotel and my sis and I chatted for a while before turning in ourselves.
Thursday, February 2
Our last breakfast in Chiang Mai was cut short when our ride for The Master Thai Chef Cookery Course showed up at 8:30 am right on time. Charlene and I took our sandwiches to go and piled into the songtaw with my mom, waving to dad as we rounded the corner onto Moon Muang Road. We picked up a few more participants, stopped at a local vegetable market to buy and learn about the necessary ingredients, and headed to a quaint kitchen on the outskirts of town.
We put on the aprons provided and got to work, learning how to "have adventure" in the kitchen by creating giant, scary flames in our woks! My sis and I realized that we shouldn't quit our day jobs, as I had trouble following directions and Charlene managed to get more food on the floor than on her plate!As is typical when I spend time with my family, we had a ton of laughs and were glad that we had signed up for the class. Our teacher was a comical Thai guy named Suriyan who provided additional opportunities for laughter. He drove us back to our hotel after we enjoyed a lunch that we miraculously created and we went to the internet cafe to check emails while waiting for my dad to return from his exploration that day.
We headed to the airport and had time to kill while waiting for our 5:00 pm flight back to Bangkok. Charlene and I went to buy sandwiches and ramen noodle soup to enjoy while we waited and spent the rest of the time visiting and reading the guide book for more information on what we'd been up to all week.
We landed in Bangkok after 6:00 pm and took a taxi back to my apartment. We spent the evening relaxing and watching Forty Year-Old Virgin before crashing for our last uncomfortable night's rest in my apartment.
Friday, February 3
My mom thought it'd be a good idea to get a hotel room for their last night in Bangkok, as it was not easy for them to sleep in my apartment. I'm obviously acclimated to the temperature, so I don't even use my aircon, but when you're coming from Minnesota and you're not used to the heat and humidity of Bangkok, it's tough to get a good night's rest without it. It's a shame I didn't know that it didn't work because I could have had it fixed in seconds, as I learned immediately after the family left town.
We headed to Thong Lo (Sukhumvit Soi 55) in a taxi for breakfast at Au Bon Pain http://www.sgtowns.com/mt-archives/001454.html. After breakfast, my mom headed to the Take Care Salon for a pedicure and my sis, dad, and I sat in the air-conditioned restaurant, reserving a room in the Asia Airport Hotel http://www.asiahotel.co.th/asia_airport.htm.
We went through a bit of a fiasco arranging a taxi that would bring us back to my apartment for our bags and onto the hotel. After two different taxis and dealing with their reluctance to use the meter, we got our way and made it to the hotel. We even had a Thai bystander on the street tell me not to agree to a flat fee and to make sure we use the meter. It was pretty nice that he was concerned with me not getting ripped off. Thai people never cease to amaze me with their kindness.We dropped our bags in the hotel room and Charlene and I headed to the pool for an hour while my parents explored the shopping mall attached to the hotel. We stopped in the spa for a pedicure, Charlene also got a manicure, and we met up with our parents for dinner.
We ended up at Tops grocery store where we ate Thai-style and shared a variety of tasty dishes. I bought a few beers and sodas in the grocery store and we had ourselves a nice dinner. After miscommunicating in Thai, I ended up getting three bowls of soup when I had intended on ordering one, but at Thai prices, it wasn't a problem.
We shopped at the outdoor market for awhile and stopped at an open-air pub to listen to a band and have a beer. Charlene found some last-minute gifts for Madi and we turned in early as they had to wake up in time for their 3:30 am free shuttle to the airport.The wake-up call came too soon and we said our goodbyes. I was sad to see them go. It was an extremely fun week and after missing Christmas this year, it was just the family fix I needed to hold me over until summer.
Saturday, February 4
I woke up and watched a little tv, the channels I don't get at my apartment were a treat. I put on my swim suit, had the hotel's buffet breakfast, and spent a little under two hours at the pool. I checked out and hopped in a taxi back to my apartment, sad to be without my family and excited that summer will be here before I know it. It was a great week!