Mr and Mrs Bluebell Thai The Knot
Aug 27th, 2006, 08:57 PM
#81
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We are home! It is 5.54am UK time, 11.54am thai time. Bella is awake and raring to go (since about 3am...and I only got to bed at midnight - urrrgggh...).
Report writing will commence tonight I think! As I was lying in bed this morning trying to ignore B's loud out of tune rendition of twinkle twinkle, I started to go through our days in my head. The beginning of our trip seems like a lifetime ago...
BB
Report writing will commence tonight I think! As I was lying in bed this morning trying to ignore B's loud out of tune rendition of twinkle twinkle, I started to go through our days in my head. The beginning of our trip seems like a lifetime ago...
BB
Sep 5th, 2006, 01:09 AM
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Bella we are off next week 15 September we are in samui on Lamai for 6 nights. I liked the sound of the restarant you mentioned Baan Yai how do we get there??? Would love to go is sounds tasty. One other query we are staying at Santhiya (could be hit and miss) but where is it good and cheap to eat locally. Thanks
Sep 5th, 2006, 01:12 PM
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It is on the main ring road around the island, if you head out of Lamai towards Hua Thanon and it is around about opposite the Samui Park Resort entrance but on the opposite side of the road (i.e. the right hand side as you come away from Lamai). If you get as far as the British Bull or British Bulldog bar which is on the right hand side also or the Mango Village resort on the left you have gone too far. It has a lit up sign outside with an octopus on it with only 6 legs and Baan Yai on it. You go up a few steps onto a raised apron area (outside, under cover, with fans) and there are about 8 formica tables. It is really quite small.
Rocky Resort where we got married was also a very atmospheric place to eat, out on the rocks.
I am nearly awake...actually, I have come down with pharyngitis which I always get when I am rundown and am preparing for our wedding party on Saturday. Feel like I am never going to get around to my trip report!!! don't know where my time goes...but I will get to it...
BB
Rocky Resort where we got married was also a very atmospheric place to eat, out on the rocks.
I am nearly awake...actually, I have come down with pharyngitis which I always get when I am rundown and am preparing for our wedding party on Saturday. Feel like I am never going to get around to my trip report!!! don't know where my time goes...but I will get to it...
BB
Sep 8th, 2006, 06:41 AM
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Bella;
What a lovely journal - thank you! May I offer a suggestion for your lost picture of Isabella? Find an artist, and commission a painting. Have him/her read your description:
"it is the ones of Bella, particularly the one of her sweeping the verandah of our beach house in ko pha ngan in flip flops and a sarong looking v peaceful and wistful as she sung to herself",
- show him/her the clothing, get any photos you can find of the bungalow (contact the resort and have them email you some digital pics of the verandah), and <b>maybe</b> s/he can create a magical remembrance for you - and certainly somthing that Bella would cherish in years to come?
<font color="green">Cyn</font>
What a lovely journal - thank you! May I offer a suggestion for your lost picture of Isabella? Find an artist, and commission a painting. Have him/her read your description:
"it is the ones of Bella, particularly the one of her sweeping the verandah of our beach house in ko pha ngan in flip flops and a sarong looking v peaceful and wistful as she sung to herself",
- show him/her the clothing, get any photos you can find of the bungalow (contact the resort and have them email you some digital pics of the verandah), and <b>maybe</b> s/he can create a magical remembrance for you - and certainly somthing that Bella would cherish in years to come?
<font color="green">Cyn</font>
Nov 24th, 2006, 11:08 PM
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I cannot imagine how much gpanda is going to charge me for my late report!! But my computer is working (finally), the broadband is working (finally)! So here it is:
We left for Thailand on Friday 21st July. This trip had been very long in the planning and we were off to be married! We were so excited but I was also quite apprehensive. Our itinerary had essentially set the itinerary for the holidays of about 20 other people in some shape or form. I had heard fantastic things about Rocky Resort (where we got married - from my best friend who had stayed there) and fantastic things about most of the other places I had booked from fodors and tripadvisor - but still you can never be quite sure if you haven't visited somewhere...
The week leading up to departure was hectic. Finishing off things at work, packing, giving instructions to cat sitters, informing banks etc that we were going to be away for five weeks (hee hee). I was quite stressed to be quite honest - but my main apprehension was a 12 hour flight with a 2 year old.
We left for Thailand on Friday 21st July. This trip had been very long in the planning and we were off to be married! We were so excited but I was also quite apprehensive. Our itinerary had essentially set the itinerary for the holidays of about 20 other people in some shape or form. I had heard fantastic things about Rocky Resort (where we got married - from my best friend who had stayed there) and fantastic things about most of the other places I had booked from fodors and tripadvisor - but still you can never be quite sure if you haven't visited somewhere...
