Day 5 - Sunday

Vicky directed the driver and brought us to a place called 'Siam Celadon Pottery' that sells clay/porcelain wares. She needed to get a tea set for her forthcoming Wedding and she did find one :) whilst I got some more small items like incense holders, sauce dishes.

As the no. of days we would be staying at the hotel had been miscalculated(pre-paid on our behalf for 2 nights only), we're to decide today if we would like to stay on this hotel or move to another. Hearing our comments, they also urged us to make the change and we did. The other hotel cost slightly cheaper but the room and even the hotel itself was better :)

We were about to enjoy a cup of nice coffee at the hotel lobby after our re-location check-in when Vicky got another call from Sam and as we have to detour to his home to pick him up, we left without finishing our coffees. We then headed to another place(can't remember the name hee) that sells all the articrafts - daddy's favourite! He managed to get a pc of articraft for our home(but we realised upon reaching home that it was a little too big for the place he's intended it for) and Vicky also found the 'containers' to hold/keep the bear which the hotel(Conrad) would be providing her to give away as her Wedding favors and also the scented candles she would need for her home buffet table. I got a big bag of scented scones myself too :D

On our way back to the hotel, we stopped by the road stall and Sam bought some lychees.

Renee has already had an early dinner of porridge in the hotel but she requested for more, so I cooked some more macaroni for her to eat in the restaurant(which she finished all as well). For our dinner, we went(on our own) to Khum Khantoke where one dines in the midst of entertainment. The dances were not very professionally performed(both daddy & I had a little laugh about it) but it was nevertheless, a form of experience to us. We took quite alot of shots of Renee in this restaurant(it's a pity we let her wore the nicer dress the night before, thinking we were coming here then) and as we were seated right infront of the floor 'stage' and it looked as if she was in the midst of the performances too hahaha.(Before we went out, I finally found out the reason of my lethargy the past 2 days - my 'dai yi mai' finally visited me lolz).

This is the photo taken by the restaurant's photographer, very well taken :)

Day 6 - Monday

We went out in search of breakfast this morning but as most stalls were not opened yet and we were quite sick of the western style breakfast, we decided to just buy some teriyaki burger + hotdog sandwiches from the 7-Eleven store. I even got a couple of necessities which I found useful but not available here. On our way back, although it was a short walk back, we took the Tu Tu(or is it 'tut tut'?) car for the experience :)

Renee's been asking for ice-cream during the trip and her dad finally relented to her request when we were waiting for our food to be 'cooked' at the 7-Eleven store. And after I've got Renee's lunch(fed her in the hotel) and dinner(packed for her to eat when we're waiting for our Int'l flight) cooked/packed, we set off to the airport.

This is the shot Renee's taken at one of the Duty Free counters, looked pro huh? :D

It's funny how an airport can have sooo many counters selling the same brand of spa products and seeing them all around, I couldn't help but purchased a spa shower gel and some mini hotpress(es) to try :D - I was actually very keen to buy the shower gel which I've tried at 'The Barai' spa but I didn't get to enquire about it due to the rush...

Oh ya, I finally got to try their famous dessert - 'Red Ruby'! Whilst having dinner at the airport(the food's good), I recalled seeing Sam's mom and aunt hving it the previous night, I thought I should give it a try since it's kinda like one of their signature dishes. Verdict : Hmmm, I prefer the Singapore style's, heee.

Day 4 - Saturday

I woke up feeling very lethargic today and as we were told earlier that the van which was booked on our behalf will come to pick us up at 10am, we went down for our breakfast at 9am. But, as we were just about to start(I had just started going 'thru the buffet spread), Vicky and Sam came to look for us and as they have to leave almost immediately, daddy went down with them to be introduced to the driver and have the 'programmes of the day' discussed. By the time daddy returned, it was almost time for the buffet to end, so daddy has to rush 'thru whatever meagre choice of food he's able to obtain from the spread...

After our breakfast, the driver took us to Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep Rajvoravihara:

Standing behind daddy & Renee was a 'dancing' elephant

Thereafter, we were brought to the silk factory. We didn't buy anything from its showroom but instead, I purchase a silk shawl from its other showroom in town.

