Bangers and...

As the song goes:"One night in Bangkok, and the World's your... de di de, di de di de etc"

Well, we had THREE nights this weekend for Chinese New Year. It was sort of forced on us - well absolutely it was forced on us as our family will know of course. 

So what!  Let's make the most of it - here we go.

It's Bangers (Bangkok, Thailand) - this time with the kids for the first time - me, Mary, Amy and Ollie!

Yu have to try this hotel. Ramada Plaza Menam Riverside, Bangkok. What a beauty! An absolute gem of an hotel, placed right on the river. A little out from the city, but no problem there as there was a free bum boat every 30 minutes to the sky train, MTR and river taxi central station. 

Just an amazing place.

Mae Nam Chao Praya is the Thai name for the river, or The River of the Kings. I like the latter version - sounds much more dramatic. 

Along this wide meandering river sit many Wats, or temples. It is stunning, and this hotel had a prime spot for you to just sit and watch the world go by on the river.

Check the view from the jetty. These little outcrops were where you could have dinner, drinks, breakfast and basically just soak in the river. It is beautiful is it not!

Taking about 10 steps from the river to the pool. Yes that is my munchkins on day 1 in the middle of the pool. As this was day one for Mary and I we gracefully retired to the seating area to sup on Singhas and Pina Coladas - very civilised don't you know!

Hold on a second - เฟสบุ๊ค, เฟสบุ๊ค, เฟสบุ๊ค

(Yes that's Thai for FaceBook, FaceBook, FaceBook!)

And she can't dispute this this time as she actually asked for an "ooooh look, a Facebook shot!"

Oooh OK my turn.

So not really in to Facebook personally, so mine is LinkedIn, LinkedIn, LinkedIn.

This is where we have breakfast for 3 days - can you believe it.

Superb buffet breakfast - chat, chat, chat - turn left soak in view - chew, chat, turn right soak in other view - chew, chat. Nice!

Then as we sit in the evening the sun begins to set over the river - like a big egg yolk going into river coloured dipping sauce type thing. Huh??? Anyway, truly beautiful!

Food to die for.

When we arrived we asked for the menu and cos of old white bloke here - or as locals would call us "fa-rang" (Westerner - of maybe a take off of foreigner?) - he handed me one with club sandwiches, pizzas, BLTs, French fries etc.

I'm like; "Oi, Mr get your bum back here and give Daddy the local fare menu please! Oh yeah and another Singha whilst you're at it. Thank you my good man!"

Here are some of the outcomes of that initial foray through the vast menu.

This one blew me away. For those that know me I make a pretty mean Laab Gai, which for those that don't is a spicy chicken salad. Loads of chili, fish sauce, lime juice and the like. It is beautiful and one of my all time favourite dishes from Thailand. In fact it was my last Thai food in Thailand as I had it at Bangkok airport before we flew home.

Well how about these?

This is called Po Piah Laab Gai. Yes, for my Chinese friends, a Thai version of popiah, but it contains Laab Gai. Fricking amazing little things. So it's Laab Gai wrapped in spring roll wraps and then deep fried, and served with mint, coriander and a plum sauce dip. Hold the phone, now that is what I am talking about. 

"Mate these are awesome, bring me another Singha please!"

Ahhhhhhhh on to the next star attraction. I am trying to cook this this evening actually for the kids and Mary - I hope I do OK and do this justice. 

It's called Moo Dad Deo. 

Sounds like - Cow Smell Under Arm Spray for Fathers. 

Believe me it does not taste like it!

"Hey make that two Singha's if you're going to take your time, this is beer food mate I love it. Hurry up!"

So how about taking some sun dried, marinated pork belly cut in to bite sized pieces. I think the marinade was sort of char siew, so Thai Chinese style. Then maybe roll it in a tiny amount of flour and then hey I know let's deep fry it until its crispy. 

NO you can't do this to me - it was amazing! I want it every day!

