"2 hours of pain, 2 hours of pleasure" - Bangkok Thailand

Day 9

Our plan today was to meet Uncle Paul for lunch at 11:30 am at one of his favorite Japanese restaurants, Misato. We arrive at the transit station (via BTS - the Thai metro) at 11:25 am and try to find the restaurant. After looking for 15 minutes, we ask a security guard. He points down the road. After no luck again, we ask another one who points us in the same direction. Turns out, you should never ask a security guard for directions in Bangkok! We finally asked a business guy and he explained that it was basically right where we initially came from, and we were now about a mile away. We finally arrive very, very late, 12:15 pm. We definitely worked up an appetite and had some delicious shrimp tempura and calamari udon.

Uncle Paul then walked us to Body Tune for massages. We reserved a massage at 2pm. We then took a walk to the nearby Dusit Thani hotel, an interesting east meets west, with lots of nice restaurants (chinese, japanese, thai, vietnamese, buffet) and dessert counters. The list of celebrities who have stayed there is impressive. We may consider it on one of our return trips to Bangkok.

We signed up for the 2 hour Thai massages, which costs 600 Baht including tip. That's about $18/person for a 2 hour massage. That's some serious bang for your buck. They put us in the same room with 2 beds on the floor. For me, it was 2 hours of pain. I was wishing they had given me a safe word because it was torture. I was wondering if my legs would be covered in bruises the size of her thumbs. Meanwhile, I think Theresa was sound asleep. Towards the end, I can see from the corner of my eye, the masseuse tossing Theresa like a rag doll cracking every bone in her body. I think my masseuse sensed the pain that I was already in and spared me. All in all, a good experience - maybe just one hour next time.

After our massages, we headed to the Siam Paragon, an upscale shopping center known as "The Pride of Bangkok". The prices at most of shops there were comparable to U.S. shops (TN note: e.g. a $1500 Balenciaga bag is still a $1500 Balenciaga bag). We thought it would be cheaper (however, it was good that Theresa's shopping addiction was curbed). The main attraction for us was the enormous food court and grocery store on the bottom level. Theresa was in heaven. So much fresh fruit and free samples everywhere. We probably could have spent a full day just at the food court trying all the different food options. Like at Costco/Sam's Club, we looped around the grocery store a few times and tried all their free samples of fresh fruit, dried fruit, snacks, cheese, pot pies, ham and cheese sandwiches, dimsum, etc. It was a great way to taste all of what Bangkok had to offer without paying a dime! We bought a lot of fresh fruit (mangosteen, dragon fruit, mango), snacks (coconut caramel and pineapple sponge cake and crab curry potato chips). Although we had heard that this was the premium supermarket in Thailand (not just Bangkok) and cost more than all other supermarkets, we still made out like bandits, spending only 390 baht on all our goodies. Thanks to Dr and Mrs. Praphat for the recommendations about Dusit Thani and the Siam Paragon!

Afterwards, it was time to meet up with Uncle Paul again for dinner. We decided on a shabu shabu place called MC Gold. It was very good and seemed very healthy. Mostly vegetarian with some fish balls, fish tofu, calamari and shrimp wontons. It was delicious. Theresa ordered a limeade. Expecting something similar to a lemonade, it was a little strange when the first sip was salty sweet. It was more like a margarita than a lemonade. After dinner, we went back to the food court for dessert. Mango sticky rice for Theresa and ice cream for Eric and Uncle Paul. Surprisingly, the durian ice cream wasn't bad.

It started to rain, so we stopped by a Thai silk shop and found lots of beautiful wraps, shirts, ties and other accessories. We will have to come back when we hit Bangkok again in a few weeks.

(As a side note, we made three observations since coming to Bangkok: 1) never ask a security guard for directions, 2) the entire city smells like delicious Thai food (coconut?) and 3) Viagra and Cialis are big ticket market items with the street vendors. When we were in the pharmacy buying bug spray, a young english guy came in asking about viagra. Apparently, the good stuff cost 2400 baht.)

