Goodbye Asia

Waking Up

Wakeup time was 6:30am. I'd borrow Gregory's bedroom and he's bunk with his parents. The arrangement worked out very well.  I'm lucky to have friends like Mike and his family. I got about 4 hours of sleep and hardly unpacked the night before.  Since I picked up a custom suit and 6 shirts I'd have to check a bag. Mike had a spare bag, so I packed that up with some cloths that I didn't mind getting wrinkled. The one thing that was unpacked were my electronics - I had to ensure everything was fully charged because my flight was *long*. It was about an hour and a half shy of the flight to Hong Kong, but it's still a 14.5 hour flight.

I woke up to the smell of bacon - yum! After a fantastic breakfast and saying goodbye to everyone I was off with Mike to check my bag in central and head to the airport.

Saying goodbye is tuff!

Checking In

My flight left at 11:50am, the plan was to be on the shuttle bus 90 minutes prior. I didn't have much time between getting into Central and leaving for the airport.

Getting ready

The Flight

The Flight

I picked up a bottle of Bombay Sapphire East as a gift and wanted a bottle for myself. I stopped by the duty free shop and picked up my bottle. At checkout I was asked where I was heading. Once I disclosed Chicago I was told I wouldn't be able to carry on my purchase. The US apparently applies the 3 oz/100ml rule to all carry-on liquids coming in to the US, even past security check-in. The gate for my flight was roped off.  A woman with a clipboard checked off each passengers name as they came through. People were randomly selected for 'enhanced security screening' and I was one of them. I filled my bottle of water from a water fountain earlier, only to have the staff empty it.  After emptying my carry-on bags completely I was set to go. I checked in my garment bag with a flight attendant, set an alarm so I wouldn't forget to collect it once in Chicago, and made my way to the seat.

I boarded the flight and arrived at my seat. The middle and aisle seat were occupied by a couple of Chinese guys. The guy in the middle seat was almost as tall as me. I took my seat and made myself comfortable. The guy in the middle seemed nice enough, but spoke no English. He was tall, and tried several times throughout the flight to encroach on my space. A few times I was awaken to find his entire upper torso an inch or two away from my face as he took in the view out the window.

I got some good rest on the flight and awoke to realize my entertainment console was broken. The touch screen didn't work at all. I and the flight attendant reset it, but that did no good. I caught up on some reading, more sleep, and eventually we arrived in Chicago.

Clearing customs was easy with Global Entry. Since I had to check a single bag, the wait cancelled out any savings gained from Global Entry. My bags took about 45 minutes to arrive. I arrived around noon and really wasn't jet lagged at all. I felt good.  Good enough to get a haircut and catchup with some friends over dinner.

First Class

Almost a cubical...but not quite

Economy - this is more my style

Hong Kong Bound

Waking Up

Checkout was at 12pm at my hotel, but the information at the front desk indicated a fee of 30% would not be assessed until 1pm. So I figured a 1pm checkout time would suffice.  I was up and ready to go by 10am, with everything packed and ready to go. The hotel did not include breakfast, so either beef jerky or street food would need to suffice. Beef jerky it would be.

Vimanmek Mansion

The Vimanmek Mansion is the former Royal Palace. It is also known as the Teak House, as it's the largest house constructed of teakwood in the world. Although it's a major tourist attraction, I hadn't heard of the mansion until a Thai woman on the metro advised me of its existence. She insisted I visit and upon further research the place sounded really interesting.

I left the hotel and walked towards a tuk-tuk to begin the haggling process. Everything in Bangkok is a haggle. It gets frustrating at times, but it's the way they do things here. Either they're taking advantage of people from the west, or vice versa...probably a bit of both.  The first tuk-tuk drove away before I could get to him. The next vehicle was a taxi and he wanted 1000 baht to do the trip, almost $31 US. He spoke very little English but insisted in grunts it was very far. Google maps thought otherwise.  We eventually settled on 400 baht, a little over $12 and for that I'd get a round trip to/from the hotel.