This was salty, meaty, crunchy, fatty - we ended up ordering one more plate for lunch, and the next day ordering two plates of the beef version.

So here is us, relaxing poolside. Kids in pool. So some down time too. Chilling, eating, drinking, enjoying. Really is a very nice place this. You relax as soon as you walk through the front door!

Not exactly BayWatch, but equally as beautiful - my little Amy.

Again not exactly BayWatch - but certain similarities to Hasselhoff - aged, fat, and I like a beer. 

There you go, I am "virtual BayWatch".

Evening time on the river.

We had received a a "passport" as part of the hotel package. Come for a Happy Hour drink between 1830-1930. Sounds nice says I, always in for a cheap drink. Plan was early bed. We'd already eaten, so let's pop for a couple of drinks, watch the sun go down over the river and chill before bed.

We arrived. Here is me with my passport. OK why am I so happy? It's only a Happy Hour after all.

Because it was FREE HAPPY HOUR. Unheard of. FREE.

Did I mention it was FREE.

An hour of FREE drinks - and not just for me, for the whole family. We gorged - ha ha!

Isn't this pretty. This is looking along the river inland, away from the city. Very pretty. The palm trees on the left is where the bum boat parks up and takes you to and from the city.

And let's look the other way with the kids in shot too. Look, its now all lit up. It's actually called Illuminous. You can see why can't you. 

And a clear view to the bottom of the city.

Now another Wikidaddy fact. See the hotel on the far right with the golden dome atop? That is the very hotel in the film "Hangover Part II". In fact Mary and I stayed there 2 years ago now for our very good friend Jeremy's 40th birthday party. 

Where the dome is - look to the right on the very top floor and there is one of the highest al fresco bars in the world. It is uber cool, but bloody expensive - but well worth a looks. This is walking distance from the sky train station.

Below is a scene from the film itself, from that very bar - check that view out. Now I think you'll agree why they can charge mega bucks for drinks.

Campfire's burning, campfire's burning, draw nearer, draw nearer...

Blimey that's a song I used to sing when I was camping with the cub scouts. But come on it does look like a little camping scene below - doesn't it?

Hey moody face! These bloody drinks are FREE - cheer up!

Ha Ha - no really like this one of you babe - soft focus, soft lighting, city and riverscape in the background, twinkly lights and twinkly lights reflecting off the water - ahhhh how romantic. 

What you thinking?

"I wonder how many free Mojitos I could actually consume in one hour? hmmmmm!"

Some additional rather nice random shots of night number 1.

Ollie playing on his new Boogie Board - you'll get a close up of Amy's later to see what it is.

Cute kids - VERY cute! See the chair is lit up too!

Oh no - man down, man down! Well 4 year old down. Bless her. 

Her energy left her little body, melt down ensues!

Ollie caught out on that bloody iPad again! Despite sitting on The River of the Kings, iPad wins! Bugger!

More breakfast shots, check out that backdrop.

You can see they are very happy can't you - look at those plates - piled high!

One day they even had black pudding Thai style - this was wonderful. Weird though was that it was on cold counter so I went to the egg station and asked them to fry some up and then put egg on top. Deeeeeelicious!

The boat people of Thailand. Us on our little bum boat on the way to a days adventure - I think this one was to go noodle soup hunting for Ollie. I promised him I would take him to the place Mary and I found when we went to Jeremy's 40th - just the best I have ever had - Thai Chinese style noodle soup - more of that in a short while.

If you're wondering why the sheets were down - yes it was raining. Boo!

Off to JJ Market.

Actually the real name is Chatuchak Market. This place is MAD. Seriously MAD. It only opens weekends so it gets rammed of course.

We were on the sky train en route and whilst I looked out the window at the scenery I spotted it. It was immense. No word of a lie this place is like a small town. Split in to zones where you get food, clothes, household wares, shoes, flowers etc. Almost like Grace Brothers, but not going up floors, going zone by zone. 

Just a crazy place.

Bloody hot.

Bloody busy.