To view our pictures of the day, we've uploaded and added to yesterday's album. Go to: http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=theresang1977&target=ALBUM&id=5386916532813002561&authkey=Gv1sRgCN_HjpH8zPbLqAE&feat=email

Welcome to Bangkok, Thailand

Day 8

Enroute to Bangkok

Currently on the plane from Istanbul to Bangkok. About an hour left to go. Eric and I both agree that Turkish Airlines is pretty darn good. On the 9 hour flight, we got both dinner (even though our flight took off at midnight) and just finished breakfast. Dinner consisted of shrimp salad, Greek salad, eggplant pasta or chicken skewers, bread, and rice pudding. Breakfast consisted of yogurt, juice, bread, cheese sandwich, scrambled eggs, assorted cheese and sliced tomatoes. The food is high quality compared to what you get on US-based airlines.

Movies are free. Watched 17 Again. Never realized it before but Zac Efron is pretty darn cute (whoa, back down, cougar!) Another plus, they offer a lot of audio options. Entire albums from Pink Floyd, Madonna and Michael Jackson greatest hits, Def Leppard, U2, etc. Currently listening to the BEST album - "80's Movie Hits". Forgot how many great movies/songs there were back then, from Breakfast Club, to Back to the Future to Beverly Hills Cop and Mannequin. I could barely restrain myself from busting out with the running man and the cabbage patch in the aisle of the plane. Luckily for Eric, he's blocking me in. This may have to be the soundtrack for our wedding. heh.

The only bad thing about these flights from Europe to Southeast Asia, I have discovered, is that there are all sorts of, um, "aromas" you smell. Seeing that I have a pretty sensitive nose, I am learning to breathe from the mouth. I see it as practice for scuba diving later.

In Bangkok!

We finally landed in Bangkok. After getting through immigration and customs, we hailed a cab and headed to our hotel - the Royal President. For $55/night, we have a nice hotel room with a kitchenette and, most importantly, free internet! I immediately headed to a nearby spa - the Ananda spa. Luckily I checked the internet, because they had a special 60 minute Thai massage for 555 baht (roughly $16.50). As Eric was tired, I made the journey to the spa myself. First thing I realized, some Thai streets do not have sidewalks. I was walking on the street while cars and bikes whizzed by. I got the hang of it after awhile, it wasn't too scary. What was daunting though is that there were no street signs. I was pointed in the general direction by reception and just headed out. Somehow I managed to find the spa. It was really nice! I was sad that I forgot the camera, because it was so pretty. Very serene with the smell of jasmine in the air. I was greeted with a glass of iced lemongrass tea and after giving soft slippers, was ushered into a room with nice clothes to change into.

My masseuse "A" was a little Thai woman. Very nice and smiled a lot. Little did I know but A packed a hard punch! In the next 60 minutes she proceeded to hit, flick, knead, twist, pull, kick and sit on me. It was AWESOME! She hit every possible stress point on my body and surprisingly, even with all that abuse, I felt very refreshed and relaxed at the end. I also got a nice cup of hot lemongrass tea to top it off. Because she was so good, I ended tipping more, but all in all, it was still under $20! I know it's a little more expensive in Bangkok, but that was definitely worth every dollar!

Sounds like there are a few typhoons heading towards Southeast Asia. Hopefully we miss them during our time here. we'll see....

We freshened up and then met up with Eric's Uncle Paul for dinner. He took us to a Thai restaurant not too far from our hotel. We seem to be in either a touristy or an expat area. During our short walk to the restaurant, we saw Korean, Japanese, Italian, Australian, New Zealand, and German restaurants. Many Korean restaurants. We must've been in K-Town Bangkok.

