Apparently I missed posting Fridays events by just over an hour (based on Pacific time which is home). Not that that was really anything to tell you about. Oh, wait it didn't rain -all- day. Nope. We got out in the morning for a walk to check out the vendors as George was looking for things...yes, things. Me, on the other hand, well I was looking but not really for anything to buy. I don't really like going through the bargaining it you need to go through here. It seems it's different at each place, just depending who (what nationality) you are bargaining with and what nationality you are. So lets just say we were looking for someone Thai (or in the close proximity of) to buy something form.
After walking down up one side of the street and down the other, we ended up at one of the first places we came across and George picked up a few little things. Me...nada. Nothing really appealed to me at any of the places we were at. I don't want to buy any counterfeit goods, as not only is it illegal, but you end up supporting an industry that is riddled with crime at some level or other.
So it was back to the hotel to enjoy some sun before the rain socked us in again. The maid showed up just after we got into the room but we let her know we would be on the rooftop so she was welcome to do her thing. We ended up getting a good hour and a bit of half sun/half cloud before the darker clouds rolled in, so it was back into the room. I spent more time on the lower level as I'm not really a sun person as much as I used to be. I like the colour and all, but just get awfully bored lying there and sweating, at least without a good margarita showing up each time my glass was emptied.
So once in the room, the heavens opened up, and I mean really opened up. It literally came down in buckets for a couple of hours. It was great watching it and listening to the thunder from our room, but I knew that it would only increase the humidity later on.
Finally, the rain subsided down to a mere sprinkle and looked to stay that way. It was a good thing too, as we had to had over to the optical store on Bang La road to pick up George's glasses. Walking down the main street by the water was great, as the rain had pretty much kept everyone off the streets and the shops had their tarps pulled down or they were inside to keep away from the rain. This allowed for great progress on the walk to Bang La, that is until we reached the halfway point. There traffic was moving slowly and there was a lot of it. We could also see at the next cross street up, the side we were on was flooded probably a half foot and there would be no way we would be getting across there. So George suggested we cross to the other side and try walking there as he saw some people walking pretty unimpeded on that side.
Now crossing a street in Phuket (probably elsewhere in Thailand too) with or without a crosswalk is an art. With all the vehicles, motorbikes, and carts going pretty much everywhere and leaving little space leaves your options limited. We found out by watching the locals, the best thing is when you see a small gap, start walking. Don't run. Just keep walking. The cars will slow or stop if required and the motorbikes will just drive around you (actually so will the cars if they can). Just watch and move and voila, you are across the street. So this side of the street was not so bad. We were able to make the rest of the way down to Bang La without encountering another lake. Oh, and the one we avoided ran a at least 100 metres up the street so we would definitely have been in for the long haul if we even attempted that side of the street.
Once we reached Bang La and the shop where George ordered his glasses, they quickly got them out, helped with adjusting them and letting George get the feel for them. One set had a curved surface so he will take a while getting used to looking out of them, but then again, multi-focals are probably not far down the road and I got used to them pretty quick. He paid the remainder of the balance and that was that. Two new pairs of glasses for less than the price of one back home. A deal!
We had previously decided that we wanted to have our last dinner out at the same Thai restaurant we ate at 2 nights ago and enjoyed so much. By now the rain had completely stopped and we walked up Bang La to the next street and had some more of the tasty Phuket Thai food. After another delicious meal, we made a quick stop at the big mall just down the street. I don't recommend to anyone that they go here, as the prices aren't really that good. Name brand items at pretty much normal prices, but I think it's for the lazy tourist who doesn't want to go out into the elements and look around.
Back to the hotel and it was time to pack for our departure in the morning. All in all, even without the amount of sun we would have liked, I enjoyed Phuket. The hotel staff have been nothing short of courteous and helpful. I do feel sad that they have to endure some of the rude visitors that we have seen staying at the hotel. It is not right to treat anyone the way they have. Would I recommend the Nap Patong as a place to stay? Definitely. I would even suggest paying a little more for one of their upgraded rooms, or at least something on the 5th or 6th floor. The pool is not huge but if I wanted water there, I would have headed to the beach. The location is not far from most places people would walk to anyway and I found it quiet at night even when the few fireworks were shot off in the area of the beachfront each night.
So that was our Friday in a nutshell. Stay tuned below for Saturday's updates.
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Today is the day we begin our journey back home, our l-o-n-g journey back home. As every morning goes, we were up by 06h00 to start the day. Since we had pretty much packed everything last night, all that was left was having a shower, making sure everything was charged for the journey, breakfast, and then get our ride out to Phuket airport.
Having breakfast this morning only confirmed more to me the rudeness I have been seeing occur from certain cultural groups here. Just the way they were demanding and trying to push their weight around (literally) and butting in line, yelling their orders out to the staff is completely unacceptable. There were moments when I wanted to go over and slap the lot of them. There were about 8 people taking up four tables, but after they ate, they sprawled all over the benches, taking up another 3 spots just because they wanted to. No thank you when an empty plate was removed or when a coffee was refilled. It truly shed another light on the way some cultures behave outside their home.