I thought back to baby Amy days - not in a MILLION years could you come here with a push chair or buggy. Papoose only for this market, and then you'll be sweating your bits of carrying the baby. One to consider for parents with wee ones!

Answers on a postcard - can you guess what she's selling?

That's right - elephants!

As you walk you spot food vendors in every nook and cranny of the market. I have absolutely no idea what these ladies were preparing and selling but it smelt good, and was a very busy stall with lots of locals waiting to be fed.

Even my mates DHL were there - can you believe it, in a market. Reason being? Its because people buy so much stuff here that they can't carry it home as luggage, so what do they do? Yep - they post it home instead.

This is the main food courtyard - a series of hawkers all laid out in a block. They sold everything and anything you could think of on a stick.

Mary and I had some chargrilled coconuts, that were then chilled. So you drank the juice from the shell icy cold, but the flesh was cooked inside - very strange.

We had some pork on a stick from this lovely leopards skinned lady. Delicious, crispy burnt bits from the BBQ. Sort of big pork satays. Scrummy!

You really can buy ALL food styles here from Thai, Chinese, Malay, Indian and fusion of all of them.

Here we found a Chinese pork joint. Check out that roast pork belly. Yes absolutely we had some of this in a bag, and snacked on it like candy as we walked the market.

Just look at these food courts. Overspilling with people.

Smells, sounds, sights - cool!

We walked past a place when we first got there that was heaving, real cool music booming out from a DJ and some chefy looking chap stood front and centre cooking in massive paella pans.

"That looks interesting." Thought I.

"I must have a beer there on the way back to the train. Soak the atmosphere of the market and all that."

(Any excuse!)

So we did! And boy I am glad that we did do this. The place was crazy.

And yes he was cooking paella, and putting on a show whilst doing it. This chap had hundreds of photos taken of him with tourists whilst we sat there for one beer. It was great. Absolutely mobbed, crammed in to a tiny area, small little stools and low tables. Extremely low key, and again with cool ambient house music banging out from the resident DJ.

This is my kind of place. This is my kind of pipe dream place I'd like to own. BUT this place was kind of unique too, with an absolutely fantastic offering. 

It was Hobson's Choice.

For those that don't know, that means there is no choice.

There is no menu. He cooks up one dish a day and you have that. That's it. Accompanied of course by the drink of your choice. But food = 1 item. Today it happened to be paella. What an absolutely spanking idea, batches of the same dish all day - and believe me this stuff was flying from the pan!

So we watched cook from scratch a monster dish of paella, then swop pans with the chap behind him to keep it warm and to serve of course - whilst chef then started on the next batch. And so it continued. Imagine the smell from this.

"Heaven, I'm in heaven..."

"Love is in the air..." Bless em. She didn't want a whole drink so Ollie agreed to share with two straws. Ahhhh. Now the amazing thing with this is that Amy Kennett is Globally renowned as the drink ordering Queen of the World. Does she drink them? Nah!

Amy has left drinks in some of the most exotic places in the world - haven't you darling!

We're now off to the shopping centre to get some aircon - we need it, as very hot today.

On the way you are continually weaving through street food vendors. I just love these places. You can't help but stop and stare at what is going on and what is being prepared and eaten, you just can't.

Interesting (for those that know Thailand) to spot is all the red shirts. I get it that it is Chinese New Year and all - BUT, red shirts in Thailand all together like this. I think last time there were this many together a riot started and tanks were driving down the street.

In the centre we had good fortune to witness some Chinese New Year celebrations going on.

The again under much pressure we were "forced" by the kids to queue for an hour to go to Bangkok Aquarium - cited as being South East Asia's largest. Weird thing re this one is that it is actually beneath a shopping centre. You would have no idea looking from the outside that the place is full of fish.

So some snaps on the wildlife on display. These shots actually taken through the glass - not bad if I say so myself, looks like we're underwater with them doesn't it.

Now before we begin on the photo explanations I have to say a few things re the experience.