For our Thai dinner, we started out with some raw greens and papaya salad. We then had pineapple fried rice, massaman curry beef and chicken, and tom yum soup with coconut. I think it may have been tailored for foreigners because it was not as spicy as I had expected. However, it was still very good. We wanted to end with some mango sticky rice, but unfortunately, they didn't have any. So, instead, Eric's uncle took us to a Japanese restaurant to have Tonkatsu. We had the most amazing tonkatsu - you could tell it was freshly fried, and the pork was tender and as an added bonus, they add cheese as a filling! We also had really great fried oysters. They were very succulent and neither tasted the least bit greasy. The place was full of Japanese and some Korean people, so I guess it's pretty good.

On our way back to the hotel, we stopped by a fruit stand that had so much amazing fruit. Mangosteen, bananas, longans, chermoyas, those red spiny things, and more. I came home with a chermoya. For 20 baht, it was delicious!!!

OK, bed time. Eric's Uncle promised us more food and massages in the morning. Must sleep! To view our pictures of the day, go to: http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=theresang1977&target=ALBUM&id=5386916532813002561&authkey=Gv1sRgCN75ps6hkru1Vw&feat=email

Two days of not that much - Athens, Greece and Istanbul, Turkey

Day 6 and 7

Ferry back to Athens, Greece

We woke up at 5:30am and caught a taxi to the port where we are taking the Blue Star ferry back to Athens. We were told that the taxi would cost 15 euros. The driver said 20 euros because he didn't have passengers on his way to retrieve us (there are no meters in the taxis). We didn't have time to argue or any other real options this early in the morning, so we went with it. After paying the driver, we now have 4 euros to our name. Once we arrived at the ferry, we were surprised to see it was clean, comfortable, higher class than expected and fortunately, an ATM on board. Update- We tried to get money out of the ATM, but it was broken and as we made stops along the way to Athens, it is getting more and more crowded and lower and lower class. Good thing we bought reserved seats as opposed to economy class, where some are sitting on fold up chairs in the hallways. With now 3.60 euros (after buying water) to our name, we should have enough money to get us to our hotel. We tried to get more money but the ATM had run out of money. We are currently surviving on an 8 hour ferry ride with crumbled saltines, granola bars, snack mix, and as a bonus, we found a pack of gummy starbursts - dessert! Torture since the family next to us is eating burgers and fries.

******

Fresh off the boat, we headed to our Athens hotel, dropped our bags off, and headed back out to get our gyro fix, three for 5,40 euros. We then headed back to the hotel to relax. We grabbed a late night snack - ice cream for Eric and greek salad for Theresa. Then, off to bed!

Waiting to fly to Bangkok, Thailand

The next day, we checked out of our hotel and spent the following four hours in the hotel lounge catching up on email and planning parts of our thailand trip. We then headed to the airport. We are flying Turkish Airlines to Bangkok with a two hour layover in Istanbul. We had sandwiches at the Athens airport with the assumption that there would not be a meal on the one hour flight. To our surprise, they served dinner with a cheese sandwich, fresh tomatoes and smoked salmon. Five minutes after it was served, they announced that they were preparing to land. Good thing we know how to eat. In addition, once we landed in Istanbul, Theresa had a baklava and turkish coffee. That's all. We told you it was two days of not that much.

To view the pictures of the day, go to: http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=theresang1977&target=ALBUM&id=5386612268829960113&authkey=Gv1sRgCM60__Hug9qLHA&feat=email

"Smart and Baked" - Santorini, Greece

Day 5

While the room is large and clean, the beds were small and springy. Woke up with a sore back from a not-so-great night of sleep. Probably would have been more comfortable to sleep on the couch. The showering is an experience, too. To avoid having to touch the shower curtain, we had to shower with the curtain open. This led to a flooding of the bathroom floor. I think I may have sprayed down the entire bathroom. However, what it lacked in comfort, the Aegean View made up for in service. We had our complimentary pool-side breakfast, which consisted of ham and cheese, scrambled eggs, pastries, coffee, juice, pound cake and bread. No fresh fruit like Adamis, but not bad. They also arranged for a rental car to be delivered to our hotel in the morning.