For the next 40 minutes he'd drive me around Bangkok. For the most part we were moving along the road just fine. Somewhere on the highway we stopped. Literally, the drive pulled to the side of the road and told me I could get out and take photos. In the distance was a giant structure he was expecting me to photograph from the highway exit. Somehow there was a miscommunication about where I'd be going. We continued to talk through the misunderstanding. I had handed my phone to him earlier and showed him exactly where I wanted to go, so I was a little confused by the miscommunication. A few minutes later he figured out where I wanted to go and we were off. I was impressed, he didn't use the miscommunication as away to get more money out of me. I checked Google Maps and we were about 20 minutes from the Mansion. We'd be running cutting it tight, but the trip was still doable. Shortly thereafter he exited the highway and I'd experience real Bangkok traffic. That is, we wouldn't move at all for minutes on end. Occasionally we'd inch forward, than come to a complete stop. We were on local roads, about a quarter mile ahead I could see a traffic light. And it was frozen red. Even when it turned green nothing happened. I was beginning to wonder if I'd miss my flight. About 20 minutes into the rerouted journey I'd become convinced I'd miss my flight. I tried to tell the driver to just take me back to the hotel, but again there was a communication issue.

Eventually we reached an area very close to the Mansion. I thought we were golden until he pointed and grunted. Apparently the roads were shut down because of protestors. About 20 minutes later we'd eventually approach the Mansion.  The driver told me I could walk around for about an hour - I told him I'd need 10 minutes.

The Mansion is surrounded by a visitors facility, with storage lockers and a souvenir shop. The facility made it very clear that proper dress must be worn and cameras were forbidden inside. They even indicated a fine, per offense. I think it was either 2,000 or 5,000 baht ($60 - $150 US).  I was wearing pants so the only thing I'd have to check was my camera and bag. I checked my things and went outside to the entry queue.

There was a large group of Chinese tourists already in line. It looked like the guide was talking them through something so I bypassed the group and started walking on the property grounds. Since they went out of their way to publicize fines I didn't make any effort to capture photos inside the property.

Visitors leave their shoes in a sheltered patio located adjacent to the mansion. The mansion was huge and a place definitely worth touring. Each room, of which there are 72,  is furnished as it was back in its heyday. Treasures decorate each room, including enormous ivory tusks, swords, gold objects, and paintings. The mansion has been modernized with AC. Guests follow a long hallway throughout much of the mansion, offering a view (but not access) into each room. I took about 10 minutes walking through all the rooms. I was in a hurry because my flight was set to leave in 2 1/2 hours and I had no idea how long it would take to return to my hotel.

Photos are permitted outside, so I snapped some pictures of the property and surrounding gardens.

On the road to...somewhere

Uh oh...road closed

This isn't Parliament, rather a Post Office

FINALLY!

Garden

We left the mansion and were heading back to the hotel. I was concerned because traffic moved extremely slowly at first, but once we got out of the general area we began to make decent speed. I arrived back at the hotel about 2 hours prior to my flight. I was in good shape. I took a quick shower to cleanup before the flight (did I mention Bangkok was HOT) and checked out just a few minutes past 1pm. The hotel was rather ambiguous about whether bottled water was included with the stay. The hotel mini-bar said mineral water was the equivalent of $1 US. I wasn't sure if bottled water was mineral water - there were two different kinds in the mini fridge. Bottled water was complimentary at every other hotel I stayed at, creating the uncertainty.  They didn't hit me up for extra money at check out, so I guess it was included.

Checking In

Before checking out I checked in to my flight and made my way to the nearby MTA. The site made it clear one must pickup a boarding pass at the airport - you can not print it out at home. I took the MTA to the Airport Express terminal. Two lines run frequently from the terminal, the city line and the airport express line. The airport express line makes fewer stops but runs every 30 minutes. The city line runs more frequently and makes more stops, taking longer to reach the airport. I was counting the minutes as I got off the train - the trip took longer than I expected. I booked it to the airline counter. There was a very short line and a customer service kiosk to the side - I went to the customer service kiosk since all I needed was a boarding pass. I must have been cutting it close because without identifying myself the woman correctly guessed who I was and gave me my boarding pass insisting I hustle to the gate. Bangkok airport is very big and my gate was at the opposite end.

Airport Express is not what I'd ride...rather the slower city line

Bangkok Airport Customer Counter (pre-security)

Tubes connect the concourses - very modern

The airport could easily be mistaken for a high end shopping mall

Gates - again very cool architecture

Arriving in Hong Kong

The flight wasn't very long, under 3 hours. Clearing customs in Hong Kong took longer than last time, but it stilll wasn't awful as it took under 20 minutes. I picked up a small gift for my friend in Hong Kong, a unique blend of Bombay Sapphire for the Southeast Asia market and boarded the train to Central. Within a half hour I was back in Central, Hong Kong. Fortunately, visibility was much better this time around. En route to Hong Kong my friend asked if I was hungry. He was at the American Club and offered to put in an order for me. The food there was fantastic so I was excited. After I arrived in Central I literally got step by step instructions to the building I was at weeks before. I met my friend Mike and his family, his wife and son had to jet. Mike and I returned to the American club for my meal and began an evening of sightseeing.  We stopped by the car so I could ditch my bags. Lucky for me, Mike brought his awesome Gitzo tripod for me.

