Good Times in Thailand

I was still recovering from jet lag from my flight back from Sydney as I headed to the briefing for my next trip. I was headed to Bangkok and despite my extreme lack of energy and therefore motivation, I was looking forward to a few days of fun in Thailand.

We met many interesting people on our flight over. It all began during boarding with the drunk man who asked me on a date as he hiccuped and spent 10 minutes in search of his bag that had been sitting on his seat the entire time. Once he began shouting and insulting the passengers sitting next to him, we offloaded him. There was a total of 1 male crew member on the lower deck, the last thing we needed was an aggressive drunk man to deal with at 40,000 feet. Then there was the man who insisted that the airline should pay for damages to his iPhone... apparently it had been sitting on the tray table and when the passenger in front reclined his seat which in turn sent the phone flying and cracked the screen. There were many, many more strange individuals. I wondered how some people are even capable of getting as far as boarding an aircraft, given the thought that must go into booking flights, checking in, and getting all the way through security to the gates. It remains a mystery to me, all that I do know is that it was a mentally draining flight and we were exhausted by the time that we finally landed in Bangkok.

The rest of the crew headed to their rooms for the mandatory post-flight nap. I opted for caffeine and sat sipping a green tea latte at a coffee shop across the street from the hotel. I browsed the supermarket, picking up some fresh fruit to eat while waiting for the rest of the crew to wake up. A couple of hours later I met up with 3 others, including one crew member on his supy flight. A380 crew are so lucky. My first supy flight was a miserable messy turnaround to Cochin, India... not a nice layover in Thailand. We were starving and set out in search of dinner. I was adamant that we eat Thai food, and slightly disappointment when the others were ready to settle for a less than appealing Italian restaurant. Fortunately I was able to persuade them to continue walking for a bit, and after 5 minutes of walking down a dimly lit side street we came across a cute little restaurant serving Vietnamese and Thai cuisine. I was thrilled as I ordered Pad Thai and Vietnamese salad rolls. 2 of the others were new to the world of Thai food, and I raved on and on about how great it was until they finally sampled my meal and thoroughly agreed that Pad Thai is simply amazing. After a nice dinner and plenty of funny moments, we headed back out in search of dessert. We found it at a small convenience store, where we bought delicious ice cream and happily wandered into the street. We split up as 2 headed back to the hotel and myself and another girl headed for the spa. I'm not typically one to indulge in spa pampering, but I decided to give it a try. After browsing the spa menu we both decided to have facials and were led up to the "Romantic Room", much to our amusement. It was super relaxing and I definitely dozed off a few times as I was pampered. Afterwards we headed back to the hotel and I fell into a deep sleep.

The next morning I woke up early to grab some breakfast before my flight. I was quite proud of myself as it seemed I'd finally mastered the art of dodging traffic to cross the street. I grabbed some yummy fresh fruit and headed back to get ready. We were off to Hong Kong for the day, to return to Bangkok later that evening. It was a quick and easy flight and once we'd arrived we were given the option of staying on the aircraft or enjoying the airport lounge. I chose the latter and sat in the airport enjoying complimentary snacks (dim sum!), coffee, and wifi. 4 hours later it was time to head back, and by this time I was feeling quite sleepy. During the flight we had to take our seats for about 15 minutes due to turbulence, and I thought the gentle bumps were going to rock me to sleep. I was relieved to land in Bangkok and convinced that I'd head straight to bed. Once we arrived, however, we discovered a huge celebration in the streets... apparently a significant holiday in the Hindu religion. I met up with 2 other girls interested in seeing what was going on, and we went out into the street that was lit up by thousands of candles and filled with people. The scent of fragrant flowers filled the air, and everyone around seemed very happy. Spotting us as clear outsiders, one man kindly handed us each a fruit, smiling as he greeted us in Thai. We walked for awhile and took in the atmosphere before turning back to finally catch some much needed sleep.

I'd agreed to meet a few girls and the supy guy the next morning to head to the infamous MBK in search of anything and everything that you could ever want to shop for. I headed to the lobby a few minutes early to find supy guy waiting patiently, but nobody else was anywhere to be found. We waited... and waited.. and nobody showed up. Finally too impatient to wait any longer, we hopped in a taxi and chose to go it alone. We arrived at the massive mall and we instantly overwhelmed. Before we could shop, we needed to eat. We found a busy food court and I grabbed some... you guessed it... Pad Thai... for 1/10th of the price that the hotel offered (and that is even with our crew discounted rate). After lunch we spotted a DVD shop and I selected numerous cheap chick flicks to keep me entertained during my days off in Dubai. I was in search of one thing this trip, and I set out on a mission to find it. For months now I've wanted an instant camera. I finally found the one that I wanted and I (okay fine, Supy) negotiated a better price and left the store happy with my new purchase. We wandered the mall with no particular plan, stopping at a Thai-ish shop where he picked up an elephant decoration as a souvenir of his first trip, and I bought a fridge magnet to add to my collection. I also got a few pretty cushion covers since my flatmate is moving out this week and the apartment is looking quite bare since she's packed up her belongings. We searched the busy shops trying to find gifts for our significant others (I've been Christmas shopping for months and so far have absolutely nothing, nor ideas) before leaving empty handed and catching a taxi back to the hotel.

I wasn't quite ready to nap, so I headed back into the streets for a quick walk, stopping to buy some snacks to eat before the flight. I'd had a great couple of days and I didn't particularly want to return to Dubai. I reluctantly packed up and napped before the flight, sad to leave but ready for a few days off to do nothing but sleep.

In the airport I was heartbroken when the crew member in front of me purchased the very last mango sticky rice (my newest Thai obsession) in the shop. I'd been so kind and let others jump in front of me in the passport line, but perhaps next time I'll be a bit more aggressive. I'd been craving it the entire day. I was happy when I found another place selling it, but in a much smaller portion. We flew back to Dubai on a quiet overnight flight, and I headed to bed to sleep for an entire day.

I'm already looking forward to my next trip to Thailand!