The silk worms

Daddy had expressed his wish to go to the Lychee Plantation but since it's quite far, the other alternative would be to try and let him see the tree at someone's house. The driver finally found one but there were no more lychees on it, hahaha(end of season). We then proceeded on our search for daddy's 'sports rims' but as not many Thais drive Audi cars, so the search was fruitless too. Thus, we headed back to the hotel.

We then met up with Vicky, Sam + his family(his aunt and uncle-in-law) after Renee's had her dinner and we dined at a place where Vicky had always wanted to go to. It's got a very nice environment but Renee slept in the car and thru the dinner(but towards the end of our dinner, she woke up crying, pitifully, probably remembering the 'strangers' she was introduced to earlier hee) :

This is the view we got/faced from our table

The Ladies'

Can u spot the sleeping Princess?(1st pic) heee

When dinner's over, Sam and his relatives went back home but Vicky went to roam the 'night market' with us. This time round, daddy bought quite some tees(which he's always on the look-out for hahaha) and I also got some nice ornaments/souvenirs(arrrgh, shld hv got more, so can give more to my sisters... always under-estimate!).

Day 3 - Friday

After our buffet breakfast(went for more 'thai' food this morning since we had american's the day before), we went back to our room and got ready to 'go'.

We're to take a flight from Bangkok to Chiang Mai today but on our way, we stopped by the railway station for Sam to get train tickets as their air tickets're on staff rate and they didn't want to take the risk being on standby since the flight was deemed to be 'full'(they should have heeded Vicky's suggestion to try though, cos there were really empty seats available on board :<). So, we were left to take the flight by ourselves(Vicky's luggage came along with us instead, since it's too huge to be brought to the train).

Upon arrival at the Chiang Mai airport, we took a cab and checked into the Hotel(get the names of the hotel from me) ard 4pm+. The room's pretty spacious but it smelt 'stuffy' and daddy didn't like it. After Renee's had her porridge, we went down for some explorations. Feeling too hungry to look further for makan, we stopped at Burger King for a quick bite. I ordered a crispy burger - something which is still not available here and it's pretty good, kinda like KFC's Zinger burger :). Renee took the nuggets and fries, as usual ;P

We roamed around the stalls(night market?) and though we saw some stuffs we wanna get, we didn't, heeding Vicky's 'warning' of not to buy first but try to note down the prices of the things we'd like to purchase(we didn't check though heee). Passed by a food centre and it looked 'nice' so we thought to give it a try the next day(but didn't get to...).

Day 2 - Thursday

After our buffet breakfast(of which Renee took the grilled potatotes with butter and bacon), we brought Renee for a little 'swim'. We met an Australian mommy with her 4 1/2 yr old son at the pool and shared our contacts 'cos she's expressed her needs in looking for an Asian agent for the apparel labels that she's distributing(woah, from the names she's listed, they were quite some good ones!) and she's very keen when she knew that we're from Singapore. One funny thing is that she asked if Renee is attending an American school back home as she's got an 'American accent' hahaha...(I guess it's due to some of the 'phrases' she's picked up from the animated characters she watched on tv)

This is another but a smaller baby pool and as U can tell from the pic, Renee's afraid of the water spouting 'ball' hahaha

After our 'swim', we proceeded to the Palace for our lunch and a site tour:

Vicky has mentioned to me prior to the trip that she'd like to go for a spa treat and true to her words, the morning whilst we spent our family time at the pool/beach area, she went with Sam and future MIL, to enquire about the treatments at the hotel's luxurious spa retreat - 'The Barai'. Overwhelmed by her enthusiam and with daddy's 'permission', I decided to join her. I went for the 'Sweet Basil and Kaffir Lime Compress' massage + the 'Soothing Chamomile' scrub, whilst Vic went for the 'Indigo Compress' massage + ' Eucalyptus Salt' scrub. It was a real pampering treat that cost us a couple hundreds of SGD each(just the massage only, as being houseguests, the scrubs were complimentary) but we(or I) didn't really enjoy it to the max as it started abit late and I was quite worried about daddy's tummy hahaha. But it was a memorable one as it's my first spa treat with my gf. Here's the link : http://huahin.regency.hyatt.com/hyatt/pure/spas/index.jsp

