Thailand 2012, The Last Day

Photos by MJ Klein

Suddenly, I realized that I’ve taken so long to publish these installments, that it’s been over a year since the events happened!  I owe you, Dear Reader, one more installment in this series, so here it is, finally!

I had the morning to myself so after relaxing in my room, I went out in search of some food.  Across the street, I spied this meat grilling….

And because you just can’t have too many photos of grilling meat, here is a closer view!

I’ve been to this little place across the street from the Tamarind Residences many times before.

There is no menu.  You just have to look at what they have and try to communicate what you want.

The boss lady’s very cute little girl took a keen interest in what I was doing.

I tried to get her to return the “Asian Sign of Picture Taking” but I was unable to.

After exhausting my limited repertoire of Thai, the boss lady went to work preparing the food that she thinks I ordered.

First course, some delicious grilled Thai sausage.

Next up, an omelette with basil

The little girl took a seat right next to me and intently watched everything I was eating.

Kale and garlic with Thai spices, a dish that I’ve had many times and in many places, but never tire of.

This is the Khonkaen airport terminal.  When traveling, I always make sure I arrive plenty of time before my departure.  Once I arrived several hours early at an airport for an international flight, only to find that there was a problem with my ticket that required almost the entire block of extra time to correct!  After that, I make sure I arrive early for every flight.

When I arrived, the place was deserted.

Not a soul at the gate, either.

I wasn’t kidding when I said the place was deserted.  With the exception of perhaps 2 people, the entire terminal building was devoid of waiting passengers, and this was only an hour before departure time.  It seems that everyone in Thailand is on “Thai Time” because the place began to fill up about 15 minutes before boarding time.

One departing shot before I put my camera away until I arrived in Bangkok.

We’ve covered the “new” airport before.  It always looks interesting, like the inside of a caterpillar.

Structural details always interest me.  Hope they didn’t bore you.

After snapping too many photos (but hey, it’s digital so who cares?), it was time to board.

But when I got to my seat, I found that I couldn’t fit in it because of the box that was installed in the left armrest (shown on the right in this view).  All I could do was stand and wait for a flight attendant to notice me.  I was moved to another seat.  They put a skinny Thai girl in this seat and she had no problems.

If you’ve never flown on Thai Airways, you really should give them a try.  The appointments are nice.

Little things like a cup holder make your flight more enjoyable (and easier in some respects).

And….   we’re off!

Each seat has a monitor for the entertainment system, which also includes a navigation display.

At this point in my trip back home, I was approaching a place that I’ve tried to see on many trips from Thailand back to Taiwan: Pratas Island.

Although this looks like a black image, there is an extremely faint ring visible.  That is the famous coral reef of Pratas Island.

All too soon my trip was over and I was back home in Taiwan.  The older terminal was being rebuilt and the path to and from the gates has changed completely.

Taiwanese never miss and opportunity to sell something.

 

My trip to Thailand was sweet, but way too short.  I find myself wanting to go back there again already, only this time I want to take Phoenix with me and show her everything I like about Thailand.  But that will have to wait until she is old enough to appreciate it.  The good news is that the business reason that I went there for is already bearing fruit, so it was well worth it.

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