THIS Just Back Report CARRIES A HEALTH WARNING: do not read unless you have LOTS of time, and reading my cause drowsiness!!

This will probably be a bit long and boring for most of you - and without the excitement and adventure of Ali’s reports, or the drama of Jax’s - I’m almost embarrassed to post this because it probably sounds so shallow and superficial compared to all the amazing things so many of you others do, but this was just a short girls’ trip and all we wanted to do was eat, drink, shop and have fun!

For those of you who may remember, my good friend Debra and I were lucky enough to buy those ridiculously low introductory fares that Jetstar had when they launched their international service in August last year … we paid A$374 each for Melbourne Bangkok return!

I am a seasoned Bangkok visitor, having had many holidays there as a child and in recent years, I’ve been every year for the past 12 or so … just love it! Debra had been once before (with a group of our friends on the famous Girls On Tour trip in May 05!)

Anyway, we arrived at Melbourne airport on Thursday morning (24 May) for check in - only to be informed our Jetstar flight was delayed by an hour - no big deal, more drinking time in the Qantas Club!

Picked up some bottles of French champagne from Duty Free, and then settled in at the Club and chatted, snacked, drank (lovely chilled Green Point sparkling - huge improvement!) … shortly after that, we were informed that due to maintenance problems, the flight would be now be leaving at 6:00 pm (instead of the originally scheduled 1pm!). We were a bit annoyed, but at least we were comfortable, and were resigned to the fact - besides, we couldn’t do anything except just sit back and relax, and as we were originally due to arrive at 7:40 pm it’s not like we were missing a whole day of our holiday anyway. Shortly after that, another announcement with better news - they had sourced a replacement plane from Sydney and we would be departing at 4pm.

Eventually got on the plane - very impressed with the cabin (economy of course, what do you expect for that price?!) … nice big leather seats, very comfortable, not too crowded. I love the international flights that have the 2-4-2 configuration, makes travelling with a friend so much more pleasant. Took off and the flight was so incredibly smooth, not a single moment of turbulence or discomfort.

Crew were fabulous - so friendly and chatty and we were gossiping away to two lovely male flight attendants (think the lady behind us who was dying for a drink wasn’t quite as happy about it as we were). It was honestly a dream - can’t fault a thing … we didn’t have a hot meal but just had snacks; sandwiches were nice and fresh, wine was very chilled and they even opened all our little mini champagne bottles for us so we wouldn’t damage our nails (bless!). Entertainment was fabulous - the little DVD players that you hire ($12) were brilliant - great selection of films/tv shows etc and wonderful to be able to stop the film when ordering more drinks (as we did - often!) and then resume when it suited you. Excellent value - I was tired (huge night the night before!!) and slept after “dinner” and one movie, but Debra was wide awake and she watched three films.

Got to Bangkok at 11:40 pm … WOOOOOOOOOOOOW!! The new airport is just out of this world. Although it was nearly 3am our time we were still so excited to be there … and so amazed at the airport. It was like something out of a fabulous science fiction film - absolutely spectacular, especially at night, all lit up. Quite a long walk to immigration, but short queues and a brief wait for our luggage. I think from the time we landed to the time we were in our limousine was about 40 minutes - excellent.

Arrived at the Pathumwan Princess hotel … slight mix up with our rooms - we had requested adjoining or interconnecting rooms and they hadn’t done this, so we had to make do with Debra being across the corridor and three rooms up … a bit annoying (seeing as the request had been confirmed in writing) but at least we were on the same floor, and at least WE WERE FINALLY IN BANGKOK!!

We celebrated by having a few glasses of the NZ Sauvignon Blanc I had carefully packed in my suitcase and just relishing the fact we were finally there … probably got to bed around 2am, both very excited.

Next morning (Friday) despite the late arrival, I went to the gym (one of Bangkok’s best) and tried to work off some of the stodge I had consumed in the Qantas Club and on the plane, and then met up with Debs by the pool. We flopped around on the lovely new day beds (under cover) reading the papers and looking at our watches every few moments to see if it was any closer to 10am when the shops would open!

For those of you who don’t know the PP hotel … it’s in the most fabulous location (attached to Mah Boon Krong centre and so close to everything) and has the most heavenly pool area, with wonderful landscaping, timber decking, water features, frangipani trees - feels much more like a resort than a city hotel (despite the din of the tuk-tuks!) and the pool is salt water, which makes it so much more pleasant … over the past couple of years they’ve spent quite a bit of money on upgrading the public areas which look very flash, but the rooms are honestly a bit tired and rundown, but perfect for us - as we barely spend any time in the rooms anyway. We paid about A$120 a night, excluding breakfast - bargain!

