Bangkok meet-up

It was a long track to Thailand. I had to fly to Heathrow first, had a couple of hours layover there, then flew to Singapore and from there further to Bangkok. But it payed of because I got to fly the new Airbus 380, something I really looked forward to. Last year I flew to Thailand with some low cost company and that was sooo much cheaper but so much crab. At the time I felt like the comfort wasn't such an issue, as long as the prices were cheap. But ever since I flew Singapore Airlines... my God! Never again I use such cheap ass companies for such a long flight! The lovely comfort and the perfect service I got this year just made the trip so much more enjoyable.

The layover in London passed quickly and soon I got to board the huge airplane. It's so hard to understand how something so big and heavy can possibly take off! There was a big map in front of the gate that showed the different areas of the plane and with colored sections pointed out where you're seat number was located.

Upper deck and main deck? It felt like boarding the Titanic or something :). Funny enough there was also a little playground for the children in the waiting area, where they had put a rubber airbus lying on a plastic blue mat. I'm sure it was supposed to symbolize the air, but it looked much more like a crashed plane floating in the sea. Yes indeed, I was a bit nervous :)

I was so happy to have got a window seat, because I can only sleep on flights when I can rest my head against the "wall". Yet soon after we took of it turned out that the headphone plug-in didn't work... The lady had to apologize a thousand times and then offered to switch me to an aisle seat. So there I was, making a hard choice between being able to watch movies or being able to sleep... I did choose for the headphones eventually, so didn't sleep for a minute.

But I was however able to watch Slumdog Millionaire, which is such an amazing film! I had to cry so bad that I got stares from the lady next to me and the stewardess spontaneously brought me another drink and a tissue :S I always cry when watching a good movie, but on a plane it is however a bit more embarrassing...

After the rushed transfer in Singapore I arrived in Bangkok perfectly on time, got some Bath from the ATM and took the airport bus to Sukhumvit Road where my hostel, called Suk11 Hostel, was at. I found it quickly and after check-in had a first glance at my room. Luckily the air con worked! It was so hot in Bangkok! After over 24 hours traveling with no sleep I had a quick nap on the bed, although less than an hour later my alarm went off again because I already had to go to meet up with New and Ale for sightseeing.

I was so looking forward to meeting them finally, although I physically didn't quite feel capable of going out anymore. Took me some efford to make me look decent, I'm not sure if I succeeded anyway. Yet it turned out to be a great afternoon, despite my zombieness! When I got down to the lobby the lady from the hostel came to ask if I was the Belgian girl, as there had been people looking for me. Woohoo! Some minutes later New, Ale and I finally found eachother. So nice to meet you both!!!

We went to the Skytrain station to wait for Chris and May and then we went into town. I was so happy to meet all these people but I was also a bit nervous, so just like last year in Brussels I've been doing silly stuff like dropping the metro ticket, using the wrong words and running into people etc.

Woohoo, so exited! First we took the River Express Boat to see the Wat Pho. I so love this temple, even though I had seen it  last year I really wanted to see it again. It was just as lovely as I remembered and May proved to be an excellent guide also! After that we went to the Siam Museum, partly out of interest for the Siam history and partly because it had air con :) Turned out to be a great museum though, very interactive and sometimes really funny, but also interesting, especially as I hadn't seen it before.

After the sightseeing we went to sit on the terrace of a lovely café by the river, of which I forgot the name... (Can any of you girls tell me the name and address again please?) It had a nice view on the Wat Arun while the sun went down, it was so nice and quiet there and I also got to eat cheese cake! Did I ever mention I'm a cheese addict? I never thought I would find any proper cheese in Asia but wow, first day and there it was already :D It tasted so good :) At the cafe Aioh and Dodge joined us as well.

So lovely to meet my crazy Aioh again after spending New Year together! And also so lovely to meet sweet Dodge for the first time :D She was so kind to bring me the flowers for good luck. I forgot to ask you, how are these flowers called in Thai? Do they have a special name? I liked them so much I've tried to dry them and then I packed them and brought them to Siem Reap, but they turned out not to be dry enough when they were packed and so they were already broken when I got them out of my backpack again... So sad! Still I'm sure they've brought me good luck all the way through the journey! And they smelled so lovely!

We took the boat across the river to a restaurant of which I also can't remember the name... Aw! I was so tired I think I have some holes in my memory about what happened these first days in Bangkok.

If I write things wrong please correct me :P

Anyway, the restaurant was lovely and so romantic and the food was absolutely great. It was so nice to taste the Thai food again after so long! I love it :) After the diner we went to Khao San road to have drinks, which was also great. It was the first time that I actually went to Khao San. I didn't stay there last year and I didn't stay there now either. I was so happy that I didn't! Aw, this place is insane! So laud and hectic and chaotic, and just crazy and filled with tourists and souvenir stalls... Damned, it was nice for a night out but I would go insane if I had to stay here. If then I compare it to the lovely alley where I was staying on Sukhumvit Road I have to thank New again for recommending this great place to me! I couldn't have stayed anywhere better!

After a nice night of drinks and snacks (French fries, jeeej!) it was time to finally get some sleep.

Aioh took the cap with me back to the hostel to drop me of, which was very kind! At about 1am I finally was in the bed. I was so tired but so happy about the great first day of this journey. It was such an amazing night out, it just couldn't have been better!