It was a sponsored trip for just the two of us. No kidz on tow, heheh. And that, if you think was good for us, it wasn't.....at least not for the first few hours. We had the 'kids withdrawal syndrome'........
The sudden lack of 'noise' and 'chaos' threw us off guard, and as we slowly grappled with the sad reality (and guilt) of going on a holiday without our kids, we were also constantly reminded by our parents' pleas, so to speak, to enjoy ourselves and not worry about our poor 'left behind' offsprings. Afterall, they said we "deserve a break for our uncompromising perseverence and unrelentless effort in bringing up and nurturing our juniors". Ahhaha, paiseh.....Oklah that was very encouraging and sweet and all, but Hazrin and I have been parents longer than any of our friends and cousins have been, and we have also been the busiest cos we decided to have all our kids almost all at once (Why that is so, calls for another post altogether, heh). So this holiday, kids-free, naturally unleashed the skeptics in us, and the both of us couldn't help but feel lost. We had forgotten how not to be parents! And when OUR PARENTS insisted that 'the two of us enjoy this trip and have fun', I had to raise an eyebrow.
Ok before anyone thinks Hazrin and I are gonners in the 'romantics' department, let me reiterate that we are fine. We know how to enjoy ourselves, and we know when to have our retreats together. We can talk gibberish all day long and not bore each other, restassured. But we've never had sooooo much time to ourselves before. It's just that with our busy schedule and big but young family, we're so used to handling so many things all at once, and quickly too, that we suddenly didn't know how to slow down. Not good. Not good at all.
So going by our normal pace, we made our way to the departure gate only to be greeted by a certain Phil "You are the first team to arrive!" O.k lah Phil was a figment of my imagination, but we were really the first ones to arrive, hokay. Moral of story is, without the kidz, our 'normal pace' was probably too fast for the 'non-parenting' world. So slow down we did........Hazrin got himself a National Geographic magazine, and I got myself a less nerdy version of a mag.
We took Thai Air Asia and Hazrin indulged in a bowl of instant noodle......He enjoyed it very much. Nothing beats eating instant noodle in an airplane, he said. And that was to be the beginning of our many cherished moments in Bangkok.
We sort of consoled our guilt-ridden selves with plenty of shopping for the kidz.......and ourselves.
Then, as soon as we got used to slowing down, we pampered ourselves to massages and plenty of unrushed dining.
The service and warm hospitality of most of the Thais we met there were superb. And that livened up our moods and helped us unwind. You don't want to unwind in a country where service is very frustrating and people are very cold. Jams and hot weather, for which Thailand is notorious for, were not so bothersome either.....I think they more than make up for it with their smiles.
All in all, the trip had served its purpose. We both had plenty of rest, fun and laughter, and we came back home with a year's supply of clothes..................
PS - More pics in our 'Bangkok Trip' Photo Album
PS - More pics in our 'Bangkok Trip' Photo Album
