December 21, 2007 Steps: 6900 Temp 35C

Well the boys are done school now till January 15^th. Jennifer had to go to school today to work on report cards and of course she only has a few days off her university classes. At least she has a bit of a break to catch her breath. I told the boys last night that they weren’t to show up before 9:00 AM this morning. We mucked around here for awhile and then took the boys to Lotus to do their Christmas shopping. Asked what they thought would be a good present for Mommy and Daddy and it was running shoes for Daddy and a hat for Mommy. Well we talked them out of that but what we got wasn’t much better. They saw a ping pong set so thought that would be a good thing as there is a ping pong table in the exercise room. Then it was a DVD – The Shaggy Dog. Lastly for Mommy, Oliver chose a black head band with sparkly “diamonds” on it, 2 little frosted pink barrette things and a lovely blue flowery scrunchie for her pony tail. It is so cool to go shopping with kids. We met Gone on the street as we neared the apartment so the kids went home with him for awhile. Oliver was soon back to wrap presents. We had no scotch tape so used medical tape and made some “snowflake” gift cards. Now that took me back a few years. I was having trouble remembering how to do it. Gone came over and cooked supper, much to Tom’s delight. Jennifer showed up after class at 9:00 PM. Oliver was already in bed by then and once again Nicky said he’d stay “tomorrow”.

December 20, 2007 Steps: 15080 Temp:34C

Well, Jennifer was right. Oliver was up at 5:15. He did not want to miss this last day of school as it was basically a fun day all day. Activities weren’t starting till 8:30 and daddy could take him later but he was a little concerned that Gone would be too late. He wanted to go with mommy at 6:30. I convinced him to stay in bed 20 more minutes and then we got up and ate breakfast. Called Jenn at 6:00 to say he was on his way home and she just laughed. I went back to bed!!! While in bed all Oliver talked about was wanting Santa to bring him a basketball. He plays it all the time at school with the bigger boys and I guess he can leave his own ball in a locker there. We had a late start and then decided maybe we should go buy a basketball. And seeing as how we were going to town, maybe we should go to another show. I just finished reading “Northern Lights” which was filmed as The Golden Compass. It was an awesome book and of course better than the movie. I could hardly put the book down. But the movie was really well done. The story is a trilogy so I decided to go get the other 2 books. Easier said than done. Every book store we went in to was totally sold out of them. We finally stopped at one more centre and I got the very last copies. I can’t wait to read them. But, I digress. I really wanted to tell you all about the theatre. It is quite unbelievable. In a regular theatre there are 3 levels of seating. Our seats cost 160 baht each (the cheapest of course) – they were leather, partially reclining and the seat folds up like ours do. Next level (3 rows) cost 180 baht each and they’re a little plusher, recline more and the seat is not foldable. Then there are the 300 baht seats. They are the very last row, leather of course and a cuddling couch built for two. There is a whole separate theatre for ultra seats. These are a package deal for 600 baht each. This includes your own separate waiting area away from the masses and noise and while you’re waiting you are served a “drink” and some appies. How cool is that. Your 2 seats are in their own little pod – completely private. After the movie we wandered around the stores for awhile. These malls are so huge. There is a whole level devoted entirely to cosmetics – unbelievable. Caught the sky train home and headed to the little Vietnamese restaurant for something to eat. I ordered my vegetarian spring rolls and Tom was quite undecided. He saw a nummy looking plate of deep fried shrimp being delivered to a table and thought it looked pretty good. These shrimp looked huge so I latched on to one right away. Imagine my horror when I bit into it and found shell and all. Tom got through them but I don’t think he enjoyed it too much. Who would have thought??? Came home, having a big Leo beer and heading to bed.

December 19, 2007 Steps: 6840 34C

Another slow day. As you all know I hadn’t posted any blogs, so it was time to get pictures down loaded and cleaned up and then post the blogs. It’s a lot more time consuming than I had expected but then again I’m probably missing some key information and too impatient to slowly go through all the help pages. We spent most of the mid day at the pool - that’s where I did most of my typing. It’s so peaceful up there on the 8^th floor and such a nice breeze. And, there’s hardly ever anyone else there. Unfortunately there is no food or beverage allowed or maybe that is a good thing!! Gone was busy during the day so once again we picked the boys up from school. Nick was in much better humour so no whining about the walk. There seems to be a routine now, stop at 7/11 for a sucker and water, stop at a street vender for fried bananas, grab the 6 baht bus, get home, snack, go to the pool. Jennifer was going out with the teachers for a Christmas drink after school and Gone joined her so they weren’t home till 10:00PM. Oliver had already taken himself to bed but Nick was wide awake, with Grampa reading stories. They took Nick home and we went to bed with a warning that Oliver would be up early. Tomorrow is party day at school – the last day before Christmas holidays.

