Great green guavas

Fri 04 Mar

Our hotel has an amazing breakfast, another big plus of this place. Cold and hot buffet, fresh fruit and juices, and a chef on hand for customised eggy stuff. Delish!

We took the SkyTrain (picture the DLR, but bigger, faster and cleaner) to Saphin Taksin station near the river, then took a river ferry (mad mad mad but fun; you just get on this long, quite narrow bus-boat, then this shouty woman comes down the centre aisle screeching out in Thai, then people furiously digging for the right amount of change - don't dare try to break a big note, that would result in being thrown overboard, no doubt) to the Tha Thien station to visit the Grand Palace. Disembarking the express ferry we fought our way through a market selling tat and dried fishy stuff (pongy) and other street food. Then walked past more street market stalls selling tourist stuff, bottles of coke, 'antique' coins, buddhas, machetes (seriously!) and loads of other stuff.

The Grand Palace complex includes the palace where the King is coronated, does official stuff, and also the marvelous temple of the Emerald Buddha. To enter this temple, modest clothing is required. Fortunately La was in long combats and I had brought jeans along with me, else we both would have had to queue (with all the tourists in string vests and tank tops) to rent sarongs and/or long thin trousers (harem pants). The fun never ends. Strangely 'innappropriate clothing' seems to mainly mean mini-skirts and shorts as we still saw loads of tank tops and other beach/nightclub type top halves.

The temple itself and grounds were magnificent! The Emerald Buddha is also beautiful, but tiny (about 50cm high) and placed on top of a high chair on a parapet inside the temple. And dressed in one of 4 seasonal gold chainmail, or similar, outfits. No photographs allowed so you'll have to take my word for it. Our entrance tickets also got us into a museum of Royal coins and swords and photos of Royal births and weddings.

After a light lunch (nothing worth writing about) we went into another temple, this one of the "Reclining Buddha". Not only was this statue reclining, but it was huge - about 45m long. You sort of enter the temple near the Buddha's head, then wander down to his feet, then round again to the back of his reclining self. Pretty impressive. This temple complex was also beautiful, with other smaller temples, loads of Buddhas everywhere we looked and also loads of stray kitties wandering around looking miserable. On the way out we bought sort of freshly squeezed orange juice then took the crazy river taxi thing and Sky Train back to the hotel.

After a quick shower and relax, we headed for our first massage of the trip. Awesome little spa near our hotel, quite a quality establishment compared to some of the places we had avoided in the streets. And even this place was ridiculously cheap, around £7 each for an hour Thai massage. Much pain, but the sort of 'cleansing' pain, then more relaxing. And they even washed our feet before hand. That sort of made up for the way they laughed at me when I cried out in pain during the massage.

For supper we got lost. Or should I say, I got us lost. We headed off in what I decided was the right direction, then after not finding the restaurant, stopped in a posh hotel for directions, and eventually got there. My poor wife's clean feet and massaged back were almost undone.

Eventually we got there and had a great meal but oh so spicy. Yum. Pre-starter was a collection of titbits like chopped lime skin, ginger, fresh chilli and peanuts all self-parceled and swallowed in some sort of leaf with satay sauce. La then had some very agreeable spring rolls while I had a spicy green papaya and carrot salad. Very spicy. La had a green curry and I had chilli and Thai Basil chicken. Delish. And to always ensure fresh rice, they walked round with a big bowl pretty much constantly and dished out to plates of all tables as required. Genius. Surprisingly, I was able to still manage my new favourite dessert of fresh mango slices with sticky rice and coconut ice cream. Hmm.

After supper we did not get lost and wandered back to the hotel (took about 10 minutes!), and did a brief detour of an alley that was crammed full of bars and places offering all sorts of combined exotic dancing and sporting activities like ping pong. Curious, that :)

Day 49

Sat 05 Mar

After two nights in Bangkok, the world was our mollusc! Another great breakfast; I had an omellete with the works, and pancakes. Then we packed our bags and checked out and left our bags in the hotel storage. We had a midnight flight so would spend the whole day touring the city again. We planned to sneak into the hotel gym when we picked up our bags and use the showers there. Cunning, we were. But as we left the hotel, the ever-efficient staff offered the gym showers to us. Well, same result but no stress, so excellent!

Took the SkyTrain to the National Stadium stop, then a short walk to Jim Thomson House, the former home of American Jim Thomson who almost single-handledly rejuvenated the Thai silk import/export business in the 1950s-1960s. He settled in Bangkok and constructed a wonderful home by buying traditional Thai wooden houses from the country and transplanting them into a single, linked complex. And filled them with Eastern ceramic work and art. A few years after his mysterious disappearance in Malaysia , his home was turned into a museum.

From there we took a taxi (no seatbelts, but blessed cool air conditioning) to the Khao San Road for a bit of a wander and gawked along with all the other tourists and backpackers at the alleyways and market stalls of tourist tat, fake driver's licences etc. Had a very reasonable lunch (best veggie Pad Thai in the world apparently) then bought a few souvenir gifts.

