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I haven’t been able to blog lately because Dad and I spent the week in Thailand. First half of the trip was for a Ford ASEAN meeting in Pattaya. I couldn’t take photos of the convention itself since that was confidential. However, here’s some highlights of the travel part of the trip:

While this isn’t as bad as NAIA Terminal 1, we still have such a sad looking Airport.

Manila Airport

Manila Airport

Vin-Vin Kiosk gave us a few laughs. With an establishment like this, it feels more like a bus terminal than an international airport. I don’t know who chose “Vin-Vin Kiosk” over a nice Starbucks or Jollibee. Bangkok airport has Rolex, Chanel and Dior, we have Vin-Vin Kiosk.

Vin-Vin Kiosk

“Is this a guy or a girl?” – A question that I ask repeatedly over the course of my trip. Haha. In this case, it is a guy.

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My plane food, Philippine Airlines’ food is decent.

PAL Food

Suvarnabhumi Airport is so impressive. I couldn’t take a picture but it’s so amazing. Here’s one of its staff buildings. If that’s just an administrative building, the rest of the airport is awesome x 100.

Thailand Airport

When we arrived in the airport, we got into a huge double-decker bus and hit the motorway for the drive to Pattaya.

Thailand Motorway

Their roadways are so vast with no traffic.

Thailand Motorway

They have cabs that are pink.

Thai Cab

In Pattaya we stayed in the Amari Orchid. It was terrific, five-star and first class. The hotel lobby smelled wonderful, like a spa. I didn’t get to take a photo. But we had a welcome sign!

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Here is my room.

Amari Orchid

Amari Orchid

Amari Orchid

Nice personal touches on my water.

Amari Orchid

My Bathroom.

Amari Orchid

the view from my room/balcony.

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I could see into the Holiday Inn’s pool. Looked real nice.

view

It was super cloudy so the beach didn’t seem all that attractive. I haven’t yet mastered my camera to be able to capture the scene nicer. Look closely, you can see the Hollywood-esque Pattaya City sign.

view

Here is dad’s room. Both rooms are very modern and spacious.

Amari Orchid

Amari Orchid

We had a bit of downtime before dinner so we took the opportunity to walk around. The hotel is adjacent to the beach. It can’t compare to Boracay, that’s for sure.

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Side streets

sights

Here’s a hotel built like a ship. Clever.

sights

Convenience Store shopping – some Thai Lays. (no pun intended)

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Soda bottles, don’t see these too often anymore. I got in trouble for taking this photo. I didn’t understand why. What’s so bad about taking pictures of a couple of bottles?

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You will see some interesting characters in Pattaya which is known mostly for its seedy attractions. Here’s a red-light district street during the day:

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For the second time in this blog post.. Is this a guy or a girl?

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Answer: a guy. Here he is, scratching his butt or adjusting his mini-skirt. I dunno.

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Caught this Caucasian Monk. Don’t see those very often.

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I love how they have mini-shrines or altars dedicated to their gods. At any given time, you’ll find people offering a short prayer.

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Food all over Thailand is really good. Dad and I didn’t hesitate to jump right in and sample some street food. SO GOOD. It smells amazing. They have these makeshift food carts attached to motorcycles.

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They prepare the food in front of you so you know it’s clean and fresh.

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She’s making our Seafood noodles. Generous on the squid and shrimp too. – 40 Baht (56 Php)

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Gotta tell them to take the spiciness down several notches otherwise you will be breathing fire. In fairness, it was actually very good. Just extremely spicy.

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We also bought corn from this nice lady. 20 Baht or 28 Php for 2 pieces.

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The corn tasted like regular corn except unappetizing because some kernels were this funky shade of gray.

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Okay.. that was my day 1. Will blog again tomorrow about the night portion of our first day.

 

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