December 18, 2007 Temp: 34C Steps: 18500

Our first day of touring………..Note the number of steps – we were wiped!! Left home around 9:30 AM and walked to the Skytrain (about 25 minutes). Took the train to the river boat area (another 20 minutes) and then collected all the info for traveling the water taxi system on Chao Phraya River. For about $1.50 each we were able to travel the whole distance (1 hour each way) return. The scenery along the river front is so varied. There are high rise hotels and condos, government buildings, business', temples, lovely homes, and rundown old places. Loads of river traffic from ferries to longtail boats to tugs pulling huge barges. The end of the line was a place called Nonthaburi (at pier 30)and it’s probably a Thai only suburb of Bangkok. We decided to get off and wander around the town for awhile to see what it was like. The main street was pretty much like any other main street in Thailand. Shops, 7/11 stores every 2nd block, food stalls........There was a huge market going on which reminded us of the markets we wandered through in Chiang Mai. They sell absolutely everything at these markets. Although the meat is all laid out there in the heat of the day it looks really nice and fresh. It was a very busy area. I think most Thai people shop daily for the food supplies such as fruits, vegies and meat. We stopped at one of the local 7/11's and got some water and an ice cream and headed back to the boat. Once on board we decided our next stop to get off would be at Pier 13 (which is called Banglamphu). My Lonely Planet guide said there was a shuttle boat we could take to get to the Royal Barges Museum but apparently not. They tried to sell us a 800 baht trip(100 baht is around $3.00) and we said no thanks. And away we went to investigate the area. This is the tourist mecca and I’d forgotten how crazy it can be. So many people, so much traffic, so many smells, so much noise and oh so hot. In a new area you are always consulting a map or a guide book and as soon as you do this someone is at your side offering “friendly” advice. Meanwhile they’re really trying to sell you something. Or someone will stop you on the street and ask where you’re from. When you say Canada, they immediately say they have a friend, family member, whatever living in Montreal, Toronto or Vancouver. As soon as they start asking you how long you’ve been here, where are you going you should just say I’m just walking around, getting exercise. Again they are just people trying to get you to sign on a tour or ride in their TukTuk. Once you get the hang of saying no it becomes easy. Of course they always approach me and it takes me awhile to get out of the conversation cause I hate sounding rude. So now I’m in practice and will just say no and keep walking!! At the pier where we got off the boat was a lovely park and Phra Sumen Fort which was built in 1783. We didn't spend much time there but will go back as there is also a walkway that zigzags along the river for quite a way. We decided to walk down a street that turned into another huge market and then we had no idea where we were so just kept walking. We decided to follow a sign that said 1200M to Golden Mountain but we didn't make it that far as we came across this temple called Wat Ratchanatda. The guide book says it’s stunning at night but I’ll never know. Within the grounds there is a restoration of Loha Prasad – the metal castle - built in the mid 19^th century. It was pretty impressive looking with its 39 metal spires. We were able to walk up a teak circular stairway of 94 steps to get to the top. It was quite a sight, you could see for miles. The only problem was that there was no English translation of anything. There were a number of other things to see in the area but it was getting close to 4:00 PM and we decided we’d better head out. From the top of the metal castle we were able to figure out where we were and managed to get back to the pier without any difficulty.
Got a great shot of the Rama VIII bridge. Those golden lines going out from that steeple thng are actually cables that hold the bridge up. Tom and I had watched a documentary on TV about the building of this bridge. It was quite a feat as I recall. Stopped at Siam Paragon (where we had to change skytrains anyway) and had an Indian dinner of butter chicken, chicken tikka marsala, saffron rice, garlic naan and samosa’s. It was soooo nummy. By the time we got home it was going on 7:00 so we just called the kids and said see you tomorrow. That area of town (Banglamphu) is where a lot of the main tourist sites are so I expect we’ll be traveling back there many, many times. Where Jennifer lives, it’s totally different. It's like a little community where people live and work or commute to work. This street (Thong Lor) is mostly high end, many Japanese and full of wedding shops. There are no “tourist” sites and of course you pay a little more for everything. I love being in the middle of all the hustle and bustle when it’s short term but for us and 3 months this way is definitely the better way.

