SAWADEE KA!!!

I was sitting with friends over our customary adda of putting the world to right, eradicating poverty and what to have for dinner! Then of course the conversation moved to holidays and before we knew it an impromptu plan was made to go to Bangkok on a short holiday. One of my friends Praks very conveniently has a flat in Bangkok and she very kindly invited us to stay at her place and so myself, Praks and two more friends Iti and Mala decided to go. Now this is the first time I am staying at someone’s home on a holiday… for me holidays mean staying in a hotel the swankier the better. That is of course other than when I go to my sisters in Manchester but that is home so doesn’t count. Anyway… so the offer was made so earnestly and kindly that it felt mean to refuse, we all happily agreed and Praks’s husband Ashok even booked all the flights etc and we were set. In fact this holiday turned out to be the ultimate in luxury as not only did they arrange our air tickets they also arranged for a car to pick us up at the airport, their maid in Bangkok was contacted so she had groceries and fruit stacked and they even called us to their house for pre flight drinks and dinner in Kolkata before we left for the airport. Now that is VIP service!!

Most of us were travelling together for the first time but we were all extremely relaxed and chilled out and just went with the flow. Praks has a beautiful home and we were extremely comfortable and the best part was having the sitting room to sit and gossip in for hours. No I lie… the best part was Shanti.. Praks’s maid who used to come at about elevenish with a huge smile on her face and we became her massis as Praks is her mummy!! She cooked the most delicious Thai food so on two nights we chose to just stay in and relish that rather than going out and braving the Bangkok traffic. We all found our bearings extremely quickly so could nip out to the shops like the experts that we are when shopping is concerned. 

There was always an order to our getting up in the morning. I would get up first and have two cups of tea and finish my Wordle, Word Hurdle etc and about an hour later Praks would come out. We would usually have finished breakfast by the time Iti and Mala surfaced but it was all good as we had no agendas per se but when they did get up then it was all stations go. I was designated the beverage in charge whether it was tea to coffee to wine to gin. As well as the ‘munimji’ that I seem to have permanently become on all holidays… taking care of our kitty and hence responsible for all the payments in restaurants, taxis and even for our foot massages. However, I take it in the right spirit… everyone must trust me and have faith in me not to lose the money so all’s good!!

We went to our usual favourite restaurants for dinner… Zuma for Asian cuisine, Chesa for the delicious fondue and raclette. Lunches were much more casual and we would usually grab a bite wherever we were. We had the typical Thai noodle soup full of all the goodies one day and another day we had a lovely English afternoon tea at the Mandarin Oriental Tea Room with assorted finger sandwiches, little pastries and of course scones with clotted cream and jam. Delicious!!

I was in the supermarket one day picking up some odds and ends and was looking for a tub of hummus. My interaction with the assistant was:

Me: ‘Do you have any hummus?

Assistant: ‘How much?’

Me: ‘A small tub’

Assistant: ‘What?’

Me: ‘ Hummus’

Assistant: ‘How much????’

Then it dawned on me I was saying hummus and he was understanding or rather misunderstanding it is how much!!! It was hilarious!!! I then proceeded to mime all sorts of things and I eventually got my hummus… which by the way was delicious!!!

We would all be flagging by early evening so we would go for a massage and that would rejuvenate us for an evening of merriment. We would come back after dinner and sit and laugh for hours about the day and days past. Praks, Iti and myself have known each other for donkeys years so we would remember our old stories and regale Mala with all the hilarious events from time yonder. We were relaxed enough to just be ourselves with no airs or graces and it was a lovely bonding holiday. It is always a bit intimidating travelling with people for the first time but this trip will definitely lead to more such holidays in the future. We have already travelled the entire world during our rambling’s so now let’s see where it materialises to. 

On our last evening in Bangkok we went for dinner to a Chinese restaurant and then decided to go somewhere lively with music so went to Escape in EmQuartier Helix. There was a lovely breeze so we sat outside and after nearly getting drenched when the waiter dropped his tray of drinks almost over my shoulder… we settled down to a fun evening. It was interesting as there was a DJ mixing songs and there was a guy playing the saxophone live with it. They even played some old ABBA songs which got our feet tapping. 

Today is our last day and I have decided to totally relax and not go near the shops. A Korean facial, a foot massage and maybe a visit to the parlour for a shampoo and blow dry.. sounds good to me!! Then Ashok is flying in from Kolkata today so he has promised to take us to his favourite Thai restaurant for lunch… after just interacting with women for 5 days I’m sure it will be nice to have a male point of view in the conversation. We went to a restaurant called Kinnaree in Sukhumvit 8 and the food and decor were outstanding. When the food came we thought we had ordered way too much but it was so tasty that we managed to finish most of it!!

Thanks to our hosts Praks and Ashok for opening up their lovely home and looking after us so well… we have had a memorable holiday and already looking forward to our next one!!!

Khop khun kha!!!!