We got the call that the car was delivered and were happy with the delivery - a Smartcar Cabrio. Although we requested an automatic, their concept of an automatic is different from ours. The gears include 1, 2, N and R. No P or D. We had a hard time starting the car at first. A nice Brit helped us out - apparently, somehow we had demobilized the car. Anyhow, after a good 10 minutes, we finally got the car started and were on our way for a day of beach hopping and sun bathing!

Driving around Santorini is interesting. The map has no street names, just symbols for gas stations and some churches. So my navigating consisted of "If you see a gas station on the left, make a right!" Somehow, we managed to not get lost. Our first stop was Red Beach on the southeast side of the isle. At the parking lot at the beach, there is this cute white church built up against the rocks. The contrast of the pristine white building against the dark red rock was very pretty. They even painted crosses into the rock wall. (on a side note, there appear to be churches in the most random places - at the beach, in the middle of the hot springs, etc.). Eric read somewhere that it was a hike to red beach, so we were sporting sneakers. That was a good idea cause we had to walk up and down some rocky paths to get to the beach. It was worth it. You come down this path and are instantly greeted with one of the prettiest beaches. Red rock and calm crystal clear water. It almost looked like a lake. Having not really gone to a beach in about 6 years, I instantly dove in. It was a bit cold at first, not like the gulf, but it actually was very refreshing.

After spending about 30 minutes at red rock beach, we packed up and moved on to our next spot - Perissa Beach. We had heard that this was where most people went to the beach. Turns out it's because it's a really large beach, goes on for a long while. It definitely was not as cozy or calm as red beach, but it had its own character and very slippery rocks! The beaches here are not sandy, but are either rocky (Kamari/Red Beach) or pebbly (Perissa). At first we weren't crazy about it cause it hurt to walk on, but then we found the benefit...it doesn't stick to you when you're wet! We spent about an hour there and then made our way to Vilchyda Marina to take our semi-private Catamaran tour of the isle (Ted's Tour).

We hopped on the Catamaran and were met by Captain Thios and first mate Andy. Both were extremely friendly and provided great service. Our group was half Americans and half European. We met two other couples, one from NY (via Fresno) and another from Houston. We had a good time chatting with them, with the women giving me wedding planning advice. One of the husbands kept cracking MIT jokes, which was not cool, but whatever.

Our first stop was back at red beach, then to white beach, which is a beach that is only accessible by boat. We then stopped in a small bay to do some snorkeling. I think we were the only two really interested in swimming - we were the first two in and the last two out. Next stop were the hot spings at the volcano. Apparently, sulphur emissions turn this certain swimming hole orange and warms up the water. It looked a bit weird to me and having smelled sulphur before, I opted not to swim in it for fear I'd smell like it for the rest of the day. We then headed to Ammoudi Bay (which was the one place that we regretted not swimming in when we were in Oia). Of course, this time, we jumped right in. There were various types of fish, but nothing too colorful or large. Eric got to jump off the big rock. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to take a real action shot. I got the before and after pictures. Oops.


After another nice swim, we got back to the boat to be greeted with a dinner spead consisting of grilled shrimp, calamari, pork chops, chicken, pasta, greek salad, baked eggplant and potatoes, yogurt, eggplant spread, and bread and all the soda, wine and Mythos beer you can drink. We started back once the sun was setting. Although pricier than the other boat tour options available, we enjoyed the semi private nature of ours and the other passengers on the tour.

After an interesting trip of navigating in the dark, we found our way back to the hotel, washed some clothes, and got ready for bed. We had a 7am ferry to catch in the morning!

To see the rest of our pictures of the day, go to http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=theresang1977&target=ALBUM&id=5385856478117424337&authkey=Gv1sRgCOWYgsjnjfvNhQE&feat=email

"Rain, rain go away" - Kamari, Santorini

Day 4

We woke up to another nice breakfast from Adamis Majesty. Again, eating enough to last us until dinner. We then caught the bus just in time to go to Kamari, a beach town on the other side of Santorini, where we will be staying for 2 nights. We were dropped off in the center of Kamari. Not knowing exactly where our hotel was, we mistakenly asked a guy standing in front of a restaurant called No Name. After he pointed us in the right direction, we trekked our way up to our hotel, the Aegean View Hotel. Although not as nice as Adamis Majesty, it was clean and very spacious for a studio.