The week leading up to departure was hectic. Finishing off things at work, packing, giving instructions to cat sitters, informing banks etc that we were going to be away for five weeks (hee hee). I was quite stressed to be quite honest - but my main apprehension was a 12 hour flight with a 2 year old.
Nov 26th, 2006, 05:17 AM
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Travelling on the Friday were John, me, Isabella (2 yr old) and my 20 yr old brother Mike. John's parents had travelled out on the same flight the previous day and my parents were flying out on the same flight the following day. Like the royal family, we don't all travel on one plane 
Mum dropped B, Mike and I at the airport. I am one of those people who until I get rid of my luggage and have checked in, I am a complete stress case in airports. I blame my father - actually that is the real reason we didn't fly with my parents, he is even worse than me! So mum drops us off, immediately I am in a very prickly mood. B is getting tired (nearing normal bedtime) and a bit whingy. Mike is his usual laidback, v cool self. John is meant to be meeting us as he got the tube to the airport straight from work in London. For five minutes I stress out as I can't see him - is he going to miss the flight (still 3.5 hours away...) etc etc etc. He meanders up, v relaxed, in holiday mode - v irritating for those of us not yet feeling that vibe...
We try to find the check in queue. I see one in the distance that is enormous. My horrified suspicions are correct - that is the queue for Eva Air. John grabs a spotty teenager in a yellow t-shirt ('Airport Official' - hmm) and asks him where the check is for Elite - i.e. premium economy. The Official explains that Eva Air's computers are down - check in is taking some time. The longest check in queue ever is the one we should join. We ask is he sure - shd premium economy queue with economy. Absolutely he confirms, steering us like cattle into a herding pen and departs v quickly before we have a chance to have a whinge.
So we wait...and we wait...and we wait...B is still in her pushchair. We wonder how long she will remain happy with this arrangement. The poor kid puts up with 40 minutes before doing that rigid spasming thing with her body so that her limbs thrash everywhere and manage to tip the buggy, kick her uncle and obtain frowns from all the people around us who fail to appreciate the horrors of being stuck in a queue with a strapped-in 2 yr old and sympathetic smiles from those who do.
John takes her for a walk and Mike and I slowly steer two laden trolleys of luggage and a buggy to the front of the queue. When we reach it, we realise two things. This was not 'the queue'. This was the holding pen for the REAL queue for economy and our class (premium - think it was called Elite) had its own queue with only 2 people in it. By this point, I have forgotten that one can do deep breathing to calm down. I take a deep breath and hurdle the barrier to reach the teenage 'Airport Official' in the yellow Tshirt. He is gassing with a friend. I ask again - which is the queue for premium economy. The spotty yoof points at the queue we are in. His friend points at the queue with two people in it. Aargh! So we move queues. By this point we are close to the front and can now see why it takes so long to check each person in. Every thing has to be documented by hand, every luggage label written by hand. When all this is done, every single piece of luggage has to be phoned through to Taipei (where computers are working) to check them in electronically. Bad enough? Except there is one mobile being shared amongst four check in staff. By the time we are checked in, we have been at the airport 2.5 hours and have to go straight to the gate. Once I am rid of the bags, I don't care about any of this. Really I should learn to travel with just hand luggage...
We go through passport control and onto the gate and mercifully we are allowed straight on. I have no idea what privileges you would get typically as a premium economy customer on Eva Air but Eva seem to be excellent if you are travelling with a small child.
Now aside from the check in debacle, we couldn't really fault Eva Air. For £800 per adult, we got a return flight to BKK in their premium economy seats and a return flight to Samui. I think Bella's flight was around £550 - again for both the LHR-BKK route and the BKK-Samui route. The premium economy seats were heavenly compared to economy and well worth the extra money. The leg room was plenty for all of us - perhaps Mike could have done with another inch or two but he is tall and he said compared to economy it was fantastic. I could curl up in mine it was so big (I only have legs befitting a 5'3" person so don't be expecting to be able to do this if you are any taller tbh!). Bella was so delighted with her seat. We envisaged she wouldn't want to sit in it and would want to fidget and walk around the plane but it was so sweet. She just got in her (big) seat and sat there. Her legs didn't even reach the end of her seat and she had to extend her arms fully to teach the seat arms. She had been given a pillow and a blanket and a children's goody bag (with stickers!) and was so in awe and excited. By this point, we were nearing 10pm so she was also absolutely deadbeat too. The stewardesses filled up her bottle with milk. As the plane took off, she drunk it and then slept for the next 10 and a half hours.