Mary seemed to be walking through the aquarium not looking in awe at the fish on display, but rather what they'd taste like steamed with some XO or Hong Kong sauce. Every tank was just added to her virtual memory. I thought we'd lost her at the octopus tank. On her breath I could hear her softly saying; "a little olive oil, some garlic, lightly stir-fry. Serve. Sprinkle some paprika..."

Apparently the Thai have crossed a Turkey with an Octopus, so at Christmas everyone in the family can get a leg - wey hey!

Whilst on food. My experience of this place was that actually it was more a food court with some fish tanks in it, as every single corner you turned there was more food, snacks, crisps, even beer on sale - literally everywhere. 

They should rename it to "fish & chips".

OK above are some funky little sand eels. They burrow on down in the sand and pop up to feed. Anytime anything comes near them they shoot back in to the sand. Quite cute actually.

Giant Snow Crab above now. Yep Mary gave this one a good looking at. I even spotted some saliva dribbling from her mouth at one point. This puppy was indeed a giant!

Of course obligatory Nemo shot in an anemone of some description. 

The beautiful, but deadly Lion Fish. 

Nature gone mad. A relative to the sea horse I believe, but called Leafy Sea Dragons. God must have smoking something strong this day of creation to come up with this. I mean come on. Sort of looks like a firework going off. Just bizarre. Mary didn't lick her lips at this one.

Can't remember what these were, but they were stripy and very beautiful swimming in shoals. I shall call them Marty Fish (think about it - Madagascar, come on, come on!)

Another sea horse relative, that this time God seems to have forgotten to give anything cool to. No fins no nothing, but hey I know let's make it green. Why not? I shall call this one the Kermit's Finger Fish.

Some absolutely beautiful sea horses, bright yellow this time - clinging to some coral. Just gorgeous.

I think these were called porcupine sea horses cos of them being a tad spiky. I did a close up here of the head. It really does look like a horse. But this one is very sad, so Ollie asked "Why the long face?" 

Another little eel thing. Sort of looks like a zebra crossing with a stop sign on the end. Notice no one is crossing at the current time.

Not a fish in site now - it's Kermit again. These are all deadly poisonous. They call this species the poison dart frogs. Again a nature warning that anything brightly coloured is dangerous and you should not touch - ah so that's why mu mum warned me about Danny La Rue (below).

Great picture though of the frogs all jumping from the dish, these things about the size of a 10p piece. Tiny little things.

Again just check the colour on these little things - just amazing.

Can you see this one? This little red dart (I think) was no bigger than the nail on my little finger. Absolutely teensy.

Here is a beautiful chameleon, Such a clever creature that can change colour to match whatever it happens to be sitting on, or walking over.

This poor fella has had to take some time of work recently due to being absolutely worn out when he walked across a picnic blanket.

Yes yes I know it's blurry, but I thought it was a great snap of this shoal of little fish darting back and forth within their tank.

The kids get a fish eyes view of underwater. There's this "bubble" in the tank that you crawl in to and then look out as if you were a fish. Amy above is apparently pretending to be a fish although not sure what type - perhaps a Dog Fish?

Can you see the tiny fish above them below? These are neons. My Mum used to have these in her fish tank back in UK years ago - those and guppies.

Now this is impressive. This is a huge tank with hundreds of fish and one mermaid (OK with legs).

Is there such a thing as a merman? Well here is one.

"Dad I was really disappointed with that!" says Amy.

"Why babe?" says I.

"The divers didn't wave goodbye to me!"

Hmmmm!

Have to agree. It was built up to something almost frenzy like. Shark Feeding! Wooooooooo! Two divers descended in to the tank wearing bicycle helmets - I assume to protect them from shark bites. We waited and then from the shadows dark shapes appeared slowly to the front of the tank where the diver sat. Ooooh scary, this could be good, shark feeding - bring it on.