Victoria Peak

Our first stop would be Victoria Peak, a place to take in Hong Kong's cityscape. Hong Kong's population density is second only to Singapore. Higher than Tokyo, New York, or anywhere else you can think of. Even though Singapore is more densely populated, Hong Kong has more skyscrapers than anywhere else in the world.

To get to the peak we boarded a public tram. The front of the car was reserved for royalty back in the day, now anyone can sit there. The tram ascends up a very steak incline...well over 45 degrees. Once at the peak we made our way through a shopping mall to an outdoor area overlooking the peak. We'd hang out there for a good half hour taking pics, mostly to my insistence.

Tram to Victoria Peak

What a skyline!

Smiling and happy

Temple Street Night Market

On the list of the world's greatest markets is Temple Street, so we'd check that site out first. The market is held everyday, starting around 8pm and ending around midnight. We'd get here around 9pm. Oddly, vendors were beginning to both setup and tear down shop. Eventually we'd make our way to fortune tellers. For the low, low price of $10 I could have someone tell me my fortune. How could I resist? Anyhow, without giving the man anything to go off aside from my birthdate and time, he offered up some wise advise to me.  I pulled out my phone to turn it off and he asked I not record his offerings. Okay, no problem.

At first I didn't know if I was born in the morning or late afternoon. He suggested we proceed with 'early evening'. He didn't like what he saw should I be born in the morning. I confirmed via text with my mom I was indeed born late morning. This confirmation did not please him.

Using my birth date/time and facial size, he offered up the following advice.

1. My long head, especially the forehead, means I am very wise
2. My hands suggest I work with my brain
3. I will be married twice
4. I should avoid ALL Western-European woman. Eastern European woman are okay.
5. I should avoid ANY woman who is overweight
6. I should date woman at least 5 years younger than me...preferably younger

To the Market!

Shops are closed, but the market thrives

Temple Street Market

Nightlife

After the market we walked around some of the more social areas of Hong Kong, including the red light district. We stopped for a drink, where I again got a properly poured Guinness, than head back to the house. We left town well after midnight, so we were both exhausted.  Once at the house I tried on my custom suit and shirt. The suit fit well, but the shirts fit perfectly...especially around the neck and shoulders. Wahoo...I am happy. Tomorrow would be an early morning.

BEER!

Nightlife

Red Light District

A bit more obvious with this sign

One night in Bangkok

Waking Up

Today would be my last day in Chiang Mai. To say I like the town of Chiang Mai is an understatement, the place is incredible. 1.) I like the weather - it's cool at night and hot during the day 2.)  I like the people - there's an openness that's reminiscent of my time in the middle east. Begging is almost nonexistent. The few beggars I saw in Chiang Mai were people with extreme handicaps (missing/deformed limbs). 3.) I like the atmosphere - like any college town, coffee shops, bars, and restaurants are everywhere. Many have a unique look and feel. 4.) History - Chiang Mai means "New City", but that goes back to 1296 when the city was founded. There's a lot to see and do here - over 300 temples, ruins of a walled city, and at least half a dozen elephant camps nearby. I could go on...but I think you get the point.

My flight was at 3:30pm, but the latest I could checkout was at 12:30pm. Town was only a few miles from the airport, a 10 minute ride by tuk-tuk. The plan was to wakeup whenever, pack, check my bags at the front desk and tour the city. I still had the scooter, so I could cover some decent ground in the last few hours in town. Whenever would be around 9 and finish packing shortly before 10am. I asked the front desk to hold my bags. They're a little too trusting for my tastes - they simply put them under a nearby stairwell. Not behind a desk or a locked closet, simply under an open stairwell anyone could walk past. I wasn't leaving anything of real value, the two valuable items I had (macbook and camera) were in my backpack. So I accepted the risk, mostly because petty theft happens so infrequently compared to America or Europe.