At 9:59 am we were roaming the corridors of MBK, watching as the shops slowly and sleepily began to open … my usual modus operandi is to do lots of research before actually making a purchase … so today was going to be my “fact finding” day. That early in the morning, all the shopkeepers are so keen to try and make a sale, as their first sale is the “lucky sale” of the day, and I love the way they touch all the merchandise with the lucky money - it’s one of those wonderful unique Thai customs that always makes me smile … however, today I would not be the source of the first lucky sale. We had a good cruise around - desperately waiting until 11am when we could purchase alcohol! Every year I wonder if that rule will still be in effect … it seems to be rather “random”, ie it’s only in effect in some places … you can only buy alcohol from the supermarket from 1100-1400 and then again from 1700-0000 - but you can buy a drink in most restaurants and hotels any time! We noticed that in 2005 and 2006, the PP hotel had restrictions in their restaurants, and there were signs posted advising of the restricted drinking hours. Anyway at 10:59 and 59 seconds as they ceremoniously removed the padlock from the liquor section at Tokyu Dept store, we went charging in to purchase our stash for the day … ended up getting a couple of different bottles, the best of which was a French table white called King Valley, Yes, King Valley, not Vallée du Roi or anything like that! Anyway, it was really acceptable and at B303 such a bargain … we did laugh to see some of the dreadful A$7-8 Australian wines that we would clean our toilets with, proudly on display there for A$35 and more - criminal! Debs also stocked up on cigs (yes, filthy habit, but I was being very tolerant seeing as she was making the ultimate sacrifice and staying on a non-smoking floor in order to be near me!) and marvelled at how cheap they were. We also laughed (in a sort of horrified way) when we saw the DISGUSTING photos they have on their packs there - so much more graphic and hideous that the relatively tame ones in Oz.

Good cruise around MBK that morning, familiarising ourselves with our favourite shops … prices seem to have skyrocketed in the past year. I fell in love with a couple of divine bags … but the romance ended when I heard the words “12,000 baht” … NOT followed by the words “can discount”!! Seriously, I was quite shocked. I had bought “expensive” bags in the past - think I paid about B5,000 for one once, years ago … after hearing some long-winded story about it coming from France from the “real factory” where the bags are made and it was an authentic one which somehow found its way to a shop in MBK - anyway, what can I say, it was good quality and still looks great all these years later … but I was NOT prepared for the number of shops suddenly wanting B8,000 and B12,000 for a fake bag … and I certainly wasn’t prepared to pay that sort of money (although I was tempted by a simply gorgeous chocolate brown Gucci with pink and orange crocodile accents … but I digress … sigh).

Don’t think we bought anything that morning - just walked around looking at stuff and prices.

Popped up to the room to get some wine to take to lunch, and jumped in a taxi to head out to Harmonique, down by the river. Taxi driver didn’t know how to get there so we told him to take us to the Oriental and we would just walk from there - well he didn’t know how to get there either and we ended up at the Shangri La and just enjoyed a nice (but longer!) walk to the restaurant.

I know Harmonique is not the most authentic restaurant in Bangkok but I have to say that it is undoubtedly one of my absolute faves … I mean you HAVE to love a place where desserts are on the first page of the menu! The menu goes on forever and can be a bit daunting (but they do have an abridged version with lots of nice photos!) - there is so much to choose from but if you order well, and stick to the traditional Thai dishes, the food really is wonderful. I can’t even remember what we ate … SO much amazing food - it was all so delicious. Of course we had to have a classic green chicken curry and they serve them in the most adorable little porcelain coconuts, which are so charming … and we had quite a few spicy salads as it was such a hot day. It is such a charming and quirky restaurant - it’s essentially an old Thai house in a little soi not far from the Oriental - next door to a temple. The house is built around the most amazing huge ancient banyan tree which is quite breathtaking. It has the most eccentric décor (if you can use such a word) and we sat outside on the terrace area under the shade of the banyan tree. I don’t think we will ever forget that first moment of sipping our very cold Moet in such a gorgeous environment … just taking in everything around us … the plastic orchids and fairy lights, porcelain flying ducks on the wall, mismatched furniture, the myriad mobiles and other objects hanging from the ceiling … it is such an enchanting and whimsical place. I only go to Bangkok once a year, and probably eat at Harmomique once or twice each visit, but I always get such a wonderful and warm welcome from the owner and her sister (think they might be twins) and she is always in some sort of fabulous outfit that is almost a fancy dress costume - this time it was a pale blue silk puffy sleeved “frock” (it was definitely a frock, not a dress!) complete with pale blue (airline) ankle socks and slippers - such a treat! Anyway, a bottle of champs, a bottle of SB and countless plates of exquisite food later, we eventually left - honestly can’t remember how much it cost as darling Debs took me there as my birthday treat … think it was something ridiculous like B1,000 including a good tip. Amazing value …

