Thailand

Christmas, Family, Thailand, Travel

Merry Christmas from Thailand. However, given the International Date Line and so many timezone differences it felt like Christmas was almost 3 days long.

Our first port was outside of Bangkok, near Pattaya (which I am sure helps everyone know better where we landed).

Christmas morning

Yes, we brought a Christmas tree.

Nongnoch Tropical Garden

Google this place. It is amazing. Also, Mathieu got a lot of love from some elephants.

Awkward!
Mathieu needs a Thai massage.

VIDEO: Thai massage, may not be suitable for children! 😲😎

VIDEO – An amazing Thai culture show.

And then for the strange part. During Covid the owner wanted to keep his employees employed. So he had a wild idea to add sculptured dinosaurs to the garden. Sort of his own Jurassic Park, just less bloodshed. I guess Covid lasted longer than planned as they went a bit overboard.

This is truly only a small percentage of the dinosaurs they made in 18 months.

Bangkok: Christmas Dinner Cruise

Our hotel (Hilton on the right)
Temple of the Dawn (at night).
Royal Palace

Flower Market

Jonathan in flower heaven

ICONSiam – Shopping

Thank you Mr. Chob’s Thai Tour Guide! And of course Joy, our friend and best helper ever in Thailand. We met Mr. Chob 20 years ago on our Orient Express Thailand tour, and he introduced us to Joy on our RTW trip 5+ years ago. It was so wonderful to have Joy be with us again.

This is Mr. Chob’s company. We highly recommend his help when you come to Bangkok. https://www.thaitourguide.com/

Merry Christmas everyone!

Next stop – Vietnam!

Singapore

Family

A few days in Singapore, and then on to the ship.

Hotel: Ritz-Carlton Millenia Singapore

Hawkers Market for Dinner

Mahjong Class

Hu means “I won!”
We passed! We can now play Mahjong

Sands Marina Bay

We know you all saw this in “Crazy Rich Asians.”

High Tea at the Ritz

I cannot even start to describe how much we ate!

Tokyo (Sort of)

Family, , , ,

After almost 12 hours of flight time we made it to Tokyo. Well, Narita International, to be more accurate. This was a quick over night before we leave for Singapore in the morning. It was nice to sleep in a real bed for a bit.

Decorated for Christmas
Time for a nightcap before bed.
Hey – it is better than a seat on a plane!
Backup early for the airport.
With enough time for a quick Phase 10 game.
And of course, matching shirts to make sure we don’t get lost in the airport.

We Are On Our Way!

Family, ,

From North Dakota and Colorado, we have met up in Los Angeles to begin our journey.

Hanging out with our familiar Christmas friend at DIA.
We found Mathieu!
Quick overnight
Then back over to LAX
With a bit of luggage (12 bags all together, including a Christmas tree)

And YES – we are wearing matching shirt!

Next stop – Singapore Airlines and off to Tokyo.