Breakfast

After checking out I stopped to get some breakfast. For anywhere between $1-5 US you can start your morning off pretty well with a great breakfast. The place had a Western-American motif and doubled as either a hostile or guesthouse. There were a few people from various parts of Northern Europe coming and going. While the place offered free WiFi, power was extra! The plug said there was a 30 baht fee, roughly $1. Rough.

Western American Theme

Tasty breakfast

When you're from the west, non-smoking signs don't apply to you

Roughly $1

The Mall

The owner of breakfast place Adrian and I met the day before recommended visiting both iBerry and the new indoor mall.  I'm always curious to compare/contrast the everyday of wherever I'm at to back home, so the mall would be my first stop. This particular mall was new, built within the past year or two. Parking was in the basement and lead to the ground floor.  Unpainted brick was still visible in the back of a few operating shops on the ground level. Aside from a Mister Donut, the first two floors had few, if any, recognizable shops. The ground floor had a few different restaurants and the aforementioned Mister Donut. The main floor had a number of telecom retailers, many kiosks and stores dedicated exclusively to iPhone cases.

Regardless of where I've been in the world, most indoor shopping malls like this offer the same variety of retailers. Chicago suburbs are quite similar - pick any one and you'll see the same variety of retailers and restaurants.  The one exception that comes to mind is in Kiev, Ukraine. There, too, I recognized few retail shops. I was beginning to wonder if Chiang Mai was able to resist Western retail influence, just like I saw in Ukraine. Not a chance - every floor upwards was filled with retailers from the West.

A movie theater was at the very top floor along with a coffee shop.

Lots of scooters and motorcycles

Walls of concrete block are more than sufficient!

I recognize nothing

Converse, Adidas, Nike...this is familiar

These stores didn't feel authentic... 

Given the proximity to an Oakley and Disney Store, however, it's probable they are authentic

CAMP

CAMP is a coffee shop located in the mall and the word awesome simply doesn't describe it. It's an acronym for "Creative and Meeting Place". The first thing I noticed was...the door. Shops inside an indoor shopping mall simply don't have doors. At the end of the night a big gate usually drops down. This place had a neat looking door. The magic would be inside the door. Inside is the most fun and creative use of space I've seen to date.  I ordered an espresso and walked around. I did my best not to interrupt anyone. The design of this place was so unbelievably cool. From what I've read it's open 24 hours, too. There are a number of rooms on the mezzanine level and a few "club house" sort of rooms with oversized bean bags. The only downside about visiting this place is the disappointment I will now feel returning to my favorite coffee shop back home. Sorry Filter Cafe, you've finally been outdone by some operation in southern Asia.

I'm not sure if I did something wrong, but my simple espresso took over 20 minutes to make. They didn't appear busy, either. 

Goodbye Chiang Mai

After leaving the mall I returned to the hotel, picked up my bags, and returned the scooter. The scooter included insurance and was a little banged up at initial check out, so I was confident there wouldn't be a problem. Returning the bike was easy and before too long I was in a tuk-tuk to the airport.

Checking into Chaing Mai airport was rather interesting. All bags are scanned and people are x-rayed upon entry to the airport - both ticked passengers and their guests. I figured I got the hassle out of the way after entering and was surprised to see bags are scanned and people are x-rayed again passing through into the terminals. This is the first time I've seen this level of security at an airport - even including Israel's Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv.

The flight itself was slightly over an hour, 70 minutes. The flight cost the equivalent of $70 US. There are a number of bus lines that run between Chiang Mai and Bangkok, as well as sleeper train car service.  Buses are broken into different categories of service. The two classes a western tourist would likely consider would be either First Class or VIP. A first class bus ticket would run about $15, VIP  would be about $25. Both buses are air conditioned, VIP offers much more leg room. The journey would take about 10 hours on both. Second class is an option, it's about $1-2 US cheaper, but adds many more stops and takes an additional 2 hours. Buses run about every 30 minutes, so it's possible to get tickets on the spot. I booked the outbound ticket (Chiang Mai -> Bangkok) the same time I booked the inbound ticket (Ko Samui -> Chiang Mai) since it was < $100 thinking the ticket price would go up.  Had I not booked the outbound ticket I would have likely followed Adrian on the bus. Adrian was off to Bangkok to do some hiking along the Death Railway. The railway was built by the Japanese during WWII to support their soldiers in Burma. The railway itself was built by Allied POWs.  It's estimated 300,000 people worked on the railway and 100,000 of these people were killed during construction. In any case I don't recall learning about this railway.  I'll bet the history classes Adrian and I took emphasized different parts of WWII, noting I'm from the west and he's from the east. It's interesting what you can learn from fellow travelers.