Taxi to Silom Village (yes, we should have walked after such a huge meal, but we didn’t want to get sunburned!). I had bought a couple of beautiful antique wooden monks there last year - they were part of a series of about nine and of course as soon as I got back to Melbourne I kicked myself that I hadn’t bought more (or all) … so trotted off to the lovely gallery and unfortunately, no more monks, which was very disappointing, but that will teach me to curb my shopping in Thailand!

Back to the hotel … cruised around MBK a bit more (still no purchases, being very sensible!). I had read a post on this forum about prescription glasses being very cheap in MBK and I suggested to Debs that she get some sunglasses made as she is always fumbling around when we are outside, not knowing where she is going! We checked out a couple of places on the ground floor which were quite expensive and then I remembered a couple of optical shops on the first level. We went to one called Friend Optic and they had great frames (real AND fake!) and they could do a pair for B1000 - ready within two hours! Debs was over the moon and commissioned a couple of pairs.

We then went for our daily hair appointment … one of the great treats of Bangkok! Fantastic head massage and then blow dry - for $10. Had to laugh trying to explain to the girls in the salon who spoke no English that I wanted full, big hair, not flat, straight hair - they just didn’t seem to understand that someone would NOT want to have dead straight hair (which is what I live with every day of my life!).

Anyway, with our dead straight hair, we headed to the hotel bar for Happy Hour. The bar there is very flash these days … it used to be very shabby and a bit grungey but it’s now very modern and looks like something out of a posh New York hotel … best thing is the half price drinks … so we were basically spending about A$5 for an exotic cocktail! I couldn’t go past my favourite caipirinha, which I love at the best of times, but are so perfect and refreshing in the tropics. Debs opted for the chocolate martini which was pure white spirit but tasted like liquid chocolate! Anyway, a few of those later, and we popped upstairs to change for dinner.

We were heading out to have dinner with a dear and old friend of ours, Robert. He is a businessman with homes all over the world - one in Melbourne - and his main home is in Bangkok but he travels so much that he is often away when I am in town.

We met him for drinks at the Conrad hotel - I had a lemongrass martini … lovely flavour, but a bit strong on the sugar syrup. Such fun to catch up with him, and after drinks we drove around the corner to dinner at a restaurant called Curry and More. He had warned us that he would be taking us to a “humble, authentic, local Thai restaurant” and well, it was far from that! He is obviously a regular there as the seas parted when we arrived and staff were scurrying backwards and forwards and people were fussing over us - it was a bit much to be honest! The place was quite glam - very bright with lots of modern art on the walls - and not the humble place we were expecting!! Food was lovely though, but expensive (we were his guests, so I’m not complaining, just observing), and Robert ordered far too much but it was delicious and we had such a fun evening just catching up, drinking wine, eating, laughing. Robert had even very kindly organised a limousine to take us back to the hotel at the end of the evening … it was such a great night.

Wow that was some great couple of days--off now to read part two-thanks for not keeping me waiting.
Cheers laurs

Great report love reading them, cant beleive you got those prices. Was thinking my girlfriend and I might got to Aus next year so might go to Thailand and then fly Jetstar. I take it those prices have changed alot.
Thanks Gar

Yes, we were definitely lucky to get those prices --- they were the introductory fares when they first announced the launch of their international service last year.

There is another sale which is due to come online at midnight tonight (Australian time) and they are quoting A$299 one way between Melbourne and Bangkok ...

I think the full fare economy ticket is around A$900 which isn't too bad, but I honestly think that once Tiger Air and Air Asia X (or whatever it's called) start operating in Australia, Jetstar will be forced to match their fares, so it probably won't be too long before we can buy return tickets to Asia for about $A500.

Do keep an eye on the Jetstar website and subscribe to their Jetmail service, as that will give you advanced notification of any sales or special fares.

Might be loooooooooooong bit a really good read. Agree with you about Harmoniques, we went there for the first time last year and would never have found it but for the comments on the forum.

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Alison

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It's Better to Burn Out than just to Fade Away!