Today was our alloted beach day in Santorini. Unfortunately, it was cloudy, the sun tried to come out, and we eventually had some light rain. We did get to spend an hour laying on Kamari's black sand (rocky) beach. One thing that we haven't seen before in Santorini were Asian people walking up and down the beach holding signs for massages. We passed because it wasn't cheap, plus we're going to Thailand soon and it'll be really cheap!

The long walkway along Kamari beach is filled with restaurants, each with a guy trying to get you to eat at their restaurant. We pass by the guy from No Name again and he tries to get us to sit down. We tell him we'll come back later. We ended up eating at the Crepe Academy on the beach. Theresa was craving crepes the other night. Our waiter was cool and not as pushy as the others.

On the walk home after dinner, we were debating whether or not to walk past the same guy who helped us earlier. We had previously taken side streets just to avoid talking to him again. This time, we decided to walk through because we didn't see him. Then out of nowhere, he pops out. This time he seemed annoyed that we were not sitting down, giving us a guilt trip because he helped us earlier in the day. We told him that we'll come by tomorrow. Hopefully, tomorrow is his day off.

To see our pictures of the day, go to: http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=theresang1977&target=ALBUM&id=5385478712618321569&authkey=Gv1sRgCMDomvOio4OiHQ&feat=email

For tomorrow, we reserved a smartcar for a second attempt at exploring more of the beaches.

"Lobsters and Sunset" - Oia, Santorini

Day 3

The day started with a complimentary breakfast from the hotel. You call, they bring in five minutes. We enjoyed an amazing breakfast on the front patio of ham and cheese sandwiches, hard boiled eggs, fresh fruit, pound cake, toast with honey and jam, yogurt, fresh squeezed orange juice and fresh coffee. It was incredible and kept us full until dinner!

After breakfast, we took a walk around the western side of Fira to work off the food. So many nice spots to enjoy the view of the Caldera.

On a side note, we realized that our hotel is really in the heart of city center in Fira and has the BEST view of the Caldera. The volcano is literally right in front of our hotel. Management had to put up a sign that the stairs to the hotel were to be used by guests only because so many people kept coming down to take pictures. We definitely lucked out on our hotel. It's definitely worth the money.

Our next stop was Oia. We hopped on a local bus and headed towards Oia. There is a lot of Santorini that is still not developed, but hopefully it stays that way. Once in Oia, we walked through the alleyways of stores (similar to Fira, but with less crowds and much quieter) and found ourselves at the ruins of an old castle. The views from the castle were amazing.

After walking around some more, we decided to venture down to Ammoudi Bay (trip advisor's #1 "thing to do" in Oia). Let me say, it's a long slippery walk down to the bay, luckily, Eric convinced me to wear sneakers, or else I may still be attempting to make my way down the 200+ steps to the bay. Once at the bottom, we noticed a rocky pathway that went around the bay. Not knowing where it went, but not ready to eat dinner, we decided to just see where the pathway led us. Turns out, it ends at a small rocky beach with crystal clear water and rocks that people jumped off of. We were both amazed but also bummed because neither one of us was wearing a bathing suit. In any event, we enjoyed seeing other people swimming (and lying topless on the beach). If we ever come back, we're definitely bringing our suits!

Before attempting to walk back up the 200+ stairs (it's worth noting that after each step, there is an incline equivalent to at least another step, so really 400+ steps) to the city center, we decided to refuel with dinner at Sunset Taverna (recommended by my friend Jaebock). According to trip advisor, the dish to try was the lobster spaghetti, so naturally, that's what we got. Again, trip advisor got it right, it was absolutely delicious. Eric had about 1.5 lobsters himself.


