George’s Adventure

Wednesday 14th February 2007 (15th – 17th December 2006)

On the day after my birthday Janine and I didnt leave the hotel.  Obviously we were feeling a little worse for wear but sitting by the pool in the sunshine is’nt that bad you know.  I chucked out lots of my clothes so that when we went to Japan my rucksack would be a little lighter.  On Saturday 16th December we checked out, left our bags with the porter and headed out to the weekend markets where we bought loads of stuff.  Both being aware that we would be back for Christmas and with no money we thought we could buy a few things at the market.  After collecting our bags and getting a taxi to the airport we arrived in Japan on Sunday 17th December at 7.00am. 

From Narita (Tokyo) airport we took the subway to Minowa and walked the rest of the way to our hotel.  The noticeable change from Thailand to Japan was the weather.  It was cold cold cold.  People have coats and jackets on.  I am freezing to death in about six layers of clothing and all because I had my fleece, gloves and hat stolen in New Zealand.  I didnt see the point of buying a new coat for only a week in Japan so I suffered in silence (i am sure Janne would object to that last statement as I probably did moan about the cold alot). 

You have to take your shoes off before you enter your room at the hotel and we had to step up into the room.  The hotel was so so small and rather strange.  It was recommended in the guide book Janine had as it was a modern version of a tradidtional Japanese style place to stay.  The room was literally just a room.  Very small with a futon double bed.  They gave us two duvets so we wouldnt be fighting over the covers in the evening and despite such a lack of room it had a TV and DVD player.  We were extrememly tired from the flight so we both had a nap pretty much straight away.

When we awoke we went out to find some Harajuku girls and boys.  It was great to see them all dressed up.  I mean i’ve seen people dressed up in Camden town, I even used to dress a bit ‘funny’ (as my Dad would describe it) when i was younger but in Harajuku the kids dress up in clothes that are a type of mix between uniforms (like nurses etc) and goths.  Very entertaining.  They love just posing there and chatting in groups.  We bought a crepe each which had the most amazing fillings.  Ive never seen them in England but this crepe was delicious.  We bought them off a stall on the side of the street and we had read in our guidebook that it is rude in Japan to eat walking along the street so we just watched the locals and did what they did.  They seem to hide in a corner, face away from the main hub of people and eat.  Very bizarre.

This is probably why Tokyo has what I believe must be the cleanest place EVER.  Noone is seen eating, dropping litter or doing anything weird in public.  It is even considered rude to blow your nose in public (cue me needing to blow my nose all the time of course).  The subways and trains are spotless.  Its almost too clinical.  People walk around with masks over their faces, presumably because they dont want to pick up germs and things.  A totally undescribably city where the people are full of surprises.  Hardly anyone will talk to you and Janine and I felt like we were, at times, the only tourists in Tokyo.  It is unbelievable that the road markings and map directions are impossible to follow and it is very difficult to withdrawl money from an ATM without hassels when I always thought Japan was a very modern and technologically advanced city.

Before dinner we went up one of the government buildings in Tokyo to catch a great view of the city.  The view was a mass of black and twinkling lights.  Very bizarre and wonderful to look at.  Dinner that night was interesting.  Everything is written in Japanese.  Pointing at pictures seemed to be the best way to deal with things. 

Wednesday 14th February 2007 (13th & 14th December 2006)

A day before my birthday, Janine and I checked out of the guesthouse we were staying in and made the short walk to my birthday present.  My parents had bought me a couple of nights in The Landmark hotel in Bangkok for my birthday pressie.  After beating off men trying to help us with our rucksacks, even though you cant actaully help anyone who is wearing a rucksack, we made it accross the bridge to the hotel where a man took our bags before we even reached the doors to the hotel.  The doorman had white gloves on, a hat and a great smile.  We were in room 2612, Christmas day to me, on the 26th floor.  Our room had twin beds, air conditioning, a TV and one thing that i loved, curtains that block out all the light – i mean i dont even get that at home.  It was so amazing to be in a quiet place after all the hustle and bustle.  Pure pampering really.  We have a bath!!!  I havent had a bath the whole time i have been travelling, only showers.  I dont even really have baths at home but when you dont have the option you dream of it.  We, of course, had a mini bar and a safe and all sorts of things.  We loved our room.  We got changed, unpacked our rucksacks and i found that a tube of deep heat i had been unknowingly carrying around since New Zealand had burst in the back of my rucksack.  All the white cream had gone hard and stank.  Rucksacks have the strangest compartments which is why I hadnt noticed it before.  I wore the slippers they provided and the dressing gown.  So simple, so silly.  By the time we had sorted ourselves out and watched a bit of James Bond on the TV we were ready to go down to the business lounge of our free cocktails and canapes.  We get this each night between 5.30pm and 7.30pm.  Well by the end of it we are well on the way to cocktail heaven and i’ve eaten so much we dont need to have dinner.  The canapes are like small portions of dinner and they even have dessert canapes just to round off the evening.  The canapes change every evening too so we dont get bored.  This is where I fall in love with Mai Thai cocktails. 

