Thai Visitors

My apologies for the long delay between blog posts.  The truth is that after Jen left there was very little to blog about for the remainder of January.  I didn’t take any trips and mostly just hung out around town.  I was actually really glad to have a few quiet weeks without traveling.  Although the area around my apartment can certainly get a bit boring, it was nice to have a few weeks to relax and catch up on sleep.  That being said, I was definitely ready for some fun by the end of the month.

Fortunately, I was in luck.  My Mom and my Aunt Noreen arrived for a visit on the 27^th of January.  I was thrilled to have more visitors.  They are both busy ladies so they were only able to stick around for a week but we certainly made the most of their time here.

After I surprised them at the airport, we all headed to their hotel in downtown Bangkok.  After a good meal and a lot of catching up I went back to my apartment and let them get some much-needed sleep.  The next day was a Friday and I thought it would be fun if they came to a few of my classes.  They arrived at my apartment in time for a quick lunch from the lady I go to everyday for noodles and rice.  After the meal (I think they liked it even though it was very spicy), we headed over to school for my last two classes of the day.  The first class, 3/10, was fantastic.  The class is one of my smarter classes and is generally pretty well behaved but always a little chatty.  But with the special visitors they were definitely showing off.  During class we played a game and I think they really enjoyed having the help from our guests.  Overall, the class was really cooperative and involved in the activity and I was very proud.  The second class that my visitors attended was 6/1.  For that class, we listened to speeches that the students presented.  They all did a great job and this class was very well behaved as well.  I think my Mom and Aunt Noreen really enjoyed attending classes.  I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t showing off for them a bit myself.

That evening, after a brief rest for the jet-lagged travelers, we headed back to the airport for a trip to the Thai island of Koh Samui.  Koh Samui is advertized as one of the most beautiful islands off the coast of Thailand so I was very excited to check it out.  We arrived late on Friday at the Marriott Resort on the island.  After spending the last four months staying in various backpacker hostels around Thailand, this place was heaven.  They could have given me a cot in the janitor’s closet and I would have been ecstatic.  What I got was a little bit better.  Being Peter Hickey’s son certainly has its perks. We had booked a regular hotel room at the resort but because my Dad stays at Marriotts during all of his business trips and the reservation was booked in his name, they upgraded us to a “private pool villa.”  It was the coolest room I’ve ever stayed in.  The bathroom alone was bigger than anywhere else I’ve stayed in this country.  And the best part was that we had a small pool all to ourselves. Who knew that all of my dad's time traveling for work for the past thirty years would pay off for me in Thailand?

Our "villa"

Our own pool

Hotel pool

Hotel beach

Hotel beach

Hotel sunset

The next day the weather was not so great.  There were clouds in the sky most of the morning and by noon it was raining.  I decided to hit up the spa and got a nice massage.  I really have it rough over here.  The sun did come out for a few hours that afternoon so we managed to get a bit of beach time.  That evening we had a great dinner at one of the restaurants at the resort.  I think my Mom was a little bit grossed out that during my time in Thailand I’ve developed the ability to eat a whole grilled fish right off the bone.  I’m actually not so bad at getting past the scales and avoiding the little bones.  I haven’t, however, acquired a taste for the eyes just yet.

The next day the weather again wasn’t too great so we capitalized on the chance to take a tour of the island.  We saw some interesting things but overall I wasn’t very impressed with the tour.  I took a few pictures of the wats (temples) on the island, a pretty cool waterfall, and a monk that died while praying and was later mummified in that position. Those pictures (and a few others) can be seen below.  That night we went into town and got dinner at an Irish place.  It was actually really good.  Afterward, the two party animals and I closed out the hotel bar (at 11 o’clock).  It was a very fun night.

Chinese Buddha

Chinese temple

Koh Samui Waterfall

They aren't in the Bronx anymore.

They refused to ride an elephant.

Mummified monk

Proud beer drinker

Finally, on the third day of the trip the weather cooperated.  We had a beautiful day relaxing on the beach.  I even got a nice sunburn to commemorate the trip.  Sadly, that night we had to hop on a plane and leave Koh Samui, I had to teach the remainder of the week and my Mom and Aunt Noreen still hadn’t seen much of Bangkok.

Tuesday afternoon, after teaching, I met them in downtown Bangkok.  They had spent the morning doing some heavy shopping in the silk and silver districts of Bangkok.  I did a bit of shopping myself, taking advantage of their opinions to help me get my sisters’ Christmas presents.  Sure, it’s late for Christmas but I won’t see them until April so the way I see it I actually bought them early.  I'm such a great brother.  After shopping we had a fantastic dinner at a hotel on the Chao Phraya River in downtown Bangkok. 

Wednesday is my easy day of classes.  I only have to teach the first two periods of the day so we saved the bulk of our Bangkok sightseeing for that afternoon.  We decided to take the river ferry to the various temples along the river.  We visited the Grand Palace and the Temple of the Emerald Buddha and, although it was my third time there, the private tour guide that we (ok, they) hired made it the best visit I've had so far.  We then visited a bunch of other wats along the river and, of course, they did some shopping.  We finished that night off with another fantastic dinner, this time at a steakhouse.

Appropriate clothes required at the Grand Palace.

They loved the climb up Wat Arun.

Thursday came and once again I had to teach all day but was able to meet them in the early evening.  I had heard about a place called “Vertigo Moon Bar” on the top of one of the tallest buildings in Bangkok so we decided to check it out. I figured it would be similar to observations decks and restaurants at the top of various buildings in America and would consist of floor to ceiling windows on all sides.  I was wrong.  The restaurant was actually on top of the building, in open air.  It was amazing.  The view was fantastic and the food was really good.  It was definitely an awesome experience.

Vertigo Moon Bar

Not a bad view

Lovely Bangkok

Enjoying the environment

It was even cooler when it got dark.

Unfortunately, Friday came and it was time for them to head home.  I don’t think they were too excited to head back to the frozen northeast and leave this 85-degree weather behind.  Overall, it was one of my favorite weeks in Thailand.  For one week I lived and ate like a king.  They treated me to some pretty fantastic meals and some great sightseeing.  I’m pretty sure that they had a great time.  I know I certainly did.