After dinner, we decided to walk back up to city center. However, halfway up, we found a great vantage point to watch the famous Oia sunset. We sat on the steps for about an hour and a half and I went to explore an abandoned home built into the sea side. Nothing but rocks and debris, but interesting to see how some people used to live. Unfortunately for us, the sunset did not live up to the hype due to the haze. We managed to get some slight pink color, but definitely not as beautiful as the sunset we caught yesterday in Fira.

All in all, it was still a great day. We're enjoying our hotel room with lemon slushies in hand. It's only about 9PM, but we may just call it a night - else, we'll find an internet cafe to hang out at.

To view our pictures of the day, go to http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=theresang1977&target=ALBUM&id=5385109149707350945&authkey=Gv1sRgCJWR7YS_66nPrQE&feat=email

Tomorrow - Kamari Beach!

"A room with a view"....in Fira, Santorini

Day 2

We got up early this morning to catch our Aegean Air flight to Santorini. While Aegean Air has been awarded the best regional airline in Europe, we both agree it should also be awarded for having the most attractive flight attendants. Sorry, no pictures.

Once we arrived to Santorini, we took a taxi into the town of Fira, where we will be staying for 2 nights. We entered into the door of our hotel, Adamis Majesty, and were instantly wowed. Check out the video of the entrance to our hotel (http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=theresang1977&target=ALBUM&id=5384774857735646065&authkey=Gv1sRgCPLArO_X5bafhwE&feat=email - the video should be # 6) and the picture of our ridiculous bathroom.

We decided to have lunch at Taverna Nikolas. It was good, but probably not worth the long lines. After lunch, we explored Fira a little more. It reminded us of Capri, Italy, a high-end small beach town with unique shops. After our walk, we came back for a much needed siesta and woke up just in time for a picture perfect sunset.

On the way to dinner, a couple of Greek street vendors busted out, "Ni Hao Ma" and "Konichiwa" to us. Thanks for making us feel at home! For dinner, we went to Naoussa, a #1 pick for restaurants in Fira based on Trip Advisor. Best meal of the day. We had mussels in a feta cheese and tomato sauce, grilled octopus, which was very tender and flavorful, and grilled swordfish filet. Theresa really liked our side of potatoes roasted with rosemary and olive oil.

Ending the night with a drink, we plan to head to the nearby village of Oia tomorrow.

"We've Arrived" - Athens, Greece

Day 1

We arrived in Athens and attempted to tackle the public transit system. Luckily, Athens was having its version of "Spare the Air" and the subway was free for the most part. We managed to get to our hotel (Hotel Vienna) from the station after walking in circles for awhile. The hotel is nothing fancy, but it's clean and central in location. It'll do for the night.

We quickly dropped off our things and changed into flip flops and made our way to Bairaktari's, the famous gyro place in Monastiraki Square. For just 1,80 euros, we chowed down on an excellent beef gyro.

We then headed to the Acropolis. We weren't crazy about paying the 12 euro fee to see the Acropolis, but decided that we had to go. Probably due to my 12-year old $15 haircut, we were asked whether we were students. For some reason, I had decided to pack my old MIT ID with me, and it allowed me to get 50% off my ticket. Sweet! The lady asked Eric how old he was, and he said "32." So he looked like an old man mac'ing on a college kid.

After hiking up the Acropolis and taking loads of pictures, we were too pooped to see Ancient Agora. We decided to call it a day and have a nice dinner in Plaka at Tavern Stamatopoulos. We had a Greek Salad, which had the best feta cheese ever, the moussaka, and the stifado, which is veal slow-cooked with tomato sauce and onions (thanks May for the recommendation!).

Here's a link to our Athens photos, http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=theresang1977&target=ALBUM&id=5384348669803029025&authkey=Gv1sRgCLzhv77nsYSZCA&feat=email

Next stop, the much anticipated Santorini....

Our world trip starts on Monday!

First stop: Athens, Greece