This was our last day in Bangkok, our last day of the trip,
our last day spending 24 hours together as a family and our last day in this
amazing part of the world.
We did practically nothing of interest, and I think that is the
first time our whole trip I have been able to say that. Though this was not news to me, our family is
not good at down days and we tend to move through things at a fairly aggressive
pace. But this day we were truly trying
to wind down from the trip so we had a nice breakfast then spend a couple
leisurely hours at the hotel pool. The
kids swam, Ana and I read and sunbathed and hopped in the pool to play with
kids when we were getting too hot.
We went out for lunch at a Japanese restaurant chain we had
last visited back in Kuala Lumpur, and it was superb. By now the kids are pretty versatile with their
foods so have no problem with miso soup, sushi, salads and different sorts of
sauces for the fried chicken and pork curries.
After this, we went to McDonalds for the final round of ice cream cones
(they are 30 cents each so we have been visiting there frequently) then stood
outside under the canopy to enjoy the “Daily Douche” - half an hour of intense
rainfall during the mid-afternoon which we have enjoyed, and sometimes had to
walk through, every day we have been here. But with all the street food vendors, open
sewers, and trash bags, if Bangkok did not get the Daily Douche I just can’t
imagine how terrible it would smell.
We had some cash left over so walked through the market and
Ana picked up some nail grooming equipment and the kids each got a set of super
premium chopstick, so that they could continue their Asian eating tradition
when we get back to Canada.
The rest of the day we lounged around the hotel room, I did
some writing, we watched tv, Magnus practiced some moves with his new sword,
Stella read, Ana creeped Facebook (and found a lot of people dumping buckets of
ice water on their heads for ALS research!), we snacked, and so on. Basically, it was pretty much like any Sunday
afternoon in February back home at the Olson ranch. We didn’t even leave for dinner, choosing
instead to eat up the rest of the food we had in stock, making it the final backpacker
dinner, and a very satisfying one at that.
Before bed, Magnus balked one more time at having to go back
home, looking for any possible way to extend the trip. He makes out like he just loves it here so
much that he doesn’t want to go back to Canada, but I think the real reason is
that he doesn’t want to go back to school!
It seems strange - his final report card was fantastic, and he enjoys
school once he gets there, but like a true boy he would just rather be hanging
around with no fixed agenda, which is pretty much what backpacking is all about
so this lifestyle suits him perfectly.
Stella, on the other hand, is simply satisfied with everything. She loves the traveling, but is also excited
to get home to see her grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and also to get
back to school to reconnect with her friends.
About halfway through the trip, there was a bit of homesickness for both
of them, which was short lived, but since then they have not once asked to go
home. I guess they realized that home is
still there, and always will be, so instead they returned to enjoying each day and
being constantly enthralled with all the new things they were seeing and doing.
Am I ready to go home?
I would say yes. In fact, I think
I am simply saturated with new experiences.
Seeing and doing so many different things every day does eventually wear
you out and you reach a point where they start having much less of an impact
than they did at the start. This is a
good signal that it’s time to go home. I
am looking forward to sitting in our familiar backyard, under the canopy,
enjoying a fire and a glass of red wine.
Ana has also requested that we go to the local butcher and pick up a
round of the biggest, best steaks they have for our first meal. The beef in this part of the world simply isn’t
very good (unless you go to a top class restaurant and drop some serious cash)
so that is one thing we are really looking forward to. But during this time away we have realized that
we can happily live on a lot less meat than we normally eat at home, so we are
going to try and adjust our diets a bit.
But nothing too drastic – after all, we are Canadian so meat and
potatoes will always be there on the table!
I forgot one thing.
Since we were so bored today I thought it would be a good time to get a tattoo
arm sleeve. I thought it would be a nice
way to commemorate our amazing adventure.
And, along with my overgrown facial hair, it makes me look real tough.
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