Far East (January 2006)

Places that we chose to visit in this part of the world were Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. We flew Malaysia Airlines.

Upon arrival in Bangkok, the taxi driver took us through the shortest route to our hotel, the Indra Regent Hotel. The hotel is situated in bustling downtown Bangkok. From the reception area one could view the activities taking place outside - a good way of people watching. Breakfast was in an outdoor restaurant on a top floor. Guests were warned not to take food out from the breakfast area when they were leaving - how odd. Since it was my first taste of South Asian cuisine, I sampled all that was laid out, and I enjoyed the fried rice and noodles.



View from hotel room at Indra Regent

We chose to stay at the Chiang Mai Plaza Hotel as it was close to the night markets. Chiang Mai is more laid back and much more cooler than Bangkok - and we loved it here. We made friends with a Burmese waitress, and whenever we visited the restaurant where she worked, her face would light up, and we would be greeted with a very warm Namaste. At night, the area around the hotel was transformed into a bustling night market, with an assortment of handicrafts, shoes, jewellery and food on offer.


Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai night market

The Elizabeth Hotel, our accommodation in Singapore was close to Orchard Road. If you're big on brand labels then this is the place to stay. I also had my first taste of dim sum here. We stayed here during the Chinese New Year celebrations. It is an official holiday, so everything shuts down for the day, which is not good for tourists.



Singapore

Chinese New Year

We had a good view of the Petronas Twin Towers from our room at the Dorsett Regency. Thank goodness we saw the roaches the night before we could leave.




We climbed all those stairs

The night before we could leave the lights went out in the hotel. Luckily it came on in the morning so we could retrieve our passports from the hotel room safe. At the airport a man approached hubby to check in some of his luggage, as he obviously brought in more that he was allowed to carry. Luckily hubby refused.