Our taxi ride was set for 10h00 and we were down to the front desk by 09h30 to check out and pay the hotel directly for the ride. After having the cleaning staff confirm all was ok in our room (I'm not sure what they were checking for), we sat down to wait. As it turned out, the taxi was actually a van from the hotel driven by one of their staff who would be taking us out to the airport. After a crazy drive through the town on streets that you thought were the way out, but then you turned onto another side street, then another, and another, we finally reached the point where I remembered the road, only because we were now going back up the hillside from the beach area and back onto the road/highways leading to the airport. I told you the other day on the way in how crazy the driving was at night time. Well it was truly no different in the light of day. Ride the bumper in front of you, change lanes when you think you may have an extra inch of space. Speed limits? Lanes? What are those? Needless to say I think we just became immune to all the driving there.
Just before we got the airport, traffic was funnelled from two lanes (I say that with a smile), down to one lane. Wouldn't you know it, but we get pulled over to the side. Our driver said not to worry, no more than 5 minutes, so we just sat back and observed. George thought their may have been some infraction with the lights up front as they officer and the driver were pointing to the front of the vehicle, but it looked more like they were pointing at the license plate. After a bit of chatting and writing, our driver came back and turns out he got a 700 baht ticket for speeding. There were others pulled over while we waited so it appeared that just down the road someone was checking and messaging back license plate numbers to the other officers.
We turned into the airport entrance not 500 metres up the road, thanked our driver and tipped him and headed off into the airport. Now it took about 30 minutes to get there so we were much earlier for the 13h05 flight than expected and to boot, there was no line up at the business class check-in. So while the girl typed away trying to check us in we waited. She seemed to be having trouble printing the baggage tag all the way back to Vancouver, as our connection in Tokyo was still about 31 hours away. In the end, we found out that she was trying to move us to the 12h10 flight (which she did), but after solving the bag tag issue, she was able to print all my boarding passes, but not for George. The Air Canada flight from Tokyo to Vancouver would not print for him. Ding, ding, ding, it's the DHP status on George's file with Air Canada (damn that guy from RIM). No problems though as his baggage tag did print correctly and we would just pick up the missing boarding pass when we got to Tokyo.
So with boarding passes in hand and a direction pointed as to where the gate and lounge were, we were off...sort of. Just as we were trying to figure out whether or not we turn left or go straight ahead (where the arrow pointed), the Thai representative came running up to us and insisted on leading us through to the lounge. So while we passed through immigration, and then security (don't think it would pass for anything near that back home), she led us with a purpose to the Thai Airways Silk Lounge. She spoke a few words to the lady at the desk then walked us into the lounge and showed us to our seats, a section of approximately 6 seats in a section with a big sign saying 'Reserved for First Class Passengers'. The only differences in our seating was we had comfortable leather sofas and pillows, an enclosed (3 sides) in section right after you pass through the entrance, so that we could come and go without passing by everyone (but they had to pass by us). Although the treatment is greatly appreciated, you really feel like you are on display for everyone else, as once people realized that someone was sitting in the reserved section and were dressed as casual/comfortable as we were, often gave to looks seeming to say 'who are they?' But that taken, we had a refreshment and some snacks before heading off to our gate and catching the earlier flight to Bangkok and which would also mean an extra hour to be added to our visit to the lounge and spa.
When it was time to board the flight, we walked down to the gate to wait ourselves. Watching the gate, we noticed a gentleman who appeared to be American from his accent giving off the DYKWIA (do you know who I am) attitude and flashing his 'United Plus Gold Card'. Seems his boarding pass did not say his Star Gold status on it and it was an issue and he wanted new boarding passes. I think he needed more than that myself. When it came time to board, he and his wife were front of the line and he tried to use his drivers license as ID. When the agent asked for his passport, he said 'I'm only going to Bangkok and don't need it', but in the end relented, after another agent started another line to allow people to pass by this person and his wife.
Have I mentioned that boarding here is similar to the process that they use in Paris where if a flight comes in, boarding has to stop so that the new arrivals can pass by and don't mix with those departing. I don't know how they manage to keep things running on a semi smooth basis, but somehow they did. We got to the bridge entrance a ways down the hall and were met by another group of people coming in from the other direction who we had never seen in the departure lounge on our side. Turns out that those of us with onward connections and not leaving the airport had cleared immigration, but the others hadn't. That's why we had stickers on our shirts and they didn't. Just a way for them to easier identify us when we arrived in Bangkok and had to go different directions.
Once on board (our American friend was on the other side of the business cabin), we were settled in, we were given cold towels and a pre-flight drink while the rest of the plane was boarded. Then it was time to head out. Being moved to the earlier flight, we ended up getting on one where a hot meal would be served. Turned out to be another delicious (did I say that about airline food) fish dish with egg and rice and a nice tasting Thai spice. I'm really going to miss the flavours we've encountered down here. The flight was pretty much quiet with nothing newsworthy happening. We did watch our American friend lift himself out of the seat while the plane was still taxiing to the gate in Bangkok and then set himself on the two armrests of his seat (not sure how he squeezed into the seat if he was able to sit there without falling back in, but he did).
