Weekend in Bangkok

4am on Saturday I got up and got the girls up and we flew to Bangkok for the weekend and we got back to Singapore midnight on Sunday. Crazy huh? Matt booked the ticketsJ A friend Kristy and her daughter Tara (who is one of Felicity's best friends at Avondale) were staying there for a few days and we thought we'd join them. What fun we had! We went to an excellent market on Saturday called Chatuchak which has a lot of variety. Many Asian markets popular with tourists have the same three stores over and over. This one had a lot of young designers and boutique fashion stores etc. Saturday afternoon was massages followed by the Sky Bar Restaurant at the hotel and then to the night market. 

Sunday the girls and I got up at 6am to have breakfast before going on a tour of the floating markets which were an hour and half out of Bangkok. Truly amazing to see how people live on the water without forever dropping all the merchandise into the canal. On the way back we were dropped at the depot and then a taxi driver was arranged by the tour to take us to our hotel...except took us to the wrong one. This was a bit of a stress as we were due to leave for the airport soon. Mildly panicked (okay more than mildly) and very annoyed at taxi driver who just laughed at not-so-mild panic we got back to our own hotel in time to have a quick lunch, pick up bags and head back to airport. Tired yes but glad to have done it!

Days in Hong Kong

The Days were going to be in Hong Kong, so that is where we had to be too.  It was great to go on holiday with family so far from Aspendale Gardens and we had a really fun time.

Day 1: Kowloon.  Dim Sum for lunch at Jade Garden in Star House, with a fantastic view across to Hong Kong island.  Followed by shopping, dinner near Mong Kok (very local:  California Pizza Kitchen!) and the Ladies Market.

Day 2: Macao.  A 1 hour ferry ride and a new set of stamps in our Passport.  A former Portuguese colony, Macao was handed back to China in 1999 and is a Special Administrative Region (SAR) like Hong Kong, but with Portuguese signs and architecture mixed in with the Chinese.  We hired a van and driver and enjoyed seeing all the sights.  Lunch was yummy seafood at a Portuguese restaurant and then we visited some older villages, old churches, the city center and the ruins of St Pauls.  At Taipa village, there were at least eight bridal parties taking photos.  Macao is known for its casinos and we ended up at The Venetian where we were duly impressed by the indoor canals and themed shopping district.

Day 3: Drama.  Kim and Lucinda started the day early, attending an open air Tai Chi class with a spectacular backdrop.  After a swim in the pool we checked out of the hotel and headed to Disneyland.  A traumatic two hours then ensued when we all got out of the taxi, except for my backpack containing our passports.  Luckily the customer service manager at Disney hotel was great, the guard had written down the taxi number which I could half remember and the police were able to track him down via the taxi company. The missing bag was found still in his boot and he brought it back to us safe and sound.  For the afternoon, we caught the Disneyland train to nearby Tung Chung for some retail therapy at the outlets mall.

Day 4: Disneyland.  Another magical day at Disneyland, beginning with breakfast in the hotel where we were visited by Pluto, Goofy, Micky and Minnie.  It was then off to the park for a day of rides and shows.  We ended the day with a farewell drink in the lounge, sorry that the Bertrams would be departing the next morning.