Hello Again!

Ok. So, I realised that I have not blogged for a month! I know crazy. But I have been keeping busy on the personal front. I am not denying that I do have a responsibility towards the blog and you dear readers but I am sure I can be spared once in every few months. Then to follow there was a vacation, which I am still hung over on. 

It was the longest vacation we took after our honeymoon which was two and a half years back. So I think it was well deserved. The fact that it was planned with our friends made it all the more fun. 

Hold on! Hold on! I am coming to the details.

So we covered three places in nine days, starting with Pattaya, followed by Bangkok and leading us finally to paradise called Bali.

Throwing some light on Pattaya, the city is not clean and is majorly known for various very reasonable spa services and then for all sorts of hanky panky things that become obvious from the beach road stretching to the ‘Walking Street’. The Walking Street has two rows of innumerous clubs and bars for discrete lascivious activities. There were pubs with live music too and we did bobble our heads enjoying them.

I will not lie and say that we didn’t go and experience all these popular ping pong/boom boom shows. But we came out embarrassed before these shows even ended. God bless the uncles who sat through them (I am not judging you uncles) sipping on their single complimentary drink! And god bless the women who have the courage to perform these activities.

Moving on to a little less adventurous stuff (walking street was a bigger adventure when one is a newbie! you know what i mean *gullible smile*), we did a few water sports, visited ‘Thai Tong Elephant’ which had a shooting range and a zoo.

Summing the trip’s first confession, “I will never go to Pattaya again (Pattaya people please do not get offended)”.

Talking honestly about Bangkok, we majorly stopped there for shopping. I think besides that there was not much to see (of our interest ofcourse). The city has various malls some purely luxurious, some showcasing high-street brands and others offering street style stuff at wholesale rates. If you ever visit Bangkok for cheap shopping, do haggle especially if you are buying something in bulk (my dear husband was too shy to do it, which did cost us a few extra bahts...huh!)

We also went to ‘The Safari World’ which was a good experience. The sea lion show and the dolphin show there were such happy sources of entertainment. It really did not matter if you were 6 or 16 or 60. People all ages were smiling and clapping together watching these shows. As much as I enjoyed these shows the USP of the safari world for me remained to be my meeting with ‘Y’ and ‘Nian’ , two very well trained orang-utans. They were absolutely adorable. I think if I will ever visit the safari world again it will be with kids and only to meet these two cuties once again.

that is Y on the top right and Nian on the top left

so much love! this with Nian is my favourite

The Sky Bar at Lebua Hotel (from the movie Hangover 2) provided us with a spectacular view and a good evening.

the view from sky bar

My main cause of disappointment was the attitude of the people in Bangkok. They were very rude. It did spoil the shopping experience a little.

Switching to the highlight of our stay in Bangkok, I reunited with my room-mate of Cardiff days. I felt so good meeting her. It was a pleasant change from the general attitude of the people in the city. It was almost nostalgic. She took us to a cute little café by the name of ‘Gallery Drip Coffee’ at the Bangkok Arts and Culture Centre (BACC). 

That is my friend Waew next to me and her BF Jack

My husband also enjoyed the little meeting with my friend and her boyfriend.It gave us the opportunity to explore the BACC building while our friends were trotting, were on their toes, shopping.

Confession number two, “I will visit Bangkok wholly solely for shopping until I have kids. Then I will have to go and make them meet Y and Nian”

One thing that was common to Pattaya and Bangkok was the range of icecreams at Annette (a tuk-tuk/ rikshaw). They were not just beautiful to look at but were equally yummy!

Icecreams at Annete's tuk tuk

 The final leg of the trip was spent in Bali. It is truly heaven; a way higher version of Goa in our country. It was absolutely clean. The people were extremely polite and friendly. The food was good and the place divine. It had such a relaxed vibe that anyone would want to stay there forever. And I am not saying this just for the sake of it but I sincerely mean it!

The people of Bali are very religious. We noticed a small temple outside every house and they all did a small prayer with flowers and fragrant sticks every morning like many of us do in India.

We visited the ‘Uluwatu Cliff Temple’. The walk to the top gave us such mesmerizing views to capture. We ate at amazing places (I will do a post on them soon). We visited Seminyak, an area with slightly high-end, exclusive stores.

one of the views from the Uluwatu Temple

We treated ourselves with a spa session which is a must in Bali (Spa and beauty services in Bali are above expectation)! We lived a little and relished the sprightly waves at the Kuta Beach which was playing host to surfers from all over the globe and then explored the street shopping around Kuta. 

We also took a quick drive around the Nusa Dua area in Bali known for water sports and various resorts.

Broaching the topic of art and craft, Bali handicrafts left me and my husband in awe. Had our bags not been already full with Bangkok shopping we would have filled them up with showpieces for our home. We did manage to make a little space for a few showpieces though.

The last confession of the trip,” The Bali airport was closed due to volcanic activity in Java. We all wished then that it remained shut so we could get a few more days in Bali”

the sunset we enjoyed

One lesson that we learnt is that one should plan a trip to Bali for AT LEAST a week. One needs to give that much time to the place to do it some justice. After that, the longer the stay is the better.

 We will definitely see you again Bali, this time with our bags almost empty for you have a lot to fill them up with.