Bring what on? Basically they spent 20 minutes banging the sharks on the nose with poles and I think they fed one of them 3 bits of fish. Boring, come on, how was that exciting. And to make it even worse, they were playing the theme tune to Jaws on a loop, 20 minutes - approximately 5 times of the same song - aagagagagagagagaghhhhhh - won't be watching that again. You want excitement come and watch the Kennet Children Feeding Time when they're hungry - now that IS scary!

 A stunning little jelly fish. Size of a satsuma. Gorgeous little thing.

In one of the food courts to capture the kids attention and to keep them there, was this tuk tuk with a fish tank. I like this actually, pretty cool idea. Like it!

I had no idea Madam Tussauds was in Asia, but it is and it is in the same shopping centre. So we were able to grab a couple of snaps with some of the exhibits outside to encourage you to enter the main event. Either Ollie and Amy didn't look round and they're doing Monsters of Rock symbols, or they have and they are casting spider web.

Hey its Happy Feet and the kids.

I call him Fish Breath.

Amazing co-incidence and luck on our part here. We actually bumped in to Tom Cruise who was over promoting his new film. Isn't that just incredible good fortune. Chinese New Year kicking in. 

Of course Mary had to get in there first for FaceBook, FaceBook.

Man oh man is Tom Cruise a pro- look he hasn't changed his facial expression one bit, or his body stance. Amazing. That's what make him clearly top of the "A-list"!

Sorry Tom.

Come on now we all know you are a little bloke. Clearly Madame Tussauds had some spare wax and added a few inches to your height. So in recognition of that you short bugger I am going to take the piss. Ha Ha!

Me and the Giant Tom Cruise!

A beautiful sun set happening as we return home that evening to the hotel on board bum boat. A wonderful picture, ruined by some big fat white elbow - damn! 

Amazing how technology advances isn't it. Here is Amy showing off her Boogie Board. Basically an LCD tablet that you draw on, or write on with a pen. So here is Amy's bumblebee and butterfly drawings proudly on display. You then click a button and it clears the screen for new drawings to be done. Simple right.

Hold on a minute - did I say technology advances.

I remember being about 5 years old with my chalkboard in school that I used to draw and write on and then rub off with a board rubber. That was 40 years ago. Sound familiar? Ha Ha Ha!

The girls sneak off for a pee break so Ollie and I have a photo break.

He is a handsome chap isn't he, very handsome.

Now where does he get it from - hmmmmmmm, I just can't think. Cough Cough!

OK now the girls are back they want in on it too.

Below is calm before the storm?

Actually calm after the storm!

There was clearly a load of rain inland. The river was very high, covered in weed flowing down, and flowing very fast. We sat on the jetty for dinner as usual, awaiting our happy hour. This explains our "Hitchcock moment". Not "The Birds", but "The Flying Ants".

An eerie feeling came over us. We felt many eyes watching us. We felt many hundreds of eyes watching us. Flying ants. Ahhhhhhhhhh! Yes they ruined our meal that night, and we had to run for cover flapping napkins to keep them away. We relocated and were then fine, only having mosquitos to put up with - which to be honest were easy in comparison.

Have you ever had three flying ants up your nose, one in your eye, one in your ear, about three down your shirt and one in your bra? Well we did. They were everywhere. "Don't worry says the waitress." turning off the light, like that would make a major impact to the situation. "They'll be gone in a second." 

I think she made it worse as now they couldn't see us to avoid us. 

Amy went crazy - she was scared. Ollie turned in to a squealing girl. Mary and I couldn't say anything as we had a mouthful of ants. They were in the drinks, on the food and on our bodies. It was almost like they were customs and excise ants, strapping on rubber gloves for a cavity search - they were everywhere - YUCKS.

I managed to escape with my Singha Beer still intact to a safe place. All was good - ha ha!

We were sat there eating breakfast one morning and heard plip plop plip plop. What looked like rain was splashing down on the waters right next to us. Actually it was small bait fish jumping from the water, being chased to the shore by larger predator fish – literally like sheep dogs herding them to the shore to make catching them easier.

