17 Hours on a plane! Whew, we are glad that is over! Actually it wasn’t that bad. The trouble started in LA. We arrived early, went to the Thai Air terminal and discovered we were 2 hours early to check in. So we went upstairs and had some McDonald’s food. When Thai air opened, we went down and stood in line at the business class desk. When it was our turn, we found out that we needed a reciept that our travel agent had in fact provided but I forgot to take with me. We had a seat, but the reciept was for the upgrade to business class. We waited an hour and after several frantic phone calls home, we were able to get our travel agent Nancy to fax over a copy of the form that Thai Air need to allow us on in business class. For awhile, it looked like we might be traveling coach!
So we waited until 11PM, (its now currently 9PM in the Royal Silk lounge which Thai Air shares with British Airways and Quantas. It was really nice to not have to hang out with the common folk on the terminal! (just kidding, the lounges do the make the wait easier to handle though)
Anyway, we boarded, and the seats were magnificant! They reclined electronically all the way down so after dinner we slept almost 10 hours right off the bat. We woke up over Toyko Japan. Video on demand meant that Lo got to watch a chick flick while I watched a guy movie. Free headsets, free socks to keep your feet warm, free toothbrushes, free alcohol if you want it, free eye mask to help you sleep, business class rocks! This was the easiest long haul flight we have ever done! Tons of leg room and even a privacy panel between seats if needed.
So we leave the airport, travel down the streets of Bangkok and it seems like home again. The smells of the city, the black mold growing on every flat surface, the dogs fighting in the streets and everywhere you look, motorcycles. Little tiny ones. It is the only way for millions of people to get around in this city, one of the most congested cities in the world. For us though, it is a Toyota Limousine and driver that speaks no English.
The Amari Boulevard Hotel that is to be our home for the next week and a half is nice, but below the standard set by the JW Marriott Hotel right down the street and where we are used to staying when in Bangkok. We have a balcony, which will be nice when our little Riley comes to stay with us next week.
So tomorrow, we have a little video session about HSF, the Thai sister agency of Holt International, the adoption agency we used. Then Riley, whose current Thai name is Chamchan (pronounced Jamjan) will come to see us for an hour and then we go visit her foster parents. All this is over around 2PM. Then we have the rest of the day to ourselves to think and ponder just what in the world we have done!
So we waited until 11PM, (its now currently 9PM in the Royal Silk lounge which Thai Air shares with British Airways and Quantas. It was really nice to not have to hang out with the common folk on the terminal! (just kidding, the lounges do the make the wait easier to handle though)
Anyway, we boarded, and the seats were magnificant! They reclined electronically all the way down so after dinner we slept almost 10 hours right off the bat. We woke up over Toyko Japan. Video on demand meant that Lo got to watch a chick flick while I watched a guy movie. Free headsets, free socks to keep your feet warm, free toothbrushes, free alcohol if you want it, free eye mask to help you sleep, business class rocks! This was the easiest long haul flight we have ever done! Tons of leg room and even a privacy panel between seats if needed.
So we leave the airport, travel down the streets of Bangkok and it seems like home again. The smells of the city, the black mold growing on every flat surface, the dogs fighting in the streets and everywhere you look, motorcycles. Little tiny ones. It is the only way for millions of people to get around in this city, one of the most congested cities in the world. For us though, it is a Toyota Limousine and driver that speaks no English.
The Amari Boulevard Hotel that is to be our home for the next week and a half is nice, but below the standard set by the JW Marriott Hotel right down the street and where we are used to staying when in Bangkok. We have a balcony, which will be nice when our little Riley comes to stay with us next week.
So tomorrow, we have a little video session about HSF, the Thai sister agency of Holt International, the adoption agency we used. Then Riley, whose current Thai name is Chamchan (pronounced Jamjan) will come to see us for an hour and then we go visit her foster parents. All this is over around 2PM. Then we have the rest of the day to ourselves to think and ponder just what in the world we have done!
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