ThaiBankie

This week Nok got the new Honda Jazz.  It is really nice and I think even she is starting to enjoy having a "small" car after driving a big car for the past 12 years. 

Maybe she will even let me drive it sometimes.

After a few weekends sitting around the house doing nothing we decided we should do something fun and get out in the fresh air for a few hours.

Nok started off this morning taking Megan for her piano lesson and then they came back home and we headed of for Dream World, which is about 30miles north of where we stay.  I have been there with Nok before but that was about 5 or 6 years ago and I thought that it would have changed a little in that time.

Nothing had changed but it was good having Megan with us this time as we were seeing it through her eyes this time.  At first she was her normal hesitant self but after a while she started to calm down a bit and started to get into it a bit more and do more and more things.

We started of in the Giants House, this was a room that had everything in it oversized, Meg was a bit freaked out and ran through the place in a matter of seconds.  I was starting to think that it was going to be one of those days…

I did the main roller coaster that they have and it was really quite impressive, fast and loads of tight corners.  It was the first time that I have been on a roller coaster that your legs just dangle in the air so I was a bit worried that my feet would hit something while we were going round as I am a bit taller that your average Thai so I wasn’t sure if they had considered this when they were designing it.  In the end my feet were still attached to my legs but exiting the ride my legs were a bit wobbly from the effects of the ride.  In the video below I am in the last row.

Roller Coaster from ThaiBankie on Vimeo.

We moved on to Snow Town and Megan got her first experience of snow and I think it will be memorable to her even if we were in a large freezer at -30C.  I had a go on the snow slide and nearly killed some young girl.  I was flying down the hill and at the bottom the guy bounced into me to try to slow me down before I bumped into the wall but all he did was put me into a spin and some girl had to jump over my legs as they spun round or she would have been flattened.

Deep Freeze from ThaiBankie on Vimeo.

I had a go on a couple of the fun fair games and I managed to pop 5 balloons with 7 darts getting Megan a small stuffed monkey who we named Coco.

We had a 15min go on the boats and then onto the train that runs round the grounds of Dream World.  Finally was Megan’s biggest achievement, she went onto the racing cars by herself and wasn’t even fazed when the girls in front of her were screaming and had to exit the ride halfway through.  I think we really made a breakthrough here.

Racing Cars from ThaiBankie on Vimeo.

A really good day out was had by all. Photos are in the Holiday section

I am about a month late in writing about our Songkran holiday.  At first I was planning on doing a daily diary but I got lazy because I was enjoying being at the beach and somehow forgot about it.  Anyway, here is a brief update on our holiday.

This year for Songkran we decided to go to Pran Buri, this was our first time to visit there and it was only about 20Km south of Hua Hin where we have been so many times over the last few years.  I think Pran Buri is more for Thai people as it is a bit cheaper than Hua Hin but some of the resorts there are well on par with what Hua Hin has to offer.  The down side of Pran Buri was that other than a strip along the beach which was a few Kilometers long there was very little else to do there.  Hua Hin seems to have more of a complete package for tourists as there are much more bars and restaurants to choose from.  We decided to stay at the Golden Pine Beach Resort which was a little small but it was very well run and it was very relaxing.

We arrived a few days before the crowds arrived as our office finished work a day or two earlier than most companies.  There only seemed to be about half a dozen other people staying at the resort when we arrived but the people at the check-in desk assured us that the place would be full over Songkran.   The good think about finishing work before other people is that we don’t get stuck in traffic which is often the curse of New Year and the Thai New Year (Songkran). 

Megan fell in love with the beach on this trip much more than she has done on previous holidays, maybe it is because she is getting a bit older or maybe it is because I am not keen on the sand getting stuck all over me.  Anyway, Megan was having a ball and she was loving making castles and playing with all her toys (or friends as she calls them!!). 

Nok, who usually doesn’t enjoy eating hotel food, thought that the food at the hotel was really good and she was also happy with the cost so we ate at the hotel most of the time.  On our last night we went to another hotel which was not to far away from us.  This was a real luxury hotel which looked really good.  I had a steak there and it was probably the best steak that I have had for many many years. 

All in all a really good holiday that was a great way to recharge the batteries.  I think I didn’t have high expectations before the holiday so it was great to have such a nice time there.  I think there are a couple of nicer hotels around that area so we may try there again in the future.  Also, going on holiday with Nok and Megan I don’t really miss the nightlife too much because we don’t get much chance to get out and enjoy it even when it is on our doorstep.

I have uploaded some photos into the holiday section and also posted a couple of videos which you can see below.

I do not know how many photos I will be able to send and post on the website over the next couple of months as my camera is now dead.  Nok was on her annual trip with her university friends last week and somehow she managed to drop the camera.

We have taken it to the repair shop to get an estimate on how much it might cost to get it repaired but to be honest I expect them to come back and say about 4000Baht (60quid), if that is the case then I don’t think it will be getting repaired any time soon and frankly I feel that it is time to get a new one.  I think I have had this one for about 3 years as I remember getting it at Heathrow on the way back from a holiday in Scotland with Nok and Megan.

The problem I now have is that the one that I want to buy will not be available until sometime in April so I guess I will just need to hope that I can get it before we go for our Thai New Year holiday, wherever that may be.

For now I will need to upload all the photos that I have not yet posted and maybe this can keep you satisfied until the new camera arrives or I will just need to use the camera on my new mobile.

Oh what a day yesterday was. We got up nice and early and decided to have a day in Bangkok. Actually when I say early, Megan woke us all up at 6.00am. About 10am we hit the road and got to Central World Plaza at just after 11am. I went for a walk round to Pantip Plaza to see if I could get a Asus EeePC but they didn’t have the model that I was looking for. I am also on the lookout for a new mobile but the models that I am interested in are not out yet so I didn’t buy anything of interest there. I went back to Central World to meet up with Nok and Megan for some lunch and we went to a nice Italian place. I had a beef and melted cheese sandwich and Nok and Megan had Spaghetti carbonara.

After having some food we went for a walk around and saw a Black and White photo exhibition with many photos of the royal family. There was also a stall set up for taking some photos too so we decided to get a photo of us all and another of Megan on her own. At this time Megan had noticed an area downstairs selling loads of Disney stuff and she decided that it would be better to go there than have her photo taken. We bribed her with a Pooh Bear watch and some stickers and dragged her back upstairs to get some photos. She just was not playing ball and would give a nice smile for the camera. Eventually after about 20 photos we got a half smile from her and that was enough. She wasn’t interested in doing the photo of her on her own so we decided to go to the book shop and pick up a few things while the photo was printed.

The tiredness was kicking in now. It was about 2pm and she had been up since 6am so she was starting to get a bit crabby. At the book shop we got her a couple of Dora books and a couple of Pocoyo videos and went to pay at the checkout. Nok was paying but Megan decided she wanted a lollipop but when we said no she started screaming and shouting. Nok had finished paying and headed for the door, Megan followed with the lollipop in her hand leaving me inside having to pay for it to save her from a stint in the Bangkok Hilton.