For the first time in ever, I am in danger of filling an entire passport! Yowza! All this business travel is definitely causing it to fill up fast.
With several years still to go before mine expires, I had to request new pages be added. So awesome. I'm rubbing my hands with glee!
My last morning in Toronto, I snuck away for a brief hour to visit a shop I'd read about via Send More Mail...
It may not have been so shiny on the outside (hey! it was a rainy day!), but inside... Inside. Oh my! It's just the sort of shop we like to explore the bestest...
And maybe, just possibly, I picked up a few Must Have treasures. Maybe. Possibly.
But here's the part where I tell you that I always have a state of 'sticker shock' when I visit Canada. How can things be so much more expensive, when our currencies are exchanging so closely?!? I always wonder about that. And worry about that.
So let's just say that I tried to do my part to help the local economy.
Hullo from the CN Tower in Toronto, Canada!
Walking back to our hotel and the view UP was just spectacular. Have you ever been to the top to enjoy the view? We heard it's amazing!
Is it just me, or is it rather tallll... ?
So here's something that's occasionally nice about business travel... Room Service for breakfast!
The bacon was crispy, just as I ordered, and the buttermilk pancakes were HUGE. and delish! I love that my order of hot chocolate came with a small pitcher of hot milk too. What a thoughtful gesture!
I'll admit that the Room Service pancakes were an unusual splurge... usually its fruit, yoghurt, and granola (yum!). Sometimes though, a girl just needs pancakes, y'know? What's one of your favorite meals when you travel?
Hullo from the St. Lawrence Market in Toronto!
This is how I start my vacation planning. First, I write down all the wild ideas I'm having. Then, I figure out a cost estimate for each...
That usually puts an end to some of it.
It's entirely possible that we're already planning our next getaway too. Plots and schemes, my friend, plots and schemes.
You have been warned...
Pretend this is a grand re-launch of this oh-so-impressive blog, friends! Pretend there be Cake! and Fizzy lemonade! and, uh, Pretty balloons! maybe even a photograph and a few words!
... starting with last week's getaway with two of my favorite peeps...
End of summer trip to the D23|expo?... check!
Bring a pal?... check!
I brought two.
Getting set for a summer vacation and I had the most brilliant idea that I just have to share. Brilliant, I tell you! (I know, I know, there's just no false modesty when these ideas hit!)
You know those 'photo/video storage boxes' that you're always tripping over at the craft store or the local Target/Walmart/box store? Well, pick out a plain-jane box for each of your kiddos. (We're pretending this is just for the kids, but go ahead and get one for you too - you know you want too!). Call it the Summer Souvenir Box. Then get set for Adventure and Fun and Out-of-this-World Creativity as each child creates their own box full of summer memories and treasures. I mean, seriously, what could possibly be cooler?!
The difficult part is restraining yourself from decorating the box for them. So to make it fun for you... maybe do a little personalization. A simple sticker-monogram, perhaps?
Or perhaps pick some pretty papers that match the theme of your summer plans and line the bottom of the box and lid...
Hand your little Summer Adventurer a few envelopes for storing things like ticket stubs and business cards. Then keep an eye out for souvenir stickers and stamps they can use to decorate the outside. Don't worry so much about the contents... Make a few suggestions and then watch the magic at work. Maps, and museum brochures, favorite photos, and silly bits of this & that will no doubt make their way into the box. I'm betting a pet rock will make it's appearance by August.
Completely Brilliant, I tell you. One for Paris, one for London, one for the Grand Canyon... I'm so excited to share these with my Summer Adventurers and can't wait to see how they decorate them and what they save! And, um, I might need to stop back by the craft store and pick up another one for me. Disney World... Bangkok... What are you going to put in your Summer Souvenir Box?
Dear A,
It was after 11:00 pm when I stepped off the plane from Tokyo. A 10 hour flight. Somehow, the adventure of that long haul doesn’t match up to the time we attempted to sleep in the airport transit lounge in Singapore, before flying on to Bangkok at 6:00 am. Oh, the good times we had! The Bangkok airport seems rather new and shiny now, with flights arriving around the clock.
I later found out that it’s a new airport just for International travel. All new, all shiny, totally different from our last visit. And completely bustling for the late hour. No wonder it seemed so much more modern! Check out the cool doors...
You know how I usually do such good research on currency exchange? Well, I didn’t. I was standing at the ATM staring at the different amounts... 1,000 Baht or 2,000 Baht or 5,000 Baht or... And I had no idea how much money that was. If I wasn’t so sleep deprived after 24 hours of travel, I probably would have been alarmed! As it was, I settled for bemused and 2,000 Baht, thank you.
My hotel car service was waiting (1,200 Baht) and speedily zipped me off for the 40 minute drive into central Bangkok. I composed epic notes to you on the drive... nearly all of which I’ve forgotten. I didn’t remember that they drive on the Left in Bangkok. Did we ever know that? And the billboards – they’re HUGE. Some of them are easily 180 feet long. Really. I don’t remember that either! I wanted to take photos of the freeway overpasses – they included charming covered walkways with traditional Thai roof designs. But I was too tired to do more than have a passing thought of getting the camera out.
Once in Bangkok, I was surprised to see street food markets still busy and bustling at 12:30 am. Still grilling little sausages and fish on sticks. I’m going to pass on the street food this time though. The clocks at street lights surprised me – 120 seconds until the light turns?? And then zip zip zip! off we go again. Zoom zoom!
The color of the taxis was something else I don’t remember. Bright hot pink was predominant. But you’d also see neon yellow, flashy orange. peacock blue, and lime green. Bright bright bright! Regular cars were the regular sedate colors. So the taxis stuck out a mile.
Late night traffic was mostly cars, but the next day there was the added mix of tuk-tuks and cyclists. Need a ride to the train station? Grab a tuk-tuk... just 60, or maybe 100 Baht. SkyTrain to National Stadium (and the Jim Thompson House!)... 20 Baht.
I did finally look up the exchange rate. About 30 Baht to 1 USD. Good to know.
Bangkok feels different from our last trip. More modern and sophisticated. I don’t know if it’s the city that’s changed or just my vantage point. Seeing as how I’m here on business this time around, and not a tourist. I’m going to an office building instead of the Grand Palace. Riding in motor cars, instead of a water taxis. ATMs are every hundred feet as you walk through the city. And the SkyTrain is as sleek and sophisticated as the newest London Tube station. And the trains are well air conditioned too.
How did we miss the Night Markets when we were here? Streets lined with pop-up booths of all shapes and sizes. Do you need googley-eye contact lenses? I’m sure we can get them cheap. Clothes, compact disks, nail polish and cosmetics... the list goes on and on. One booth caught my eye and I stopped. But just one.
I totally passed on the contact lenses though. I know. Missed opportunity. LOL
Looking forward to a Saturday to visit the local Post Office and the Jim Thompson House... wishing YOU were here to share it all again.
Love,
C
