Amazing Travels

Bangkok....A Little Late!

mrs_jackson — Thu, 29 Dec 2016 00:49:00 GMT

So we have been having so much fun I have not written in some time, sorry about that. Much has happened in the last few days so I hope to capture it as best as I can.

Our first full day in Bangkok was the floating market called Damnern Saduak. We were in no way prepared for what we saw here at this treasure of the Bangkok area. Our driver parked the van we had traveled approximately 1 hour 20 minutes in and we walked about 1/2 of a block, through a small shop, and we had arrived, our guide introduced us to a 70 year old woman whom had one oar in hand and a long skinny wooden boat. Dre and I hopped in and were told to keep our hands inside to prevent them from getting smashed and to keep balanced in the center of the boat to prevent from capsizing (by the looks of the water, I definitely did not want that). A camera popped up in front of our face a few shot were taken and we were off. The floating market is all about vendors selling their goods and trying to entice you to buy something they have. We were informed by our guide that the first price they offer to you is the start of a negotiation and immediately you should offer 50% less (unless it is food products, then the price is considered set). Many of the vendors have long pieces of bamboo with a hook at the end, they will reach out catch your boat and pull you over for the start of what seemed to be a display of all of their goods. I am not sure how many times Dre and I said no thank you that day but I know it was a lot. We ended up buying a green stone bracelet, mango sticky rice (omg yummmmm), (2) large Chang beers (pronounced Chong), and some of the most delicious pork skewers I think I have ever had (btw, we purchased the beer and skewers right off of a boat where they were cooking more of the same). We people watched, ate and drank our beers and we were on the move again.

We were delivered back to the hotel where we showered and headed to the little sports bar called Sports Corner on our street. This place was filled with men watching sports and flirting with the Thai waitresses. Dre and I had an early morning the next day and decided we should head back to the hotel.

Day 2 in Bangkok was a tour of the Grand Palace, the Emerald Buddha, and Wat Pho. Due to the dress code of the temples, we had to wear certain items to ensure we were not being disrespectful to the culture (this was also the hottest and most humid day of our stay in Bangkok). In short the amount of detail, design, thoughtfulness, and pride that Thai people have displayed in these buildings is quite incredible. The Grand Palace is under strict security, you see the King who has been on the throne for the last 70 years passed away on October 13, 2016 and on the palace grounds he is lying in state. Thai residents flock to pay their respects by the 100s of thousands per day waiting for 5-8 hours for a few seconds to make an offering and say a blessing.We were told that this king will lie in state for about a year while his grave is designed and built. His son, by the way, whom is 64 will take the throne but will not have a coronation until his father is creamated. The Emerald Buddha, was another highlight, this Buddha was said to have been found in northern Thailand in 1434 covered in plaster, when there was a chip on the nose of the Buddha, it exposed the green stone underneath. The remaining amount of plaster was removed, only to find a flawless piece of jade designed in the shape of the Buddha. This Buddha is considered the highest of all Buddhas. Such amazing history was heard and felt today. We headed back to the hotel where we immediately decided to go to the pool and to cool off. We then went back to our little sports bar, Sport Corner where we met a few folks from Cali (Long Beach and Temecula) that encouraged us to see one of Bangkok's Red Light District, Soi Cowboy. We went, we saw, we drank, we got a late night snack and we're back to the hotel by 5ish (AM). :/

Day 3 was one of pure relaxation, not only were we out very late last night, but we also have still been trying to adjust to the time....We needed this day of lazy.

Day 4 pack up and be ready for our transfer to the airport....Off to Phuket we go.

Is Hong Kong Ready For The Jacksons?

mrs_jackson — Sat, 24 Dec 2016 11:04:00 GMT

Arrival to Hong Kong after our 15 hour and 35 minute flight was amazing.... Couldn't wait to get off of the plane and start walking around. We were quite surprised at how easy everything was to read and to maneuver. Immigration, baggage claim, customs, buying the MTR train tickets all was very smooth until we had to transfer to a different train to make the last leg of our journey. We had opted to wait until getting to hotel to exchange currency and when we went to buy the second train ticket it only took Hong Kong dollars.....We had to hunt down a lady who had to unlock an exit for us to get to the ATM. When we got there we had a hard time making the cards work but finally it spit out Hong Kong currency. We went back had to get the same nice lady to unlock the exit door to let us back in, once standing in front of the machine we entered the number of tickets and realized the currency we did have was to large of a denomination to use in the machine #hongkongballer. The Jacksons were on the hunt for the nice lady to tell us where to go get change. To customer service I went and change is what I had in hand when I had to be let through the exit door by my new Chinese best friend. Train tickets in hand we followed a trail to the Blue Line train. We had almost made it when I turned to talk with Dre and I saw he had stopped and was looking at his suitcase he started to walk towards me and muttered something to the effect that his wheel busted.....That is not good is what I replied. Now with a new clickeity clack noise we got on the MTR train, which by the way was VERY clean, air conditioned, smooth, and fast. We had a short ride and exited the train when we exited we had a little trouble getting our luggage through, we had to pull, stuff, lift, and inevitably toss our bags to the other side. THEN we say was appeared to be an endless amount of stairs that we had to take our (2) 45-50 lb suit cases up......Yikes!!!! Once outside, I went on a search of the skyline for the Conrad....It looked to be across the street and so we started to walk. We went through a very nice mall (reminded me of South Coast Plaza) and arrived at the front desk. I thank my lucky stars when I find out that our room is ready cause we are both ready for a shower.

