An encounter with Thai Ronald McDonald
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Sunday, March 9, 2008
Siam Ocean World
After we left the Grand Palace in Bangkok, we hopped in a taxi and headed for the Siam Paragon to visit Siam Ocean World. After walking through three different luxury shopping malls, we finally found the place we were looking for.
Siam Ocean World is the largest aquarium in Southeast Asia with 30,000-plus marine animals (seals, octopuses, sharks, stingrays, giant spider crabs, penguins, and more). It is HUGE, and very, very cool. The girls liked it, but they were very scared of the giant crabs. I had to hold Olivia's hand and pull her past that part of the aquarium while she squeezed her eyes shut and whimpered.
We also saw feeding demonstrations for various animals. The sharks were pretty neat to see, as were the turtles and sting rays.
Sting rays are pretty creepy! Check out this video I took:
We also took a ride on a glass-bottomed boat:
William enjoyed himself, too:
Dave and William
Posted in: Bangkok
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Grand Palace
After a brief rest in our hotel room, we headed off to the Grand Palace, a group of buildings that used to be the official residence of the king. To get there we did something I said I'd never do: ride in a tuk-tuk. I have to say, it was really fun, although obviously completely unsafe. At least I haven't careened down the highway on a scooter with the baby in my arms (yet).
It was a smoking hot day in Bangkok, and we felt like we were melting as we made our way through the grounds. One of the first things we went to see was the Emerald Buddha, a 45-centimetre tall Buddha figurine made entirely of jade (I guess maybe the name Jade Buddha was already taken?) The Emerald Buddha wears gold outfits that are changed three times a year by the king himself.
We bribed the girls with the promise of ice cream, and they were very well behaved throughout our entire visit. They enjoyed posing for photos and would ask us to take their picture in front of statues or buildings they especially liked.
In you ever decide to visit the Grand Palace yourself, make sure you take note of this very important rule:
Night train to Bangkok
We decided it would be fun to go on a little trip, so last Tuesday we took the night train to Bangkok. The train departs at 4:30, and at approximately 4:31 the girls were asking me when they could turn their seats into beds. They were a little excited.
We took the second-class sleeper train, and it was very comfortable. The seats were huge, and at around 8 pm they came with sealed bags of clean sheets and pillows and converted the seats into beds. We had booked two lower berths and one upper. William and I were in one lower, Olivia was in the other, and Dave and Isabella shared the upper berth. It turns out that the upper berths are smaller than the lower berths, so Dave and Isabella were crammed in there like sardines. One of those sardines was quite fond of wiggling around and flicking the light switch on and off repeatedly, and the other sardine did not enjoy it. I'm thinking next time we'll splash out on four beds instead of just three. You can't beat the price of the train for long-distance travel. It was $75 for the five of us to travel the 700 km from Chiang Mai to Bangkok.
Bedtime on the night train
The train ride was long at about 12 hours, but for the most part it was okay. The only real problem I had with it was that the train stopped way too often. Just when William would fall asleep, the train would creak to a stop and the doors would bang open, and he'd be awake again. I got maybe three hours of sleep all night, and it wasn't consecutive. Needless to say, I wasn't too excited to greet the hustle and bustle of Bangkok at 6 am the next morning.
We arrived at our hotel by 7, and check-in usually isn't until 2! Luckily we only had to wait about an hour for our room to be ready. During that hour I sat in the lobby like a zombie while the girls ran around playing Mommy and Baby. It was incredibly hot and muggy, and I felt grimy from the train. I can't recall a time when I have ever wished so hard for a shower. Once we got into our room, we laid around for quite awhile, fading in and out of consciousness, before we were ready to head out on the town.
The scenic view from our hotel room
Posted in: Bangkok
Monday, February 25, 2008
Thailand is punishing me for having so many kids
Trying to book hotels for our trip to Bangkok this week was an interesting and frustrating experience. Apparently we have the most kids out of anyone in Thailand, because it is next to impossible to find hotel rooms that can accommodate us. When booking a room, you get a choice of bedding configurations -- one king size bed or two twin beds. Okaaaay. Are there really so many platonic friends taking buddy road trips together that hotels all over the country need rooms containing two twin beds?
The other option is to book a triple room, in which case you get three twin beds. This still isn't enough beds for us, but our only other choice is to book two rooms, so triple rooms it is. Yesterday we went to the mall and bought two pool mattresses. Hopefully the kids will see this more as "fun sleepover" than "mom and dad are too stingy to get us our own beds."
The hotel-booking websites are a good source of amusement for their interesting spin on the English language. One hotel, for example, claims that the "secluded surroundings will lure you with fresh air and wind." Well, a nice stiff breeze is pretty damn alluring. If that wasn't enough already, this particular hotel also has a "self dial telephone" (oooh, very Jetsons!), a check-in time of "01:00 Noon" (wait, when is that, exactly?), and a "late cheak out until 15:00." They also promise to "pay meticulous attention from every corner of Your Room to every aspect of Your Need." I think we made the right choice, don't you?
