I could not believe it...but Papa and I finally got to go for our own couple trip without kids! We went to Bangkok and it was a whirlwind trip as it was only for 2 days 1 night. We reckoned that we had to start small
Yay we dropped the boys at school and Mei at Waipo's home. Our adventure began!
Waiting at the boarding gate. We met our elderly neighbour who was also heading to Bangkok with her maid! Ha small world.
Yay Singapore Airlines - a great way to fly. Papa used his credit card miles to redeem the tickets and only had to pay for the airport charges. He had wanted to redeem business class tickets but slept on it and they were gone the next day.
Then he wanted to ask the check-in staff for a free upgrade as it was my birthday but there were only automated check in machines! Heh but luckily, there wasn't a passenger at the window seat so we got the whole row to ourselves.
The gorgeous Kempinski Hotel. It was S$350 ish a night, very costly by Thai standards, somewhat reasonable for a luxury hotel by Singapore standards. It was breathtakingly ornate and opulent. I was pleasantly surprised when I stepped into the room. It was so beautifully decorated!
So after talking to his godsis, Aunt Kath, he took her advice and emailed the hotel that we would be arriving early on my birthday and asked if the hotel could decorate the room. Papa was a bit puzzled during the check in as the staff member asked him if he wanted a king bed and he wondered if he was playing along as if he were doing a normal check-in so as not to ruin the surprise for me. Papa was thinking in his head, eh...why did he ask these things if the room had been prepared already?
The staff member actually walked with us to the hotel room. Such exceedingly amazing service. We were also given a wet towel and iced lemon grass drink while waiting at the counter so that we could refresh ourselves....ah...the joy of staying at a luxury hotel
Well, I was still unsure if his walking us to our room was a special gesture or if they did this as part of their service as I saw another staff member walking with a family to the lift too....Well, I guessed we could only find out if we went there to stay again! And Mei was already telling Mama that she wanted to stay at this hotel too when she looked at my photos when I was doing the blog.
The nice bathroom that came with a bathtub
Papa said he could soak in the tub while watching news
We loved the big bed
Yay Mama turned 42!
Heh, FB prompted us with this video of Mei saying Mama for the first time, just in time for my birthday! I missed that cute squishy little body. Now , she had become too long and lanky.
They even prepared a cake!
First meal in Bangkok. Papa brought me to this traditional Thai restaurant which was started in 1981!
I loved green curry. YUMS YUMS.
Papa loved the fried omelette.
and his phad thai...
Papa brought me to the exquisite atas Siam Paragon to buy a very expensive pair of earrings (all because I mentioned in passing that I would like to own a pair of Van Cleef clover leaf pearl earrings to his friends...it cost some $3000 for a very small pair but he was all ready to buy them)...well, tragically, the VCA shop at the mall did not have any earrings...haha
Then we went shopping at Pratunam Mall...we bought some clothes, mostly for the children...as we kept thinking of you all though you were not with us...and we had a one-hour massage at the mall...So-so only though it was not that cheap by Thai standards (the roadside shops were only charging 300 baht for an hour while we paid way more)
and ate mookata at this restaurant called "Crazy Rich Thai"...well I thought all of you would be very amused and would gush about the "Crazy Itch Asians" again
Their satays came with toast bread...well they looked better than they tasted
The mookata pot was HUMONGOUS
See, it was truly a gigantic pot
It was rather delicious but also quite costly by Thai standards. We smelt like BBQ meat after dinner.
And...we went for a one-hour foot massage!
Whenever we saw something that reminded us of you, we took a picture and sent it to the family chat group. Ah, Toto's shop!
Night market which I thought would have been fun for all of you...
A very over-the-top floral cafe which Jie might like
And we saw PONYO! Mei mei would have loved to take a photo with PONYO as she really liked her. Mei always said she liked ham, just like PONYO. ha
We had a good night's sleep...
Next day! The breakfast was so unique and scrumptious. The service was extremely thoughtful. We were given a menu and there were delightful items like softboiled eggs on some crab mayo salad (it was so good that I ate two portions), omlettes, pancakes...
The cold cuts were served on cold slabs on stones that were placed in a freezer...so atas...ah...smoked salmon...Tong would have loved them
I was eyeing the kebab sticks at the street stalls last night but was too full after dinner and could not eat more. Imagine my delight when I saw kebabs at the breakfast counter! They served different cuisines, Arabian, Mediterranean, Chinese, Western...spoilt for choice
I enjoyed the breakfast thoroughly.
We took the buggy to the mall and started walking to Pratunam Market.
It was amazing. The morning market only operated for a few hours. When we reached at 830, it was bustling with people. We wandered into the permanent section in one of the buildings and when we came out at 930, all the stalls had been packed up nicely and left on the road to be taken away! GOSH.