To the airport I go!

Chaing Mai Airport

Security upon entrance to Airport

Check in was easy

Lining up at the terminal

This way to Bangkok

Trusty Airbus

Each gate has it's own terminal area, but all gates (with connecting jetways) are actually connected to a long narrow hallway. A cardboard cut out helped direct us to the proper jetway.

Hello Bangkok

The flight arrived on time, right around 4:30pm. Bangkok airport was very familiar to me and within a short amount of time I was on the Airport Express headed into the city. The Airport Express line ends at one of the two elevated train lines (MRT). My hotel was located in the Sukhumvit district of Bangkok. It wasn't far at all from where I stayed the last time I was in Bangkok so getting to the hotel was super simple.

I got a seat once I boarded the MRT and eventually a middle-aged Thai woman sat next to me. Some Korean tourists were on the bus standing and drinking from their resealable bottles of water. The woman quickly put them in their place. They didn't understand Thai, but she pointed to an illustrated sign that indicated food/drink was prohibited onboard. I was impressed. Such restrictions exist on the CTA in Chicago and are often ignored, I've never seen anyone get called out for drinking water. Afterwards the woman struck up conversation with me. She spoke English almost perfectly and insisted I visit the Teak House. I made a note to check it out the following day.

Once I was outside of the train the heat hit me. Bangkok was HOT. At least 90 degrees with humidity to match. The last time I remembered this combination of heat and humidity was the Chicago heat wave of 1995. Bangkok was HOT.

Airport Extra to MRT

Comfortable, modern, trains

Checking In

I opted for a lightly less expensive this time around. I was happy at the Hotel Manhattan, where I stayed previously. I just wanted to see what a change would be like. I found a new place on Kayak called The Promenade Hotel. The new place was $33/night, Hotel Manhattan was $57/night. Both were right off the MRT and fairly close to one another.

At first glance the place doesn't look too bad, but it's very dated. The lobby and elevator used wood extensively throughout the interior and the wood was very dated. The building looked out of the 50s and did not appear to have been rehabbed since. The carpet was rather gross. The bedding was fine though. The biggest annoyance was the power saving feature of the rooms. Every hotel room I had anywhere throughout Thailand had some mechanism that cut off power once a key card (or credit card like device attached to a key chain if room used a typical metal key) was removed. The idea was to save power by shutting everything down once someone left the room. The problem with this room was ALL power cut off once the power was cut off. This made it impossible to leave anything charging. It also made it incredibly difficult to find anything, including were to put the key card upon entering the room, since lights couldn't go on due to lack of power. Further, the shower curtain didn't completely cover the shower - so it was impossible to shower without creating a flood. Lastly, the safe deposit box in the room was impossible to unlock. It used a physical key, but none of the keys given worked with it. Further, there were signs all over saying the hotel was not responsible for contents left in the box. Signs in the elevator instructed guests to keep all valuables with them at all times and not to leave them in the room.

I took some time to cool off from the heat and cleaned up. I spent some time updating my blog and hit the town.

Nightstand...all the controls were probably fancy 60 years ago

View from hotel room - not bad for $30 US

Going Out

After leaving the hotel I walked around a bit. The sun had set, and much of the radiant heat went away, but it was still humid. I walked around outside deciding to check out the Siam Paragon. Siam is a major MRT/metro stop, Siam Paragon is an attached shopping mall. There are actually a couple of malls attached to the MRT, this was the more premier mall.

One end of the mall featured a Zara and an H&M, so I figured it was just a regular mall. That must have been the poor end, because the other side featured stores like Prada, Fendi, Rolex, Tag Heur, and...Patek Philippe. The mall even features a Maserati dealership. The last time I saw an auto dealer in a shopping mall was back in Abu Dhabi (Marina Mall)...definitely not something you see everyday. Like the indoor mall in Chiang Mai, many of these stores also had doors into each individual store.

I stayed out until 11 or so and head back to the hotel. There were a few things I wanted to do before leaving Bangkok so I'd need my rest.

Street food off Sukhumvit Road

Camps of protestors selling shoes

Protest shirts

Under the MRT tracks

Night Market

Siam Paragon (left) and MRT metro(right)

Street gambling

One end of Siam Paragon

Maserati Dealer

Patek Philippe