Disembarking in Bangkok, we left the aircraft behind them. We knew the walk up the bridge would take a little longer, but we weren't in a rush since we had so much time. No sooner had we stepped off of the plane and onto the bridge when George spotted the sign with our names on. Wouldn't you know it, but there was the Thai rep waiting to lead us through any formalities past any line-ups and take us to the Royal Orchid First Class Lounge. I had heard that this might happen, but certainly wasn't expecting it since not only were we arriving really early for our next flight, but we had changed flights in Phuket.
Once we reached the lounge and were checked in, they offered the various spa options available to their first class passengers, three which were each 30 minutes long or the full body 1 hour massage. Ding! We'll take the hour log one, please. So we were both booked into treatment rooms at 18h00 giving us plenty of time to relax and have a bite to eat and a drink or two. Once again we were led into the lounge, but this time, since we were here so long, we were offered a private room (they have about 8 by a rough count) which consisted of a leather sofa, for high back chairs, a desk and chair with plug in to charge your laptop, and a big flat screen Bang and Olufsen TV. Refreshing drinks and cold towels are promptly delivered while our attendant hands us an iPad showing the various food and drink we can choose from (no need to get up even though it's on display just down the hall). I will tell anyone travelling through Bangkok now to make certain they have a Thai flight booked in first class as their departure flight because there is nothing better than the pampering you get from all the staff.
Six o'clock came around quicker than expected and we were taken across the hall to the
Royal Orchid Spa Lounge, where we got ready for our
Touch of Silk - fully body oil massage. While filling out our guest cards we were given yet another cold towel and some cold tea to drink before heading down to our rooms. We were introduced to our masseuses who then led us down to our massage room. It was a huge room with a massage table in the centre and a raised bathtub at the rear. Off to the side, where I was led was a changing area with a shower at one end and toilet at the other. A closet to hang ones clothes, silk robes, slippers, double sink, toiletries and towels. I was asked if I wanted a shower or bath after I was done (shower please) and then directed to undress and put on the pair of underwear they provide you with while massaging. Let's just say that once on, they are like a thin mesh and really leave nothing to the imagination. Wrapping in a towel, I opened the doors and was directed to lie down on the table, covered with a blanket and then had my towel removed.
Now I have never had a true massage in my entire life and I must say it was wonderful. First working on my legs and feet, individually, she moved on to the arms and hands, and entire back before working on the neck and shoulders. It lasted for just over an hour but seemed far too short. I was just getting to the point of truly relaxing and letting her work out the knots in my back and legs. Then it was cover up time and head back into the private room area (not really that private as the windows are only lightly frosted), and into the shower to clean off all the oils before getting dressed.
Then it was over to the tearoom for some delicious herbal teas and treats like a rambutan in custard, or as George called it, rama-lama-bang-bang. They were so much tastier done this way than the ones we had earlier in the week. That done and back across the hall to the lounge again and wait for our boarding time.
Boarding time was at 21h30 but we had been told that they would call us when we needed to go. The time was ticking by and of course being anxious, we started to head for the door. The staff advised us there was no need to leave yet. They would have someone escort us to the plane when we needed to go. They didn't want their first class passengers to have to wait. So about fifteen minutes before the flight was ready to go, we were walked to the gate where when we got down the stairs, rather than line up behind the few people left to board, we were taken in a different entrance to the bridge and then turned down to our section of the aircraft where first and business passengers board.
When we boarded, the staff seemed particularly interested in George and were very attentive to him. We were followed by at least 3 VIP's (two from the Middle East, one of which wore far too much cologne (guess he doesn't bathe much)), and Japanese gentleman who was in the lounge with us. We settled in and as the crew was introducing themselves individually, they were telling George how they were expecting him and were so excited to have him aboard. Apparently his name is the same as someone well known over there but in a better sense than his same namesake in Canada. We never did find out who he was or what he does, but it was certainly a nice experience for him.
After some pre-departure champagne, it was time to leave Bangkok for our overnight flight to Tokyo. Although I was pretty stuffed already, I was looking forward to the special meal of capon I had ordered. They asked me if I wanted a soup appetizer and upon discovering it was some sort of wild mushroom, I gladly accepted. They set up my table and brought out the soup as well as some foie gras and another thing I couldn't identify. All delicious again, even if I was hesitant about the foie gras. They hadn't set up Georges table and I thought it was because he didn't want the appetizer, but when they came to dismantle mine, I was a little confused. I asked them when they would be serving the meal as I though it would be just after take-off, but they told me about 4 hours into the flight. That would make it breakfast by my watch, but I just though, whatever. It's food, I'll eat it then.
Now it was time to watch
The Hunger Games and then try to get some shut eye before it was time to eat.