It was so jam-packed with people, hawkers, people pulling trolleys of goods around, food stalls...yet there were people who chose to drive cars or take taxis into this area..madness to me
After shopping and having accumulated a lot of loot, we went for a massage at a very pretty and more atas massage parlour. They served us iced lemon grass tea again (
It was wonderful. We could shower after sweating so much from the shopping and walking. There was a private shower in the couple's room. The masseurs were terrific, and I must have fallen asleep. The massage beds were even heated up. After the massage, they served us mango sticky rice. SCREAM. The classic Thai dessert that we had yet to taste in Bangkok and we got it without expecting it. WOW. What a fantastic surprise!
Checked out of the hotel. They were so thoughtful and gave us late check-out at 2pm. Papa said it was the perfect timing as he had planned to leave for the airport at 2pm lest the traffic was bad and we needed a long time to get there.
Waiting for the grab car
We got a shock when a lorry appeared! The luggage was loaded up at the back and covered by a hardy sheet. ha...it was a rather clever idea we thought
Lunch at the airport. Green curry again. Very expensive meal ah
and Papa's noodles were not very tasty too
A must - visit the local Mcds. Papa was wondering about the option "extra large" fries but he chose it anyway as it was a value-for-money choice and we gasped when we saw how huge the fries were indeed! Bigger than the medium drink!
So we checked in at 2pm on Friday and checked out at 2pm on Saturday, effectively only having 24 hours. Yet, I thought we achieved quite a lot. 3 massages, quite a few great meals, two huge bags of shopping loot....
and back to our babies...
We were really thankful for the extended family's help...the kids camped at Waipo's house...Tong actually went to sleep at 11 plus...he was the first to sleep. Ha. He had wanted to call me but was using his phone and dozed off. The others went to sleep at around 1 am...Wai po said they all fell asleep fine but she was still awake at 3am! She said perhaps it was coz she had not had small kids sleeping in the home for a long while. She was sleeping on the sofa and could not get to sleep and went to cuddle with Jun and went to LALA land. : )
On Saturday, Er Yi and San Yi brought their kids to Waipo's house to play. I did ask Er Yi to take Youyou and Yanjie there but I did not expect San Yi to turn up too! San Yi even treated everyone to Saizeriya as she just got her bonus. Tong asked Er Yi to stay at Waipo's house till we reached home. AIYO, we would only reach at midnight so I told Tong to tell Er yi to go home. Er yi said it was OK. THe kids were playing happily. Even San yi stayed behind! When Papa and Mama went up, the kids were playing merrily and the adults were laughing while watching some Jack Neo's movie together. Ah...a picture of bliss.
God always works in wondrous ways...it was rather uncanny...Aunt Xinyi and Mama were talking about buying lucury bags and she said that she was thinking of the LV emprinte neverfull bag and read reviews online about some manufacturing fault, causing the bag to change in colour. I was puzzled. I thought it was for the lighter cream colour and thought mine was fine. Anyway, I went to scrutinise it in the sunlight anf was horrified to see that the pouch had indeed discoloured. That was shocking as I had never used the pouch before and it was stored nicely in the dustbag in my wardrobe!
The discolouration was so obvious, a stark contrast of two tones! So I wrote to LV, did not expect much to come out of it as it had been more than a year (1.5 in fact) since we bought it but they said to bring the bag in for inspection. So I asked Aunt Xinyi to go with me since were meeting up for breakfast to celebrate my birthday.
So I went there with the bag tucked in the storage area under Mei's pram seat...I know, super unglamorous...after checking, they decided to give me A BRAND NEW ONE. Aunt Xinyi scrutinised the one they showed us and rejected it. In the end, they got a pristine one (ooo the heavenly leathery smell) from ION (we were in Takashimaya) and woah, they gave me a brand new box (even bigger than the last one I got) in a new paper bag. It was as if I went shopping AGAIN! Ha.
Super memorable experience. Ha...such a serendipitous chain of events...heh...it made our friendship go up a level...It was a good thing that Papa bought this from the store. If I had gone to a reseller in order to save money, I would not be able to exchange it probably. If Aunt Xinyi had not been looking at this bag and chanced upon those reviews...woah...I would have gone on carrying the bag happily...not noticing the defects...or just shrugging it off as natural leather ageing even if I did notice that the pouch was discoloured years down the road....ah......
Aunt Mel and Uncle came over
Ah...they got us an ice cream cake and bubble tea...we fed them lunch and dinner...heh...meat meat and lots of meat...
Little Jemy took a while to warm up...but we would be meeting up very often...I was sure he would be playing happily with Mei Mei in no time...
Ah.. Mama's heart was so full. What a spectacular birthday month. A lot of feasting, meeting up....surrounded by people whom I loved and loved me... Ah....God is so good...hmmm