December 17, 2007 Temp: 34C Steps: 11300

Monday seems to be a day of chores and rest for us. I think the boys do tire us out. Even just the endless chatter. Oliver insists on playing concentration these days (only because he always wins) and that is hard on my old brain. After chores were done we came up to the pool to laze around. Jennifer had to go to the Embassy for certification of her name for school papers. Here’s a lesson to be learned – most of Jenn’s documentation (degree etc) includes her middle name but when she last renewed her passport she only did it with her first name, not even a middle initial. When you watch these things in action you realize just how much money grabbing goes on because everything had to be notarized. I never include my middle name on my passport application but maybe next time I should. Anyway, turns out Gone was sick, so they called for us to pick the boys up around 2:30. When we got there, Nick had just woken up and wasn’t thrilled about having to walk 20 minutes in the heat to the bus stop. (Gone gets them by taxi but we always walk). Bribery works pretty good and the rest of the whining I just ignore. Picked up some deep fried bananas before we caught the bus so came home for a little taste treat and then up to the pool. The noodles are wonderful – the boys will play with them for ages in the water. After swimming, we dropped the boys home, went out for a little walk and stopped for dinner at a newly moved, renovated classy Italian restaurant. The kind where the waiter drops the napkin onto your lap….. There were guys hovering just to do anything and everything for you. Tom had a spicy spaghetti dish with olives, mixed mushrooms, smoked ham in a black pepper sauce. He said it’s the best he’s ever had. I had a pesto spaghetti and it also was very good. We even splurged and got a carafe of Shiraz wine. The whole bill came to about $35. That’s expensive for here!! Stopped at Jenn’s on the way home as we had some copies made of the Santa pics. The boys wanted to take the pic to school and of course I want the original. When we had the pic done, the cost was $15 unless you had a membership card in this, that or the other. I told them all I had was a mall tourist discount card so they accepted that and I got it for half price – hooray!!

December 16, 2007 Temp: 33C Steps: 7700

Oliver slept over and managed to let us lie in bed till about 7:30. Of course he made numerous trips peeking in the room but we just ignored him. Nick keeps saying he’s sleeping over tomorrow but tomorrow never seems to come. Nick arrived around 9:00 and the boys played and watched TV for a bit. Then it was up to the pool and play area. Jennifer had a presentation to work on for Tuesday so she came to our apartment to work on the computer. Alas, I brought the kids back around noon for lunch and it was just too much for her. She absconded with the computer back to her place. After Nick had a sleep we decided to take the kids to see Santa Claus. Oliver was pretty excited but Nick was a little apprehensive. We got a really good pic though as you can see. The Santa is very different from “our” Santa. Apparently he was here all the way from Finland. Sounds pretty close to the North Pole so obviously the real thing!! The boys are really good to take shopping. They ask for nothing and will look for ages. I told them they could each get a Hot Wheels car, well that was another 20 minutes of looking. There were far too many choices. Then we came home and ordered New York pizza for supper. We ordered “The Pig” – topped with tomato, mushroom, olives and bacon (huge hunks of back bacon). It was thin crust, 18” and delivered on the back of a motorcycle. It was a little smushed and a little soggy. I’m sure it would have been much better eaten at the location. They also ordered wings but I didn’t have any….. Of course there’s always beer to wash it down and that is excellent.

December 15, 2007 Temp: 34C Steps: 14700

Didn’t really do much this day. The weekends seem to be pretty quiet due to Jennifer’s university class on Saturday afternoons. She leaves here at noon and isn’t back till about 4:30. Tom and I went into town to finish up Christmas shopping for the boys. Now Jenny and I have to get together to see what will be left here as Santa gifts for the boys and with the remaining stuff what is from us and what is from them. It was really difficult shopping as their place is so small that you really can’t get anything with lots of little pieces. Tom wanted so much to get remote control stuff but Jenny simply said “NO”. We’ll need to pick up beach toys but we’ll do that when we get to Hua Hin.