The big fish were actually catfish, huge catfish in fact.

So Amy and Ollie started throwing bread rolls in to great effect. Big Apple even stepped in to help. Yes Big Apple. What a name.

We asked him where and how he got that tag. His name in Thai literally translates easiest to Western to Apple. His mate’s favourite city is New York. Hey presto he calls himself Big Apple. Now is that the coolest name ever? Move over James Bond, sorry mate you have been beaten. “The names Apple, Big Apple!” That is the winner!

But then whilst having a quick smoke I found the secret. 

Were these fish really clever and using the hotel jetties as a catchment for the bait fish? Now that really is clever. 

Or perhaps they stay because every morning these ladies dump about half a tonne of stale bread in to the river for them to eat. Hmmmm. 

Answers on a postcard, but if I was a catfish I'd stay at the Ramada for free food handouts ha ha.

It's Fish Happy Hour!

Now if you happen to be in Bangkok you HAVE to come visit the amazing chap above.

This place is on the corner of Thanon Si Wiang and Charoen Krung. We went here 2 years ago and had the most amazing Chinese roast meat noodle soup. It is breathtaking. I cannot describe it any other way. You want more and more. Sublime noodles, a broth to knock your socks off and then the main man above tops it with roast duck, roast pork belly and char siew - oh F*CK ME, I'm having a heart murmur just thinking about it. You HAVE to go!

It has no name as you'll see below.

It is home and shop to the family.

It is sparse, simple and all plastic furniture, no menu, no alcohol (don't worry just ask the ladies and they send a guy on a motorbike to get it for you) - and it is SO BLOODY CHEAP!

One on my all time  favourite hawker/foodcourt places in the world!

You sure can tell we all loved it here!

Ker-CHANG - switching from Singha to Chang. 

All that Singha'ing has made my throat sore ha ha! 

Dig in - "No Amy you cannot have these, these are Daddy's. Mine, mine they're all mine - ha ha ha!"

Stand back folks, in goes Number1 Son! This could get dangerous, it's Kennett Food Frenzy!

And to just top off the whole experience, this happens.

We're sat there and this lovely lady comes up and explains that this is her son all grown up now. We played with the little boy and then realised. This is the very same baby from 2 years ago that I cuddled when he was crying, because Mum (below) and Dad were really busy on the food stall. He was a darling then and sure is now. 

This was 2 years ago - they remembered us from then. 

Dad even had a photo of me with baby in his phone still.

A humbling but honouring experience - certainly made today a VERY special day for me and Mary!

After our superb lunch we went in search of street food. Walking back to the ferry terminal we found our goal. Ignore the Western food, get back to the street is my suggestion, and get the kids involved too. It's cheap, sometimes "challenging" but 9 times out of 10 bloody delicious as we found out this trip. 

Look at this stuff.

Below I am munching on a glutenous rice "cube" on a stick. In it we think was spinach, and then it was coated in peanut crunch and deep fried. Served up with a chill, soy and Chinese dark sauce dip (we think) - come on how could that not be good. Absolutely delicious.

Next - hot dogs wrapped in a crepe. Seriously how could you not want to eat this. And it's on a stick again. Finger food whilst you walk the street. It was delicious.

After the walk from lunch to the ferry terminal we had a wait as it was very busy. Our little bum boat back to the hotel was running a little late. I was hot, I was sweaty and spotted this chap. Thai ice cream in a cup. Bring it on friend. It was weird. No real taste, but so very tasty. It had some green stuff in it, I think maybe lime peel, and was topped with peanuts and chocolate sauce. Perfect body chiller.

Guess who enjoyed it too. Look at the concentration on that face. I think the first time of the whole day we had some peace and quiet from Ms Amy Kennett. She could not shovel this stuff in her mouth fast enough - ha ha!

Then back on the bum boat, back for a relaxing afternoon by the pool at the hotel. I love this photo. Kids you look amazing.

