The Equinox

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equinox

Van Bangkok-April2009

Since it's Equinox in Thailand, it's hot hot hot .... and we'll be leaving tonight for Bahrain and then Athens!

I'm sitting in the hotellounge now, sipping my cappucino & Perrier ... and it's almost time to grab the hotel limo & drive to the airport, 30 minutes of relaxing left :-)

While I'm relaxing here, some things to be remembered:

* cars in BKK don't like hills. Our taxi needed multiple attempts to climb up the small bump on the entrance of the hotel. While we were driving on a flyover in BKK (they only have 2 lanes, one for each direction of the traffic), we spotted a huge standstill in the opposite direction, caused by ... a car that couldn't make it uphill on the flyover, it was just standing still there ... and no way for the cars behind to pass it. I wonder how this Gordian Knot got resolved! Did they push the standing-still-car over the edge to clear the path?

* paté in BKK is only so-so. Our yesterday dinner with Kevin was lovely, and I normally try out the paté when I visit a restaurant for the first time, and it was not bad, just so-so. Too much pepper to my taste (what did they have to hide?) and not enough other sensations. Paté is obviously not an Asian dish :-) HL confirmed that his dish (recommended by Kevin) was delicious!

* Alyssa gave us a tip for next-time-shopping: Platinum Mall, opposite of Amari Watergate. Original copies of the real stuff at local prices ... not to be missed by HL!

* young monks in BKK don't like to be photographed. They shy away. No idea why, they are cute!

* Thai people smile to much to hide the fact that they didn't understand you (said Kevin). Or they don't know the answer. Their best reply is a huge smile :-)

* The hotel here (Méridien) is cutting down on costs ... and the staff suffers. Before the crisis, the staff had a very nice choice of food in the cantine. Nowadays, it's only one dish, and sometimes the same dish day after day after day. An occupancy of 10 to 20% does seem to leave some marks ...

* The hotel in Hua Hin has no choice but to bring in more wedding parties. Without them, the financial goal cannot be reached. The staff will have a hard time in calming down the normal guests! And HL should explicitely ask - before booking - if there's a wedding planned ...

* BKK at the equinox is deadly. Be sure to have at least 1 liter of water per person with you, when you go out. Inbetween, buy new cold water and refresh yourself regurarely. The heat is sucking every drop of liquid out of your body. We saw many tourists and locals suffering, their faces all red and blown up. It's life-threatening.
Positive aspect: the pool is gorgeous! So nice to swim under the sun, in warm water, and noone else around :-)
 
huggies,

PB
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