December 14, 2007 Temp: 33C Steps: 16900

Had a busier day today. Spoke to Jennifer at 7:30 this morning to find out the Christmas concert at her school started at 8:15 not 8:30. Good thing I had already showered as her school is a 30 minute "quick" walk away. Jennifer teaches at Trinity International School. It is run by Seventh Day Adventists and attended by Thai and international students from JK to Grade 12. Oliver and Nick know quite a bit about Jesus and the bible and are willing to tell you all about it whenever you'd like to listen. Jennifer teaches Grade 5, as well as Grade 11 drama. The concert was the story of Jesus interspersed with some acting and song. It was really well done. The piano player was good except all songs sounded like "A Charlie Brown Christmas" music – particularly “Hark the Herald Angels Sing”. It was a little weird. Then, to end the show, 5 boys from Grade 4 did a hip-hop dance followed by 6 teachers dancing to the jazzy “All I Want for Christmas is You”. It was pretty funny. Everyone seemed to enjoy it though – especially the kids. I’m so glad we were able to make it on time. We went down to Jennifer’s class for a few minutes afterwards and she pointed out one of her students to Tom. Apparently he misses quite a bit of school as he is ranked 5^th in Thailand for kids his age in golf. Tom called him over to talk to him and asked him what his average score was – say around 100. The kid looked at Tom horrified and said “no, about 79 with no handicap”. It was kind of comical. Our next stop was the annual “Jim Thompson” sale. He’s a huge name here for silk stuff. He was an American who moved to Thailand, got very involved in the silk industry and then in 1967 he mysteriously disappeared. We thought we would be able to walk there but thank heaven we didn’t even try. We'd have been lost forever. They had buses laid on and it took about ½ hour by bus to get there. Tom thought it would just be your average retail store sale but no. The place was huge - a convention centre - and there were so many people. We made a few purchases – nothing for me – and then headed back out to the free bus. I could have looked around much longer but Tom was getting a little antsy….. The bus took us back to Lotus where I purchased another “noodle” for the pool. The boys think these are the best thing since sliced bread. I got some strange looks yesterday walking with my noodle so today, walking the same route I got even more strange looks. Can’t imagine what people must have thought…… We stopped for lunch at a place called MK restaurants. It’s a chain and we need to have some of these in Canada. You have an electric hot pot of stock on your table and then you choose what you’d like to put in that pot. There are 100’s of choices. The veggie choices are amazing and then you choose you noodles, meats, dumplings. They also have dim sum stuff, spring rolls and all kinds of deep fried goodies. It’s so neat. It was after 2:00 by the time we got home so we headed up to the pool for awhile. We’d thought of going into town for the evening but then Gone called to see if the boys could come over for a bit. So, we had supper, went for a walk, got ice cream for the boys and delivered them back to Gone around 7:30. Jennifer has classes this evening so isn’t home till 9:00 but I was too tired to have them any longer. We came home and I started reading the book for the film "The Golden Compass". One of Jennifer's classmates suggested reading the book before seeing the movie. I'm quite enjoying it and seeing as it's a trilogy I guess I'll have to get the other 2 books too.

December 13, 2007 Temp: 33C Steps: 9000

Hooray – the aircon is fixed!! Should get a good night’s sleep tonight!! The aircon guy showed up around 9:00 AM. He didn’t speak a word of English. Thought he had fixed the problem as he showed Tom how to work the “remote” – just can’t get away from these things…….. He left, Tom discovered the fan worked but there was no cold air and the owner happened to show up. He also speaks very little English but Tom managed to convey the problem, the owner called the repair guy back and by noon it was up and running. With the day half gone we decided to make a trip on the skytrain to a Lotus store – Thai version of “superstores”. Needed a few groceries, few more presents and I wanted to get a noodle for the pool. We certainly got a few strange looks as we made our way home with the noodle. Gone and the kids showed up from school just as we got home. He sent the kids over ½ hour later and we all went up to the pool. By the way, this pool is only 5 feet deep – perfect for me the non-swimmer…… The kids loved my noodle. I hardly had a chance to even try it. So guess there will be another trip back to Lotus to pick up another noodle. Jennifer has school tonight so Gone came up and cooked dinner for us. They all hung out here for awhile and then headed home around 7:30