Another taxi to the MBK shopping centre - 7 floors of wall to wall madness. Clothes, shoes, restaurants, general electronics and a whole floor entirely devoted to mobile phone shops, sardined next to each other, selling virtually identical stock from what we could tell, real and fake iPhones, un-locking services, you name it. On another floor La bought a leather belt which was cut and re-buckled to size while we waited. And apparently the MBK is only one of many such complexes in Bangkok and *not* the largest. A shopper's paradise.

SkyTrain back to the hotel and decided to have another massage, but our spa was fully booked so we picked another place nearby, where we both had foot massages (which for some reason included upper back and shoulder work) for about £5 per hour each. May be worth going to Bangkok for massages alone! Back at the hotel we chilled in the lounge and had juice and coffees, then popped round the corner to a very local restaurant (meaning plastic chairs, strip lighting, cheap food) for a quick supper. Interesting surroundings and service but forgettable food.

Then back to the hotel, collected bags and used the Gym showers, then took a taxi to the airport. Another ride with no seatbelts and a friendly driver who laughed maniacally at anything we said. Bangkok's new main airport is amazing, efficient, clean and beautiful. And an absolute high-end shopping gem designed to part awaiting passengers from their cash in the most efficient manner. One of their tricks is not to have anywhere to sit down, except right next to the gates which were (what seemed to be) about a kilometre from the shopping area. In other words a horrible, nightmarish place for the two of us. We spent our last few Thai Baht on some fresh fruit (mine was mango with a side serving of sticky rice, of course!), trekked to our departure gate and then, after 7 weeks travelling, we were on a plane home.

Day 50

Hook turns and foodie heaven

Sun 27 Feb

And so, off to Melbourne. We arrived late morning and were picked up by K, the friend who we were staying with.

Temp: 17 Deg C, no humidity

Time: no change from Sydney (still GMT +11)

A brief detour via K's place to drop off bags and pick up another friend S, then we headed out to the Mornington Peninsula, a beautiful wine area that runs along the south-east of Port Philip Bay. We had a lunch booking at the 1 hat (like a Michelin star) restaurant on Montalto estate, a farm that specialises in Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Lunch was superlative, a set menu (I had the lamb, La had the barramundi [fish], followed by rhubarb brulee and oozy choc pudding) and some wine tasters. Delish. Then went for a wander round the installation art/scuplture on display in the gardens and around the vineyards.

Scenic drive home along the coastline, then unpacked and went for a walk in St Kilda's Acland Street, a very trendy mix of bars, coffee shops and cake shops; think Melville (Jhb) with less sleaze. Even for a Sunday night, it was pretty busy. Lunch had been late, but K and I still managed to fit in falafel in pita. The falafel ball mix was being machine gunned into the oil by some sort of mincer/spitter/outer contraption. Amazing. We rounded off the evening with a night stroll on the St Kilda beach front.

Day 44

Mon 28 Feb

After a fairly relaxed breakfast, we borrowd bikes from our hosts and cycled through Brighton down to the Bay. We then biked along the cycle path running next to the ocean, all the way to St Kilda harbour and then back to where we were staying, about 16km round trip. Easy on the legs, but not so much on the bums, which were not used to bike seats. A great way to see that part of Melbourne with its wide streets and verges and pavements and beautiful houses.

Back at K's place, we did our first DIY lunch in what felt like ages then made our way into the city, straight into Flinders Street station on the train. First stop was Federation Square and a view over the Yarra river, then we were on 'Masterchef Australia' location hunting. First success was 'Movida' and the alley adjacent to it; next was 'The Press Club'. The months before our trip we had become addicted to the show so this was a bit like a groupie pilgramage.

Some more wandering in the city, we had a coffee in Burke Street, window shopped in the Burke St mall and explored some of the alley ways to either side, crammed full of speciality shops, from boutiques selling hats to more coffee and cake places.

Then, we had our first Melbourne Tram experience, riding the 64 line back to K's place, where he had been slaving away over our supper: mediterranean style hake in parcels. After we'd eaten, we met up with a former Pretorian, G (who we'd been friendly with in London) and his wife D for a catch up and home baked brownies.

Day 45

Tue 01 Mar

After breakfast, took a tram into the city and headed straight for the Queen Victoria Market, one of Melbourne's biggest fresh produce markets. The market has several large food halls, divided into meat, fish, fruit, veg, deli goods. Awesome. And then another few large halls full of flea market tat. We wandered up and down, bought some fruit, a bit of lunch and some souvenirs. We also bought a tasteful gift for our host K.

After lunch we picked up a hire car and then headed for the Dandenongs, an area of hills and valleys and rainforesty type stuff, about an hour East of Melbourne. Great drive and lovely meandering rode up towards Mount Dandenong (633m). We stopped at the National Rhodendendrum Gardens, which are truly spectacular, and where we got a little lost amongst the plants. We were a little late in the season to see them in their full flowering glory but still a fantastic place to visit. We pushed on to the village of Sassafras for some tea and scones, but missed last orders (at 16:30!) at most of the shops.

