Category: Holidays

History & Old Stuff · Holidays · January 2017 · South East Asia 2017 · Travel

The Nervous, Jetlagged User’s Guide to Bangkok (Part 1)

Francesca1 Comment

Greetings from the veranda outside our hostel. There is a bazaar directly to my right, which stocks live gerbils, and a coffee shop to my left, which doesn’t. So far as I know.

Thank you to everyone who saw my last post – if you’re family and you’re new here, please be aware that I swear here more than I do in front of you.

I am slowly starting to make friends with Bangkok, although I doubt we’ll ever be on as good terms as I am with, say, London. I suspect this is because even the thickest motorists in London usually observe lanes, traffic lights, zebra crossings and the difference between the road and the pavement. But we’re getting there. It’s been nearly a week since we left home, and I’ve learnt a lot since then, for example:

  • It’s possible to crack the code on your own padlock, which you accidentally reset
  • Tuk tuks are terrifying
  • I mean if one crashed and- I don’t know how they don’t – every person inside would be toast
  • McDonald’s in Asia is identical to McDonald’s everywhere, down to the smell (although the one we popped in to seemed to serve more fish)
  • It rains more in South East Asia than it does in England, which I did not think possible
  • Boat taxis are cheaper than taxi taxis
Bangkok River Taxi
I couldn’t take more than a couple of photos because that is not somewhere you want to lose your phone.

We’ve started to get our tourist heads on and been exploring too. We’ve seen a lot, so let’s call this part Francesca’s Edited Highlights (because the forty minutes we spent at the Vietnamese Embassy, or the forty minutes we spent stuck in a taxi on the way back from Chinatown does not make good reading).

Bangkok’s Malls

If you hate Westfield, do not try the Siam Centre, MBK Mall or Siam Discovery. They are air conditioned to a t, absolutely bloody enormous and include everything from contemporary art galleries to supermarkets. They remind me simultaneously of Debenhams and Are You Being Served, and feature many Starbucks.

Starbucks in Siam Discovery Centre, Bangkok
It really is the same everywhere…

Jim Thompson House

CULTURE TIME. A US soldier, Jim Thompson, was posted to Thailand during World War II, but I think the war ended by the time he got there or something – he had a lot of free time, so he explored Bangkok and fell in love with it, returning to live and transform the local silk industry (he came up with printing onto silks directly with moulds; previously patterns were woven in). He built himself a house and a reputation, went to Malaysia on a trip and went missing. Now his private art collection is on display in his house, which his family gave to Thailand. No one knows what happened to him, although one therory is that he was assassinated by the CIA (is anyone else getting serious Leonardo diCaprio blockbuster vibes?). Anyway his house had a pond and a potty shaped like a frog so I like him.

(I was not allowed to take a picture of the frog.)

I’m trying to keep these blogs short like me so I will leave this here… part two coming soon! Or when I’m next in a decent wi fi zone…

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Holidays · January 2017 · South East Asia 2017 · Travel

South East Asia T-Minus – Wait We Arrived Yesterday

Francesca7 Comments

Afternoon, Internet. Or morning, if you’re in the UK. So, we made it to Bangkok! After a 4am alarm, two long haul flights, a delay at Muscat airport which I will look upon fondly when hell freezes over and several moments where I thought ‘I am really not sure about all this.’ (More on that later.)

We arrived in Thailand at about 7:30am local time and we were more interested in sleeping for a week than exploring, but we had to wait around until about 1pm for our hostel, so we found a cafe with wifi and chilled out, aka messaged home and read a book (Maxim) or Private Eye (me). I will be honest with you, reader: I was really, really not sure about this. Somewhere amongst all the planning and and organising and job-leaving I forgot that I was leaving home for three solid months. It was only when people started saying goodbye that it sunk in that I was heading to another continent for a quarter of a year. It really sunk in somewhere around the stop off at Muscat airport and I am not too proud to say that I considered ringing my mum and asking her to pick me up. I know anyone who’s heard me moan about my jobs/life/itchy feet will find this deeply ironic; I will reflect on this as we go along… possibly appreciation for one’s bed, routine and family is one of those growing up things everyone’s said I’ll do while I’m out here.

Anyway, back to Bangkok. Here is what I’ve learnt so far:

  • Dry heat (Mediterranean) is not the same as humid heat (South East Asia)
  • Marks and Spencer is everywhere, and costs about the same here as it does at home
  • 7-Eleven has a grip on the convenience store market
  • Corn soup is tasty
  • If you’re crossing the street and a moped comes towards you, keep walking
  • Every few cars on the road (and there are a lot of roads) has a custom set of wheels or rims. Maxim is fascinated by this.

I reckon it will take a couple of days to feel human again, but in the mean time I draw great comfort from the fact 7-Eleven sells cornflakes.

Room WIth a View Silom, Bangkok, Thailand
My view from the room we had last night. Thank God for air conditioning units.

We’re going to hunt out mobile phones now, so I will leave this here. The plan is to chill out today and plan where we want to see. If anyone here’s already been to Bangkok, where would you recommend? We definitely want to see the floating market and some temples, but we’re not sure where else to go before we head to Cambodia next Saturday. Any suggestions?

Holidays · January 2017 · South East Asia 2017

South East Asia T-Minus One Day: Mild-Moderate Panic

Francesca2 Comments

Evening. I really shouldn’t be blogging now. I should be treble-copying flight times and working out the best t-shirts to take and deciding which pens to put in my non-existent pencil case and cursing myself for not doing any of that sooner.