So this was what I had worried about for the last year!! 10.5 blissful hours of sleeping toddler!! She woke up as we were about an hour from Bangkok and played some more with her goody bag. She smiled at everybody around her and everybody smniled at her. Nobody hated us for bringing a toddler on the plane. It was wonderful!
The rest of us all slept around 9 hours on the reclining chairs - the seats are like business class seats were in the 80s before psuedo beds became the latest thing. They were very comfortable to sleep in. My sister who was upgraded to premium laurel (business) on the way out and flew back premium economy said she thought the premium economy seats were actually more comfortable to sleep in.
We had read that service in premium economy was not always so good but it is a fairly small cabin and we had no problems whatsoever.
So, full marks to Eva Air!
Mum dropped B, Mike and I at the airport. I am one of those people who until I get rid of my luggage and have checked in, I am a complete stress case in airports. I blame my father - actually that is the real reason we didn't fly with my parents, he is even worse than me! So mum drops us off, immediately I am in a very prickly mood. B is getting tired (nearing normal bedtime) and a bit whingy. Mike is his usual laidback, v cool self. John is meant to be meeting us as he got the tube to the airport straight from work in London. For five minutes I stress out as I can't see him - is he going to miss the flight (still 3.5 hours away...) etc etc etc. He meanders up, v relaxed, in holiday mode - v irritating for those of us not yet feeling that vibe...
We try to find the check in queue. I see one in the distance that is enormous. My horrified suspicions are correct - that is the queue for Eva Air. John grabs a spotty teenager in a yellow t-shirt ('Airport Official' - hmm) and asks him where the check is for Elite - i.e. premium economy. The Official explains that Eva Air's computers are down - check in is taking some time. The longest check in queue ever is the one we should join. We ask is he sure - shd premium economy queue with economy. Absolutely he confirms, steering us like cattle into a herding pen and departs v quickly before we have a chance to have a whinge.
So we wait...and we wait...and we wait...B is still in her pushchair. We wonder how long she will remain happy with this arrangement. The poor kid puts up with 40 minutes before doing that rigid spasming thing with her body so that her limbs thrash everywhere and manage to tip the buggy, kick her uncle and obtain frowns from all the people around us who fail to appreciate the horrors of being stuck in a queue with a strapped-in 2 yr old and sympathetic smiles from those who do.
John takes her for a walk and Mike and I slowly steer two laden trolleys of luggage and a buggy to the front of the queue. When we reach it, we realise two things. This was not 'the queue'. This was the holding pen for the REAL queue for economy and our class (premium - think it was called Elite) had its own queue with only 2 people in it. By this point, I have forgotten that one can do deep breathing to calm down. I take a deep breath and hurdle the barrier to reach the teenage 'Airport Official' in the yellow Tshirt. He is gassing with a friend. I ask again - which is the queue for premium economy. The spotty yoof points at the queue we are in. His friend points at the queue with two people in it. Aargh! So we move queues. By this point we are close to the front and can now see why it takes so long to check each person in. Every thing has to be documented by hand, every luggage label written by hand. When all this is done, every single piece of luggage has to be phoned through to Taipei (where computers are working) to check them in electronically. Bad enough? Except there is one mobile being shared amongst four check in staff. By the time we are checked in, we have been at the airport 2.5 hours and have to go straight to the gate. Once I am rid of the bags, I don't care about any of this. Really I should learn to travel with just hand luggage...
We go through passport control and onto the gate and mercifully we are allowed straight on. I have no idea what privileges you would get typically as a premium economy customer on Eva Air but Eva seem to be excellent if you are travelling with a small child.
Now aside from the check in debacle, we couldn't really fault Eva Air. For £800 per adult, we got a return flight to BKK in their premium economy seats and a return flight to Samui. I think Bella's flight was around £550 - again for both the LHR-BKK route and the BKK-Samui route. The premium economy seats were heavenly compared to economy and well worth the extra money. The leg room was plenty for all of us - perhaps Mike could have done with another inch or two but he is tall and he said compared to economy it was fantastic. I could curl up in mine it was so big (I only have legs befitting a 5'3" person so don't be expecting to be able to do this if you are any taller tbh!). Bella was so delighted with her seat. We envisaged she wouldn't want to sit in it and would want to fidget and walk around the plane but it was so sweet. She just got in her (big) seat and sat there. Her legs didn't even reach the end of her seat and she had to extend her arms fully to teach the seat arms. She had been given a pillow and a blanket and a children's goody bag (with stickers!) and was so in awe and excited. By this point, we were nearing 10pm so she was also absolutely deadbeat too. The stewardesses filled up her bottle with milk. As the plane took off, she drunk it and then slept for the next 10 and a half hours.