As our spa session ended at 8:30pm(we were both given this herbal compress pack for our continued home use.), we rushed back and met up for a quick dinner of wanton noodles(daddy loved it) as no restaurants would be serving us already at this late hour heeee. And since we've gone for such a late dinner, and daddy didn't want Renee to take in all the scents of essence, so daddy didn't get to go for his foot & neck/shoulder massage :( (cos Sam wasn't keen to go for a 2nd round and it's no fun going for one alone, esp at a foreign place). This time round, daddy was a little upset as he felt that he was the nanny for the trip hahaha.

We're back!

Yes, we're back! Hurray - *Home Sweet Home* - However, our dear princess cried when we got home! hahaha. She was sleeping on board the plane and all the way back in the cab and when we reached our door, she pointed to the door she cried : "I don't want to go home, I want to go back to the holiday house". Geez, it was past 1:30am already, I hope our neighbours were not waken by her cry lolz.

Our returning flights(both domestic and international's) were delayed and thus we only arrived home at around 2am this morning! Regret not paying more for a direct flight by SilkAir and maybe we won't be hit by the flight delays also and got home earlier(but it'll have to be today though as silkair has no flights back on Monday).

Geez, I had thought that I'd be able to provide an update in full details, the events of this trip but never had I imagined that I'd be sooooo tired that I'm simply lost for words now and thought to give it a miss hahaha. However, since I'm taking a break now from my continued chores(of laundry, unpacking/packing, changing of bedsheets, floor moping, etc), I think I'll give it a shot and try my best to, as I go along.

The trip was alright and although we've kinda anticipated most of the 'happenings' during the trip, there were still some minor 'hiccups'(since we weren't entirely equipped with the full itinerary/plans and with a kid in tow, it's not quite as easy as alot of prior plannings are needed when you have a young one).

Day 1 - Wednesday

Had quite a 'scare' becos I suddenly remembered, after we've checked into the immigration, that I've forgotten to switch off the electric power to our filter water dispenser! I immediately called Eileen as she's got the keys to our home and she in-turn contacted Ellen to help me off it on time(as Eileen has to attend a pc course and checking with her distributor friend, was informed that since I've drained out most of the water plus we'd be gone for so many days, it'd be better to have the electricity switched off). I was still wondering earlier if I should switch it off then and there when I happened to glance at it but after the rush of getting the rest of the foodstuffs, milk bottle/sponge/brush packed, closing the windows, I forgot about it, haiz... - Thanks again, Eileen and Ellen!

Renee slept all the way(I've got some pics taken with my hp, shall try to upload later) and although it is actually good so she won't be bored for the 2 1/2 hrs on board the plane but that caused a little 'inconvenience' to me as I'm 'stucked' with her by my side and daddy was seated too far away from us so I can't call out to him for help when needed...

We proceeded to Hua Hin(by road) upon our arrival at the Bangkok airport and stopped to have a quick lunch at one of its local eateries on our way. Renee even took the chicken/char siew rice 'cos I hadn't cook her meal as I'd need to pack all the vegetables into both of her Thermos containers.

For the first 2 nights, we stayed at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Hua Hin and I must say that it's quite a nice resort :).

We rested a short while and got ourselves freshen up before we met again to go for a little 'exploration'. We stopped by one cafe and had our coffee & snack before a little 'more walking around'. Driving around in search of a restaurant for our dinner, we came past this place and decided to dine there when Vicky caught the spectacular sight the restaurant's location provided. Even Renee took a few nice pics of us here :)

We saw many massage salons along the way and were joking about going for a foot massage after our dinner and when we've gone back to our hotel rooms thereafter, I was quite shocked when Vicky came knocking at our door, 'fetching' me to go along. I had not thought that they were serious and I'm glad that I've taken my shower already. This treat cost only about S$15(incl. tip) and I had in mind to let daddy try it the next evening...