People always say they feel re-charged after a long vacation. Do they , actually?
If I can still remember my work well and still knows and expects very well what is in store when i go back and yet hold a monotonous feeling towards it, have I re-charged myself?
It has been a week, exactly when Karen ended the last piece of work before packing her bags for the trip. Quickly, we have returned. Not with just more luggage of shopping conquests, but also luggage of memories and impressions saved in our minds for years to savour and boast about.
The haze has been a top topic for the past week. Anywhere in local media you can read about it. Comments, topics posted by government officials, facebookers and neighbouring countries. Masks, dengue and so on. As such, i will not touch on these subjects except to say that in Singapore, there are many who can type and and say anything they want without fully realising the full consequences that will follow.Perhaps its the same everywhere, perhaps its just us.
Laying your mind to rest completely is something which I really enjoy and love. Prior to this trip, there is only the annual in camp training where we can take our minds off work. However, in this trip, there is none to worry. You only worry about what food to think next. As such I think I have not re-charged myself. Instead, I would like to say that I have relaxed myself and enjoyed myself very much over an extended period of time. It was the longest period of overseas travel but the whole experience has been fantastic. There have been several write ups on Bangkok and its shopping blah blah, but until you start to understand their way of life and look deep, you may have just only visited a new shopping/eating joint which requires you to take a plane to reach.If you are talking about re charging, i reckon it will take a month at least to repair the pressure lines, get sufficient sleep and rest. Who gets to rest really well during trips? You shop till you drop , don't you? So where is the re-charging?
This time round for BKK has been a nearly whopping ten years since the last visit. Bangkok has changed a lot and very beautiful shopping malls and eateries have sprout up. In our stay at Centara Grand, Central World was the closest to us(linked to hotel) and had been our main source of meals during the 1 week stay. Maybe i sound like a noob, but Central World has a very good selling point regarding its' eateries. Everyone of them has a different theme to it and you can see it easily through its decor and even the seats. The shops are spacious and they have nearly every thing a shopper will need. A supermarket which is just next to their carpark... just compare it to our Vivo City, I would like to think the latter of being a place designed to torture shoppers. Central World wins hands down.
I think I will just mention the following people whom deserved mention during the trip:
1) the kind security guard at Central World on 7th floor carpark lift.
2) the chamber maid who made our beds during the 1 week stay
3) practically all the hotel staff of Centara Grand
4) The haversack seller at MBK
5) The supposed'Iron Ladies' at MBK(but I think they are real pretty women, no gender change)
6) Taxi driver who drove us to the Suvarnabhumi Airport. Really smooth driving skills and helpful
7) Nana Betta whom i bought fishes and made friends with at Chatuchak Market. She and her husband are really nice people and they have a very cute daughter.
It was a bit wasted we had'nt got a chance to soak in the pool which is an open view type similar to Marina Bay Sands. But there is little to complain about in this trip and it ended nicely on the last night with a room service call in.Fantastic meal to round up a week of nice food and nice people. Im sure i am one of many thousands who would enjoy a great time at Bangkok and can't wait to go back there again. It is also the first time i have taken the BTS train alone to Chatuchak(karen had sore blisters and did not travel while Ken was busy at the Magic Competition)not once but twice. Suddenly during the second time i took the train to Chatuchak, i realised Bangkok isn't what it used to dawn on me ten years ago when I was there and led by my friend. It wasn't difficult and I definitely had no idea how it would be like to stay in a hotel this time round(back then we had stayed in a friend's house), shop ourselves and entertain ourselves.
Everytime when we end a trip, we will always tend to forecast when we are going again the next time. Most times, I know that it will indeed be some years later. However, this time round, the feeling's different. Maybe, just maybe it would be near this time. =)
Signs off
Mr Ussenal.