December 12, 2007 Temp: 34C Steps: 11000

Spent the better part of the day waiting to get our air con fixed but alas it didn’t happen – maybe tomorrow. We do have a fan but it sure will be nice when we have the aircon working. Spent the time wisely doing paper work and emails. Finally decided at 2:00 that it was time to go out. Walked down to a little Vietnamese restaurant where I had my vegetable spring rolls and Tom had noodle soup. As an appetizer you get a bowl of “lettuce and leaves” put on your table with a little dish of spicy shredded carrots and cucumber. We don’t know quite what to do with it so just ignore it. Jennifer said if Gone was with us he would have finished the bowl off. And, we did watch a man just wolfing it down… Then it was off to the post office and sky train where we met up with Jennifer. She had decided this probably was the best opportunity for Christmas shopping. We hit Central Department store, a book store and then back to Toy’s R Us. We even got everything gift wrapped for free. It was wonderful. Now Jennifer just has to decide if we’re doing Christmas before or after our stay at the beach (Hua Hin). Had dinner at “The Garage” - very American – and a treat for Jennifer. Tom and Jenn had burgers and I had a chicken wrap. There was also a guitarist playing but no matter what song he played whether the Beatles, Barry Manilow, Extreme, it sounded like Cat Stevens or Jim Croce. This was the first time we’d been out in the evening. The places were absolutely packed. Asian cities are so vibrant at night. It’s like everyone comes alive and has to get out. Noise, lights, food stall smells – it really is quite difficult to describe. We’ll take lots of pics one evening and see if
that helps with the

description.

Just hanging out

December 11, 2007

Haven’t quite got onto this blogging. Think I will start making a small entry daily just so I can keep better tabs of what we’re doing. Last Wednesday was a National holiday – the King’s Birthday - and then Monday was another holiday. We’ve mostly spent our time just wandering the streets. We live on Thong Lor (pronounced Tong Law) and one day decided to walk up to the end of the street to the canal.

This is the inner water taxi system. Jennifer and Gone have both cautioned against taking it and after watching the boats coming and going we mostly agree. They travel quickly not slowing for anything so the sides are covered, in order to prevent you getting wet (dirty water – yuk) from the wave action. Jennifer has to use this to get to university. Maybe we’ll attempt it one Saturday just to say we’ve done it. When we have the boys we take them for walks – usually to the local grocery store and back and then for a swim. It really is a god send having this pool. I’m going to have to buy a “noodle” though just so I can actually get some exercise swimming. Tom thinks he can teach me to swim but I’m afraid he might try to drown me in the process!! Have visited 2 more shopping areas and will definitely be going back. I don’t think there is anything that can compare in all of Canada. Of course everyone is into Christmas and the decorating is incredible – as are the noise levels. You can’t go anywhere without some sort of music blaring at you from all sides. Siam Paragon is the largest mall in SE Asia. It also has a huge aquarium that we intend to visit (includes a glass bottom boat ride), an Opera House, 14 theatres and 6 IMAX theatres. The gourmet food market was absolutely amazing. We’ll need a few days there alone. For some reason they also have a Lamborghini and Ferrari

dealership as well as Mercedes on the 5^th floor. Apparently there is a “Ferrari” club that meets at our local grocery store (Tops) every Sunday. We “heard” 3 of them….. Seems there’s a bit of money in the area!! Took the kids to Central World Plaza on the weekend to go to “Toys R Us” so we could make a Christmas list. It’s very expensive here so hopefully we can find the same toys at cheaper department stores. We also took them to see “The Bee Movie”. Getting Tom to a theatre at home is like pulling teeth but here I’m sure I could get him to go weekly and probably will just to get out of the heat. The theatres are incredible, huge seats, arm rests that move out of the way (if you like to cuddle), loads of leg room, amazing sound although a touch loud and awesome popcorn!!

We went to Chatuchak Market with Jennifer on Sunday and of course a place we need to revisit. There are 15000 stalls set up selling everything under the sun. You are cautioned about pickpockets but I think you should always be aware of that possibility no matter where you are. All these little trips we make involve different types of transportation. We normally walk to the skytrain in about 25 minutes but if we’re too tired we can jump on this little red bus that costs us about 15 cents each. Then the skytrain takes you in all directions and a monthly pass is about $15 each. Taxi’s are pretty cheap but there is so darn much traffic. Of course I don’t take to all these things easily but once I’ve done it I’m set. Our next plan for this week is to try the water taxis that travel the Chao Phraya River. We have to take the other modes of transportation to get to this new one but this is the one we’ll need to get to many of the main tourist sites of Bangkok – like the Grand Palace and the National Museum.