I also need to get some toilet paper, in case there is no toilet paper in Bangkok. How many hairbands do I need? Are there hairbands in Bangkok? What if there are hairbands in Bangkok but none in Vientiane? How many toiletries are too many toiletries? I love toiletries. I need many toiletries but I do not currently have enough muscles to carry them all around.

I possibly have not thought all this through.

See you in Thailand. Or the airport. WHO KNOWS.

How much MCR merch is it okay to take backpacking?

Holidays · September 2016

Getting Way Too Philosophical in a Filler Post (Francesca is Tired: A Novel)

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I AM STILL ON HOLIDAY. But I have posted this, snowflakes, because I want to. And given that a year ago I wasn’t sure if I wanted to blog any more, it’s enough for me just to write that sentence. Until last Tuesday, I hadn’t taken more than a day off at a time in over a year. I nearly published an entire a blog a few months ago complaining about that, but reading a post about how hard my comfortable life is would be even more excruciating than writing one, so I shelved it. But I am very, very happy to have some time off.

Turn off your phone, encourage self help articles. It’s good for you. 

Nah man, a mindless scroll through Insta at 11pm works just as well, I snort.

I am an idiot. Working and socialising through the same five apps and having a day job that used to be a hobby takes way more discipline than I ever realised, and I’m either as organised as Emily Blunt in The Devil Wears Prada or a total slob. When you work from home, what do you come home to? I’ve been at it for two years and I haven’t worked it out at all. I am not a suave marketing guru with a beautiful handbag and neat hair, but I’m not quite a starving artist either. I’m not sure whether I want to be a suave marketing guru or a starving artist. I think it would be nice to be a well fed artist. I would also like to go to backpacking, spend more time blogging and finish a novel. I have no idea how to prioritise one over another – and should I have to? I’m a Millennial. We grew up being told we could have the world, god damn it, and I know the world I want.

But right now I’m happy to have a week off, and that’s enough.

I never actually want neat hair.

August 2016 · Holidays

An Ode to Holidays

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Y’all.

I’m going

On

Holiday

For seven whole days

Seven days without the Internet

Seven days without my emails

Seven days of sun (probably) and food (definitely)

And maybe turtles.

The end.

Beach Ready from Twitter
from Twitter
chilling on a beach from Twitter
also (always) from Twitter

Byeeee!

DISCUSS. · February 2016 · Films · Holidays · Videos

Would You Like that Gift Wrapped? A Question About Customer Service

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I must say if I had known how well people would react to a blog about the perils of salad, I’d have opened up about IBS a lot earlier. Watch the cracked tiles for more anecdotes, I guess.

This week I have been wonderfully, amazingly busy packaging up Etsy orders, most of them for Valentine’s Day (or I presume they are, since they’ve nearly all been postcards with puns about the Greek gods) and I’ve also had some lovely feedback from customers – the sort of stuff that makes you smile and stand up a bit straighter. I try to offer the sort of service I’d like to experience myself, like lots of communication about processing times, cute packaging that makes a change from bills, and inexpensive postage. Essentially I’d like to be a more time-and-customer sensitive version of this:

Let me send you cinnamon sticks.

Anyway, I have been thinking about what makes good customer service and how everyone has different standards (the fact a bow wasn’t tied on the cellophane in that clip would have upset some people) and I was wondering if you guys have any horror stories or good experiences to share? In a shop the other day, the cashier complimented my purse but didn’t make eye contact, so it felt like he was trotting out a line more out of general politeness (and because his boss told him to) than because he actually gave a shit. In a ceramics studio in Zante, the proprietor served home made lemonade and gave my friend a free accessory because they were both artists.

Do you expect free lemonade? Do you expect eye contact? Do you secretly want lavender added to every bag ever?

Holidays · Internet · July 2015

Holiday Countdown

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Happy Monday darlings. After six-plus years, today I realised the merits of iTunes over YouTube streaming. I’ve also remembered how much I love The Fratellis… It’s a good thing I don’t claim technical brilliance, innit.

Speaking of the Internet, I’m trying to work out decent posts to magic up while I’m away. Does anyone have anything they’d like to see?

Just kidding, I know not a single person will tell me if there is… so I will probably mass-dump videos I like and talk about my favourite stuff, as per tradition.

There was actually something serious I had to say but I’ve completely fuckin’ forgotten it, so it was either not that serious or is completely pointless so doesn’t need worrying about. Either way my memory’s going so it’s time to go cuddle a dog and double-check my clothes for when I go on holiday. Did I mention I’m going on holiday? And I’m going to spend ten days of my life without the my phone beeping at me? I’ll be there in a week. I can’t find a GIF smug enough, so you’ll just have to imagine my shit eating grin.

Holidays · Internet · July 2015

Automated Email Responses?

Francesca2 Comments

You know when you know you’re going to be away for a while so you try to get all your work done in good time to pack and buy sandals and ensure a stress-free ten days? And you end up trying to work on five tabs, a blog and an online shop in one go?

I haven’t even thought about what I’m going to leave here for you guys… maybe a collection of my suggested YouTube videos, which is the stupidist flipping list I’ve ever come across… I suppose that is my own fault, but I really don’t want to watch season three of Orange is the New Black. Not on YouTube, anyway, and not until I’ve finished season two.

I’m also trying to come up with a nice automated email for when I’m away – you know, the ones that say ‘Doctor Mills is out of the office until 12th August, after which she will endeavour to respond to your query’. My gut wants to put ‘Francesca is currently sitting on a beach and/or asleep and she sure as shit isn’t interested in your message, HMRC/Tumblr/actual friends and colleagues, so please give her some time to respond. If you’ve heard nothing in three months, assume she’s either not interested or hasn’t left the beach’.

My head is saying that’s a bad idea. Any ideas?