Back in Melbourne we had a few hours to freshen up and then headed out to my cousins A & V who lived virtually around the corner from K. It was a big family affair with A&V's sons, cousin B and wife K and their youngest and cousin N. Over schnitzel, falafel and chips, my Melbourne family were properly introduced to La and we picked their brains for stuff to do in our last full day in Melbourne.

Back at K we had a quick catch up and presented him with a beautiful tea towel hook thing, sure to take pride of place in his kitchen. (Link)

Day 46

Wed 02 Mar

For our last full day in Melbourne we parked the hire car in a side street near North Brighton station, bought a quick coffee (another excellent flat white) and then trained into Flinders Street in the city centre. From there we took the free tourist shuttle bus, winding its way past the MCG (huge!) up to the Italian quarter, where we got off in Lygon Street. This street has an incredible array of Italian cusine on offer, virtually every shop is either a pizza or pasta place or both. Of note was the beautiful Brunetti cake and coffee palace which has rows and rows of the most delicate looking pastries, tantalising torte and craftily crafted cakes. And sandwiches on delicious Italian breads and, of course, excellent coffee.

Next, a stroll through Carlton gardens past the Melbourne museum and Royal Exhibition building and into Brunswick Street precinct of Fitzroy, a multicultural district full of bars and galleries and eateries. We eventually settled on a satellite shop of Brunetti (how could we not?) and had lovely sandwiches and coffee.

After lunch we trammed back towards the city centre, hopping off at the Sofitel in Collins Street. Why, you might ask? Because on the 35th floor of that hotel, there is a restaurant, and the restaurant has public loos, and the loos have floor to ceiling windows with a sweeping view over Melbourne. Incredible views, although I must admit to feeling a little uncertain of the strength of the glass so didn't get too close or lean on the blessed things. The mens room faces east with a view of the Yarra river, the MCG (still huge), the Bay and the Dandenongs in the distance.

Visually sated and with empty bladders we continued wandering down Collins Street, noting the craziness of the Melbourne 'hook' turns (to turn right in the city centre and to avoid blocking trams, you bear left, effectively stopping in front of the cars waiting at the Red light, sort of joining their wait but cutting to the front of the queue, until the lights go green for you), and turning down some of the little narrow alleyways crammed with bars and coffee shops and Thai food places, like Flinders Lane and Degraves Street.

We crossed over the Yarra River at Queens bridge for a walk along the south bank, snuck into the Langham Hotel for a snoop round and to make use of their facilities (5 star toilets I say!). We then had an ice cream on the river side, walked along the bank to Alexandra Gardens, and narrowly avoided being knocked out by rowing club fitness freaks taking their punts onto the water. We crossed back over the river at Swan St bridge towards the unnofficial sporting district. First we came across the Rod Laver arena, home of the Australian Open (tennis), then the HiSense (soccer) arena and lastly the Melbourne Cricket Ground, as mentioned before, pretty huge, and actually used for both cricket and Aussie Rules football.

Ended off our travels in the city with a tram to the Chapel St precint for some window shopping, popped into the Prahran market there (but too late, it was closed already) and had one last Melbourne flat white before taking a train back to our car. Supper was a delicious Italian meal with friend's of La's mom, J and M, at Rossini Ristorante in Malvern, followed by frozen yoghurt from IglooZoo (great name!) for dessert. Lovely, but very full.

Day 47

Thu 03 Mar

Mostly a travel day but I managed to squeeze in a quick run along the beach, from Brighton up to St Kilda and back. Breakfast, finished packing and then followed trusty sat nav instructions to the airport. But because we were so early, I decided instead to try give my lovely wife heart failure by taking a wrong turn and missing our off-ramp and heading about 20 minutes round trip out of our way.

But got to the airport in the end, in good time, and checked through. Then had a delightful conversation or 3 with Melbourne toll road people to pay for a toll charge for using the highway to the airport. Of course it is possible that our detour also took us over a toll route (they don't have booths, just automated things for people with chip devices in their cars, and for the rest of us, they expect you to know where you went and phone and fess up) but as I couldn't remember which bridge I got lost on...

Flight across to Bangkok was ok, quite late at night when we arrived but still quite warm. And only the second location on our trip where we know no-one (Hawaii was the other).

Temp: 32 Deg C with 85% humidity

Time: -4 hours (GMT +7)

Crazy taxi driver, chatted to us the whole way into the city in broken English, main topic was pointing out the railway lines and stations of the new SkyTrain route from the airport to the city. No irony meant I'm sure. Arrived at our hotel, what bliss. Everything crisp and clean and air conditioned loveliness. The housekeeping origami artist had twisted one of our hand towels into an elephant; genius! Also the hotel has an all day lounge with coffee and snacks and juices. Next time you're in Bangkok I strongly recommend a drop-in to sample the wonderful green guava juice on offer.

Day 48