The Lee’s take on Thailand
Yes, its true – Shan’s parents crashed our honeymoon and it was actually really great. First, we spent a week together in Bangkok and Phuket. For more on our time in Thailand and pics
Shan’s parents (who we will refer to as Bill and Elsie from now on – Mom/Dad, hope you don’t mind!) have done a good amount of travel for work in their lifetimes but have rarely taken time out of their schedules to travel for pleasure. Therefore, it was special event for all of us to have them join Anthony and me during our trip. For Bill and Elsie, it was an opportunity to have them to visit somewhere new and to gain some insight on just exactly what their daughter and son-in-law will be up this year. For Anthony and me, it was our opportunity to provide that insight -needless to say, we were excited to have their company. Bonus for us that we got to trade in our humble hostel accomodations for a real hotel room with towels, hot water, and A/C – thanks to Bill and Elsie, we got to live large for awhile too 😉
Day 1 in Bangkok consisted of picking Bill and Elsie up from the airport late morning and getting settled. We successfully, snuck ourselves into my parents’ max-of-two-people hotel room and then headed off to Jim Thompson’s house. In case you’re wondering who Jim Thompson is, here’s some quick background info: Jim Thompson was an American architect and successful business man who was famous for bringing back the handwoven Thai silk industry. He mysteriously disappeared in the late 60’s. While living in Thailand, Thompson built a house made up of 6 different houses which he bought and reassembled together into a single residence in Bangkok. This is what we visited and it was INCREDIBLE.
Day 2 in Bangkok was jam-packed as Bill and Elsie were troopers and able to fight off their jet-lag and run around town with us in the grueling sun and heat. We visited the Grand Palace, Wat (aka. “The Temple of Dawn”), and Wat Pho (the home of the Reclining Buddha). All were spectactular and breathtakingly beautiful. For more pics check out Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/shanlovesphotos/sets/72057594071995101/
That night we had planned to take my parents out to show them the crazy culture of Kao San Road (which is Bangkok’s backpacker haven), but my parents got side-tracked. Apparently, my mom befriended some members of the Taiwanese Rotary Club of Bangkok during dinner and managed to get her and my dad invited to their monthly meeting and karaoke party, which was being held in our hotel. For those of you who don’t know my parents, they are karakoe FIENDS (they sing everyday, whenever they can – no joke). Therefore, that night, Bill and Elsie ditched us, put on their party clothes, and crashed the Taiwanese Rotary Club of Bangkok’s karaoke party. Unbelievable…
Day 3 brought us to the famous floating markets 1.5 hours outside of Bangkok. We hopped on our own little boat and explored the network of canals which houses a floating world of commerce where you could find just about anything being sold from a boat. Elsie was thrilled to get lunch from the noodle boat.
For more floating market pics go to:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shanlovesphotos/sets/72057594071995101/
Days 4-7 brought us all to Karon Beach in Phuket. Bill and Elsie were finally able to give into jet-lag at this point and get some R&R here. While my parents were catching up on much needed rest, Anthony and I went on an incredible scuba diving day trip to Racha Noi. Given that we got certified over a year ago and hadn’t been diving since, we were eager to get back in the water. Needless to say, we were also a little rusty with what we had learned, which became apparent when our dive instructor called us over to set-up our equipment and we were at a complete loss (this led to his having to do everything for us). The reaffirmation of our rustiness occured when i put my wetsuit on backwards AND I managed to use my flotation device as a jetpack. In the middle of our first descent, much to the horror of anthony and our instructor, I pushed the wrong button and shot up to the surface of the water while Anthony just nodded and smiled and gave our instructor a big thumbs up. Luckily, he had a good sense of humor and lots of faith, our scuba skills came back to us, and we all had a great time. Highlights were seeing our first moray eels, stingray (which I actually didnt see but Anthony did), and 2 meter long leopard shark. We can’t wait for our next dive, likely the Red Sea in Egpyt!
Other highlights from Phuket included…
– watching Elsie shop with a savy eye for the freshest fish on the ice display at the restaurant where we all ate dinner the 2nd night – and watching her guard that same fish with her life so that no one else would claim it before our chef would fry it up for us.
– after Elvis left the building he apparently set up shop just off the beach as a Thai Elvis crooned some of the King’s classics and we danced to his soothing sounds under the stars. Elsie and Anthony perfected their cha cha cha while Bill pretended he was in front of a karaoke microphone and seranaded Shan while they danced something resembling a waltz (a distant resemblance at best)
– relaxing on the beautiful wide-open beach with a crystal blue warm ocean all around and sipping the absolute best fresh coconut ever!
Next stop, Cambodia.
Over and out,
Shan
Tags: Bangkok, Phuket, SE Asia, Southeast Asia, Thailand, Travel
Shan
March 13th, 2006 at 12:07 am
Anthony and Shan: por fín tengo noticias de Uds. que maravilla de viaje.
Como hago para mandar esta página a los amigos y a parientes?
besitos, Mom
Shan: love all your adventures, good for Elsie and her wonderful fish.
Please let me know how can I forward this page to my friends and relatives, I do not found any icon to do it.
Have fun, I love you Martha