The other option is to book a triple room, in which case you get three twin beds. This still isn't enough beds for us, but our only other choice is to book two rooms, so triple rooms it is. Yesterday we went to the mall and bought two pool mattresses. Hopefully the kids will see this more as "fun sleepover" than "mom and dad are too stingy to get us our own beds."
The hotel-booking websites are a good source of amusement for their interesting spin on the English language. One hotel, for example, claims that the "secluded surroundings will lure you with fresh air and wind." Well, a nice stiff breeze is pretty damn alluring. If that wasn't enough already, this particular hotel also has a "self dial telephone" (oooh, very Jetsons!), a check-in time of "01:00 Noon" (wait, when is that, exactly?), and a "late cheak out until 15:00." They also promise to "pay meticulous attention from every corner of Your Room to every aspect of Your Need." I think we made the right choice, don't you?
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Mae Sa Elephant Camp
Two weekends ago we visited Mae Sa Elephant Camp, and it was awesome! We watched an elephant show and then just wandered around the camp, checking things out and marvelling at the fact that we were sharing the paths with dozens of elephants.
The show is pretty amazing. The elephants play soccer, throw darts, paint pictures, and eat snacks out of your hands.
Dave wrapped in trunks
Dave feeding elephants
Elephant performing
Elephant painting
Isabella with an elephant-painted picture
Walking with elephants
Elephants bathing
Dave and Isabella with baby elephant
After the show we made our way to the Mae Sa Craft Village and Resort, which Liv pronounced "the nicest hotel I have ever seen!" She was pumped that the rooms came with the use of slippers -- "Mommy, these are much warmer than my regular feet!"
Our resort
Our bungalow
Me, Dave, and William in the sling
The pool
After the girls and Dave took a icy cold swim in the pool, we had supper at the resort's restaurant (plates and plates of different Thai dishes) while my dad sat in the corner by himself doing a phone interview with the director of his new school in Poland. Later, after the girls had finally worn themselves out and gone to sleep, the four of us grownups sat out on our little bungalow's balcony and enjoyed some chips, beer, and Phase 10. That was the fun part of the evening, the rest -- not so much. The bungalow had two single beds and a small cot. Olivia was on one bed, William and I were on the other, and Isabella was on the cot. In the game of musical beds, Dave was out. First he tried bunking with me and William, but he found that a quarter inch of mattress simply wasn't enough space for him, imagine that. He moved over to Liv's bed, but since she was quite adamant that she WAS NOT going to share, he had to kind of curl up at the bottom and try to cover up with a little piece of her sheet. Add to this the fact that these mattresses were as hard as planks of wood and you have all the ingredients for a miserable night of sleep. I kept waking up every hour or so just wishing it was morning so I could get up already. Luckily the resort had a resident rooster who was happy to wake us up at 6 am.
All in all, it was a really fun experience, though. It's not every day you have to look out for elephant poop when you're walking down the road!
The show is pretty amazing. The elephants play soccer, throw darts, paint pictures, and eat snacks out of your hands.
Dave wrapped in trunks
Dave feeding elephants
Elephant performing
Elephant painting
Isabella with an elephant-painted picture
Walking with elephants
Elephants bathing
Dave and Isabella with baby elephant
After the show we made our way to the Mae Sa Craft Village and Resort, which Liv pronounced "the nicest hotel I have ever seen!" She was pumped that the rooms came with the use of slippers -- "Mommy, these are much warmer than my regular feet!"
Our resort
Our bungalow
Me, Dave, and William in the sling
The pool
After the girls and Dave took a icy cold swim in the pool, we had supper at the resort's restaurant (plates and plates of different Thai dishes) while my dad sat in the corner by himself doing a phone interview with the director of his new school in Poland. Later, after the girls had finally worn themselves out and gone to sleep, the four of us grownups sat out on our little bungalow's balcony and enjoyed some chips, beer, and Phase 10. That was the fun part of the evening, the rest -- not so much. The bungalow had two single beds and a small cot. Olivia was on one bed, William and I were on the other, and Isabella was on the cot. In the game of musical beds, Dave was out. First he tried bunking with me and William, but he found that a quarter inch of mattress simply wasn't enough space for him, imagine that. He moved over to Liv's bed, but since she was quite adamant that she WAS NOT going to share, he had to kind of curl up at the bottom and try to cover up with a little piece of her sheet. Add to this the fact that these mattresses were as hard as planks of wood and you have all the ingredients for a miserable night of sleep. I kept waking up every hour or so just wishing it was morning so I could get up already. Luckily the resort had a resident rooster who was happy to wake us up at 6 am.
All in all, it was a really fun experience, though. It's not every day you have to look out for elephant poop when you're walking down the road!