On the night before my birthday, after the cocktails and canapes, we head out on the skytrain (BTS) to PatPong.  This is the renowned streets for girlie/pingpong shows…you can use your imagination as to what that means.  PatPong market is small but one of the best for things like CDs and DVDs.  We walked around the two streets and I bought some music.  We headed to Radio City which is a bar and got a table where the girls and boys serve you drinks to your table.  We watched a Thai Elvis and a Thai Tom Jones perform which was really funny.  There is a live band that performs with Elvis and Tom and they are great performers, very entertaining to watch.  After the entertainment had finished another live band came on who were excellent.  They sang covers and were great .  At one point Janine and I decided to take part in one of the songs.  Janine played the bongos and I hit the cowbell – what a combination!!!  I can pretty much be sure that around the time I was hitting the cowbells it became my birthday.  Since I dont actually know what time I was born i just do a midnight thing so yet im hitting a cowbell at 25.  After our little rendition we met some guys from England who were working in Thailand and we headed off to another bar with them.  We didnt stay out much longer and headed back to our posh hotel. 

As I got into bed last night it was like stepping into a little snippet of luxury.  I felt like my bed was a big marshmallow and I was in it.  Wonderful…I drifted off to sleep so peacefully.

14th December 2006 hits and I’m 25.  I wake up to a bedroom full of multicoloured balloon, a cake with a number 2 candle in it (Janine couldn’t get a number 5 to go with it), pressies and even the bathroom is filled with balloons, including the bath and shower.  Janine had somehow managed to trick me into thinking she was going to sleep but then stayed up overnight to blow up balloons and stuff – mad!  I have to admit that I temporarily hold off from getting too excited about this as I’m feeling a bit under the weather and have to be sick down the toilet – nice!  First day as a 25 year old and i’m throwing up.  Just about prooves my adult status really.  I’m really not feeling too good, getting hot and then cold within minutes and the pain in my stomache is unbearable.  I am sick again and I can hear someone ringing our doorbell (yes our room has a doorbell – crazy!) so I’m thinking, that’s ok, Janine will get it – but no, the next thing i know I have my head halfway down the toilet bowl and an unknown woman coming into the bathroom.  She notices me, apologises and says she’ll come back.  I wouldnt come back if I was her.  I’m sick again and then I feel fine.  I brush my teeth about three times because I can’t seem to get that taste out of my mouth – NICE!  Once I’m feeling vaguly human I return to our room and Janine is still sound asleep – having missed the excitement of my morning activities I wake her up and tell her all about it – I dance with my balloons.

Breakfast is included with our room and we can have anything.  They will cook stuff right in front of you and you couldnt complain about something not being there.  You could practically have dinner for breakfast if you really wanted to.    We returned to our room and the dreaded bathroom woman returns, she asks if I am ok and i nod and we leave the room.  We head out to a nearby massage place.  We both had a head, neck and shoulder massage which was so so good.  My neck felt great afterwards.  I also had my first ever manicure and pedicure.  I bit my nails but as we had been travelling I had grown them for the first time ever so I thought I could treat myself on my 25th to a manicure for them. 

We then took the skytain to Siam and went into Pizza Hut for a birthday pizza.  I know its not Thai but we’ve been in Thailand for over a month and rice and noodles are lovely but its my birthday and i want grease and carbs!!  After lunch we go to MBK, the massive shopping centre in Bangkok and I go and get my hair done.  All the pampering today!!  It’s dirt cheap to get your hair done here – i have colour put through my hair, the first time I have ever dyed my hair – very exciting.  At the end of it – I love it!  I actually love my hair for the first time.  We get back to the hotel, go for cocktails and canapes, dress up and go to the ‘Mambo Cabaret’.  This runs for about an hour and consists of girls and probably mainly boys dressing up as girls and miming to famous songs.  Lip syncing is hillarious and they dance too.  They do this to songs like Gwen Stefani’s ‘What you waiting for?’.  Funny as.  They are really glam though.  After the show Janine had a picture taken with one of them – I managed to avoid this – there is something a bit creepy about it.  We dived into a pub on the corner after this and the wonderful staff and manager there decided to play a little trick on us, saying that we had to pay a bill for some drinks we had had – even though we hadnt had any…anyway, it turned out to be a joke (they thought it was hillarious!).  We got free drinks, cocktails, shots and champagne all evening.  What a birthday!

 

Wednesday 13th December 2006

Koh Tao is a beautiful island. We didnt explore very much of it but even the commercial parts are still fairly unspoilt and you can definitely relax here. We stayed on Sairee Beach. This ... [Continue reading this entry]

Friday 8th December 2006 Oh how the island of Koh Pha-Ngan is absolutely crazy. There is something just not quite right about it. After Laos we flew back to Bangkok and spent the night there. From the airport ... [Continue reading this entry]

Friday 24th November 2006

 

On our last day in Chiang Mai we did stuff like buy postcards, go on the internet and of course, went to a yoga class.  It was the best one i've ever been to.  I felt so ... [Continue reading this entry]

Monday 20th November 2006 Our last day in Bangkok on Thursday 17/11 was pretty funny.  Janine has no malaria tablets for Laos but you can buy them pretty easily over the counter in chemists in Thailand.  Of course the ones Janine ... [Continue reading this entry]

Wednesday 15th November 2006 On Friday 10/11 we set off on a ferry to Koh Phi Phi from Phuket Town. At the ferry port they gave us yellow stickers to indicate that we were getting off at Koh Phi Phi Don.  ... [Continue reading this entry]

Thursday 9th November 2006 Arriving in Phuket was surprisingly easy.  We had arranged it so that we got picked up from our hostel in Bangkok and transfered to the airport where our flight was with Bangkok Airways ('Thailand's boutique airline' dont ... [Continue reading this entry]

Monday 6th November 2006

We arrived at the new international airport in Bangkok.  Last time I visited they only had one part which everyone flew into.  Now they have a part for domestic and a part for international.  We queued ... [Continue reading this entry]