So this was what I had worried about for the last year!! 10.5 blissful hours of sleeping toddler!! She woke up as we were about an hour from Bangkok and played some more with her goody bag. She smiled at everybody around her and everybody smniled at her. Nobody hated us for bringing a toddler on the plane. It was wonderful!
The rest of us all slept around 9 hours on the reclining chairs - the seats are like business class seats were in the 80s before psuedo beds became the latest thing. They were very comfortable to sleep in. My sister who was upgraded to premium laurel (business) on the way out and flew back premium economy said she thought the premium economy seats were actually more comfortable to sleep in.
We had read that service in premium economy was not always so good but it is a fairly small cabin and we had no problems whatsoever.
So, full marks to Eva Air!
Nov 26th, 2006, 05:32 AM
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Arriving in Bangkok. Bliss - I had dreamt about this for so long. John and I love Thailand and it had been a dream for years to get married there. For us as a couple it is an emotional and spiritual home if that makes any sense!
I love the smell as you arrive in Bangkok - I could never describe it but whenever I've arrived from London it always hits you in the airport. I wonder if you get it in the new airport?
So we get off the plane - I am rabbiting on about the smell, Mike is looking at me weirdly. We are all beaming from ear to ear. We get let off second after the business class passengers but before economy. We kind of like this special treatment - although actually we then have to wait for the pushchair to be brought to the gate by which time all the economy passengers have passed. We don't care though - B is experiencing the first taste of the intense attention she is going to get whilst in Thailand as all the ground crew are crowding around her as she jumps about like a ball but at this point she is thriving on it.
We have quite a walk from the gate to passport control - actually I like this but then we had slept on the plane. I guess you might feel differently if walking was difficult for you or if you were very tired but after I've been stuck on a plane for 12 hours, I like to have a long walk and Bella ran alongside us down these big open empty walkways with glee! She was so happy and excited. I love this bit of the holiday - the whole holiday with all the anticipation and opportunities are ahead of you!
By the time we reached passport control, the queues had gone down and we got through v quickly especially as we had visas from the British Consulate as we were staying over 30 days. We went down to the luggage carousel and our bags came out almost immediately and we went out to get a car.
In the past we have always taken a taxi from the taxi rank outside the airport to the hotel - it definitely is the cheapest way. However, with the four of us plus luggage we wouldn't have all fitted in one car and we wanted to travel together. So we got a car from one of the limousine services outside the airport. I think we paid 1000B including tip and tolls for the expressway.
Next instalment - review of Bob's fav - the Marriott, meeting Tong, wedding dress fittings, Jim Thompson's House and a wonderful massage...
I love the smell as you arrive in Bangkok - I could never describe it but whenever I've arrived from London it always hits you in the airport. I wonder if you get it in the new airport?
So we get off the plane - I am rabbiting on about the smell, Mike is looking at me weirdly. We are all beaming from ear to ear. We get let off second after the business class passengers but before economy. We kind of like this special treatment - although actually we then have to wait for the pushchair to be brought to the gate by which time all the economy passengers have passed. We don't care though - B is experiencing the first taste of the intense attention she is going to get whilst in Thailand as all the ground crew are crowding around her as she jumps about like a ball but at this point she is thriving on it.
We have quite a walk from the gate to passport control - actually I like this but then we had slept on the plane. I guess you might feel differently if walking was difficult for you or if you were very tired but after I've been stuck on a plane for 12 hours, I like to have a long walk and Bella ran alongside us down these big open empty walkways with glee! She was so happy and excited. I love this bit of the holiday - the whole holiday with all the anticipation and opportunities are ahead of you!
By the time we reached passport control, the queues had gone down and we got through v quickly especially as we had visas from the British Consulate as we were staying over 30 days. We went down to the luggage carousel and our bags came out almost immediately and we went out to get a car.
In the past we have always taken a taxi from the taxi rank outside the airport to the hotel - it definitely is the cheapest way. However, with the four of us plus luggage we wouldn't have all fitted in one car and we wanted to travel together. So we got a car from one of the limousine services outside the airport. I think we paid 1000B including tip and tolls for the expressway.
Next instalment - review of Bob's fav - the Marriott, meeting Tong, wedding dress fittings, Jim Thompson's House and a wonderful massage...