All cleaned up, we heard a knock at the door and are greeted with Welcome Tea, yummmmm. A few moment later the door bell rings and we are greeted again with some whole fruit. We head down stairs to the Lobby Lounge and decide to redeem our coupons for our complimentary welcome cocktail and talk about where we would head for the day, side tracked we became when we saw the pool and pool bar with the amazing blue sky and sunshine, we knew we had to go enjoy it. After another glass of wine, we headed to the porte cochere where a bellman hailed a cab for us. Let me start by saying that everything had seemed very modern until that moment. We notified the bellman that we wanted to go to Stanley Beach, we got into the cab, a mid to late 80s something, and our journey to Stanley Beach began. After twisting, winding, lots of breaking, and lots of teeth grinding as we narrowly missed cars passing on the other side's we pulled over on a curb where there was a small beach. We were told there were shops, pubs, and lots to see.... We only saw a very small beach and we looked and started to laugh at each other. I needed to use the bathroom and when I walked in I saw what looked to be showers, I kept walking around and quickly realized those were the toilets.....What was this thing in the ground? So I did it, I used it and realized my legs were not very well conditioned for this type of toilet :/ Before giving up on Stanley Beach, we went for a walk and found these little alley ways with lots of shops, restaurants, art displays, and cats....Yep, CATS, there were plenty and they look well-groomed. We found a very cute restaurant called EatBar, very American looking, and so in we went....this was the location for a very important lesson.......not all tacos are created equal. Chicken wings were bomb, tacos however we're a glorified plate of Cool Ranch Dorritos and some fancy sour cream that had a hint of sweetness, we laughed again and I had to take a picture....Hong Kong Tacos. The restaurant manager came over with his glass of wine and toasted the upcoming Christmas holiday and shared his card with us... A joyful and spirited man wearing an apron that has Santa Claus on it (another very surprising thing, Hong Kong is decked out for the holidays). We caught another 1980s taxi back to the hotel and wanted to grab an actual meal. We went to a restaurant in the mall where we had an amazing burger....at dinner is where I hit my sleepy wall and although it was only 8:00 pm we headed back to the hotel until we heard a ruckus down stairs. What we learned here is that it seems in Hong Kong security is very mild mannered, but the general public will react. An unruly man, who was clearly inebriated had disrespected the bar tender who told him they ran out of beer, this is when a man entered and choked the man unconscious and then attempted to wake him up. Once conscious the man lay on the ground and screamed all kinds of crazy noises, the choker then jumped in his back to be in position should he have to go night night again. Dre couldn't help himself and started recording the incident....once the man caught Dre recording him he started saying to Dre "your my friend and whitness," we gave him a thumbs up and when he looked down, we left. I am certain he is sore today and probably has little to no recollection of the night or what happened to him.

When we arrived to our room we quickly put on our PJs and jumped into bed, only to see that the hotel sent us a VERY nice bottle of champagne and a card congratulating us on our honeymoon and marriage. Conrad Hong Kong you really know how to make two newlyweds feel special.

Patience

mrs_jackson — Thu, 22 Dec 2016 21:07:00 GMT

So most of us are aware that it takes patience to travel period, but to do it on one of the most traveled days of the holiday season ..... What was I thinking when I booked this trip. I must say a dumb mistake on my end (entering the wrong year of birth for my new husband, oops) turned into an hour and a half of waiting in line to fix this error. This was also one of those times however that Andre and I looked around and realized, yes, we had to wait in a line that seemed like we would never make it to the front, but we also realized and quickly that our circumstances were better than about 98℅ of the others around us. A dose of patience is what many in that line had been forced to swallow. This is where I had the time to observe the behavior of the customers service agents and how they were so beat up on by every personnel who stepped foot near their podium. A smile and a holiday greeting was how I started our interaction. We made it through that endless line and welcomed the TSA line (much shorter and much sweeter) when we arrived at the gate I was very hungry and a bit thirsty for o boot. We went to a pannini/wine bar and encountered a man who clearly hated his job and when I ordered an Italian trio pannini, he rolled his eyes like he would rather be scooping cow manure. I took this as an opportunity ity to share some smiles and holiday cheer. I never cracked this old nut but I hope on his drive ho.e he finds what it is always to make him smile. We got on our flight, pulled out on the tarmack only to realize we forgot one of the mandatory flight attendants at the gate.... Back to the gate we went in our very easily manuvered 777-300. Now fully loaded, tired, delayed, we are actually getting ready to start our honeymoon journey. Patience and good cheer we reiterated lessons today and yet, insane so few of both.....Dre and I will always find ways to entertain our selves. Flight was scheduled to depart at 12:35 AM It is now 2:30 AM, and I am really ready to get this bird in the air.