Today (after the long weekend) we’ve decided to just take it easy. Got up, tidied, Tom washed the floor (his daily task). I did laundry (I mentioned music everywhere, well my washing machine plays “Jingle Bells” when it starts and ends a load). Walked to pick up a Bangkok Post – I prefer my newspaper in the paper mode, stopped at the French bakery to pick up a bagel and chocolate croissant, picked up a few items at the grocery store and made our way home for breakfast/lunch. Jennifer called to say she was home sick, so when the boys are done school at 3:00 Gone will bring them here so we can take them swimming. I know I’ve mentioned on numerous occasion the “chores” we do but as for cooking, that is mostly done by Gone – and Tom is in his element. Gone’s very good too in that he does a no spicy vegetable dish for me before looking after the spicy dish.

We finally have internet

November 27,2007 - Seems we left some bad weather behind - hooray. This was just the start of it though so we've heard

December 4, 2007

Well, we made it – but unfortunately we didn’t get bumped up to business class again – boohoo. The flight left a little to be desired. It was rough. In a 747, the tail just bounces you all over the place. They even had to put the drink cart away after spilling water on me but before serving me a drink. As soon as they came back I popped a pill with my glass of wine!! Sounds like we managed to get out of town just in the nick of time!! Our shovel is in the garage should anyone need it – haha. The weather here is wonderful. We have a nice enough breeze in the afternoons so haven’t had to put the air on yet. We just finished a late lunch (2:30 pm) – a peanut butter and jam sandwich for me and grilled cheese for Tom – comfort food already! We’re babysitting the grandkids for a couple of days so aren’t straying too far.

Wasn’t really difficult to adapt to the time change here but all the other senses are just overwhelmed. The area we’re in is first class shops, millions of wedding shops and loads of high rise condos. Lots of little bistros and restaurants and expensive too. Our apartment is lovely and quite big. Jennifer’s, at half the size would have been plenty big enough. We’re quite domesticated. Get up, have breakie, tidy up, wash the floor, throw a load of laundry in – sounds just like being at home…….

Gone had to go to his village for a few days so once he’s back then we’ll get on a schedule that includes lots of walking and sight seeing. It’s incredibly easy to get around what with the sky train, subway and water taxi. Took the kids to a lovely park and then walked through the “Emporium” shopping centre. This is the brand name mall – Versace, Gucci, Rolex etc. They’re getting geared up for Christmas and it really puts us to shame. You would not believe the glitter. Some beautiful stuff to see!! We have to go back with Jennifer to get a pic of the kids with Santa. Nick really wasn’t very sure of him. Neither was I, he looked quite different than the Santa’s we usually see.

Seems like everyone is having a lie down except me. When they all get up, it’s off to the pool upstairs and play area. This evening will be rousing games of Old Maid and Crazy Eights and some coloring. Ask me if I’m tired???? It’s wonderful to see the boys though and play with them. I’ve made great strides with Nick seeing as how last year he wasn’t really keen on spending much time with me. We’re really looking forward to our beach time later this month and seeing more of Jennifer and Gone. Jenn teaches from 7:30 – 3:30 every day and attends university Tuesday and Thursday evenings so isn’t home those days till 9:00 pm and Saturday afternoons.

Hope everyone out there is doing well. Will write again once we’ve done something exciting. Just keep checking…………. Happy Birthday Jo-An!!

Getting ready to go......

Well, 3 more sleeps and we're on our way - hard to believe. This is how I plan to keep in touch while we're away. That way I won't tie up your emails with long letters and lots of pics. You'll be able to access this blog whenever you choose. I'll try to post something of interest at the end of the day and include some pics. Guess this will sort of be like our diary.

Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season. We were shopping yesterday and it made me a little sad knowing I'm not getting into all the Christmas stuff - decorating, wrapping, baking etc. Needless to say Tom had a smile on his face cause I wasn't spending money!!

Our friends Noel & Dale are driving us to the ferry Tuesday - 27th at noon and then we'll spend the day at the airport until our flight takes off on Wednesday 28th at 2:00 AM. We arrive in Bangkok on Thursday - 29th at 10:50 AM (15 hour time difference). It's going to be a long day......... Guess it would be too much to expect to find out we'd been bumped up to business class again. Hopefully Gone meets us up at the airport because we have no idea where we're going when we get there.

Take care. We'll miss everyone.