But the funny thing was that Amy is actually looking at the bilge pump of the boat, as it squirted water out. "Daddy look the boat is having a wee!" OK dreamy photo shattered. Still I love this photo.

Cheesy! I promise Mary asked me to pose like this! Its true!

I love this photo below.

As you know I am a major foodie.

This to me sums up Thailand, and I have left it blurry, out of focus, slightly over exposed etc. But I LOVE it. This is street food. Literally plastic chairs and a cart thrown on the pavement. Smoke billowing from the BBQ.

What sort of things they cooking? I bet it's basic, bearing in mind it's from a cart. Absolutely NOT.

BBQ'd whole fish stuffed with Thai herbs and spices,

Thai soups,

Thai salads,

Thai BBQ'd chicken,

Thai BBQ'd sausages etc etc

A thing of true beauty. And when you walk through the smoke, the aroma is just fantastic. Ooooooh mouth watering right now with the memory!

Off to night market. We now wish we had gone before. We had market in our minds and the experiences of JJ Market - busy, hot, sweaty, smelly - but this place was just superb.

It was like a little village of boutiques. Local designers and of course fake stuff (it being Thailand), fans blowing, a HUGE food court of wonderful local fare and cold beer of course. We had a blast here. And literally it was 5 minutes walk from the hotel.

Free Chinese Theatre. Of course on show as it was Chinese New Year. Apologies here for all my Chinese mates, no racism here at all, but I just don't get this. It was all squeaky voices, and cymbals. Squeaky noise basically. This is when I spoken Mandarin, to gain some idea of what the hell was going on. Just bizarre. Amy loved it because of the costumes, and colours I think, and of course because she is studying Mandarin at school. 

But me - WTF - bizarre!

Can you see behind us the big wheel?

"Daddy can I go on the Flier?"

"Daddy can I go on the Flier?"

"Daddy can I go on the Flier?"

"Daddy can I go on the Flier?"

Yes it was continuous. They would not let up, so off we went to have a spin. Have to say it was pretty cool. You had music playing and your own controls for aircon, music volume and lighting. Plus the views were ace. Well done kids, good choice. Even Mary (not renowned for getting her monies worth at Universal Studios because of roller coaster FRIGHT) enjoyed it.

Sort of out of order - but Amy wanted this photo taken on the last day. This reminded me of a very funny story re the beds for the kids.

We asked for a mattress for Amy on the floor and a pull out bed for Ollie.

We ended up with our double and one pull out.

"No we want a pull out and a mattress on the floor for Amy."

Out we go. We come back and we have no pull out and now a cot.

"No we need a pull out bed AND a mattress on the floor for Amy".

We return after dinner and we have double, pull out and a cot - OK let's just go with that - ahahahahahah! The cot was big so real cool for Amy - although to encourage her to sleep in it we renamed it; Infant Executive Sleeping Facility. She liked that, although she actually renamed it her "cage".

Now this is funny. Of course we assumed it was a language thing and they do not understand the word mattress. 

(I apologise to my parents now as this gets a little rude - sorry!)

So we did a google for English to Thai translation site and found that the word mattress in Thai can be translated to "fuk". Yep "fun". So;

"Listen we need a fuk please."

"Yes a fuk on the floor."

"What do you mean you don't give a fuk?"

"We need a fuk, and can't sleep without one!"

Yes I had major fun with this one as you'd imagine! Endless fun!

Last morning and goodbyes to Big Apple by the kids. He was such a lovely guy, and doted on the kids - feeding the fish with them, playing with them, teasing Amy. Lovely guy!

Final photo for the trip - and relevant for those in the know.

Could this be Mary on our return to Singapore?

We had such a wonderful trip. I was a little worried re taking the kids to Bangkok - never again! It was amazing. I would recommend Ramada to anyone and have done already on TripAdvisor. What a truly superb hotel, in a great location, with wonderful people, facilities, food - well everything actually.

Thanks to my Mary and the kids for just a wonderful Chinese New Year - here's hoping The Snake is good to us - PLEASE!