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Published: August 8th 2007
Sunrise Over Bangkok
Wake up, smiling people!It is dark when we get up. We leave our room just as the sun rises, and our 17th floor hallway gives us a great view of the orange orb rising over a still sleepy Chao Praya River. We have little time to appreciate it though, so we jump into a cab and make it to Suvarnabhumi Airport with just enough baht (316, to be exact) left over to pay the driver and give him an almost decent tip. The rest of our baht has to be saved for our departure tax. Check-in is wonderfully easy at Cathay Pacific - we are back on our oneworld itinerary and the business class line. Aah, membership does have its privileges. We’ve got a little over two hours to kill at BKK, and a stop at Duty Free is on the agenda. You can only buy alcohol in Dubai at the airport duty free or in hotel bars, because supermarkets and stores will not sell it to non-residents even if they are not Muslim. Not that getting liquor is a must, but the availability of Havana Club (Cuban rum) at the Bangkok airport is tempting. After all, this is stuff you can’t
Sleepy Chao Praya
The day is just getting started, but even a sleepy Chao Praya River already has some action taking place. buy in the States. We are almost done with our purchase when the cashier tells Lee he has to sign the back of his credit card. We deliberately leave our signatures off and write “Please check ID” on the signature bar to require salespeople to make sure the user is the real cardholder, you know, to protect us should our card be stolen. Already once in Thailand, a waiter told us we have to sign our receipt “Please check ID” so that it would match what’s on the back of the card (sound familiar, Louis?). We successfully convinced that guy that checking our passport and verifying the signature there is much safer, but the crew at Duty Free is determined to follow a simpleton rule instead of staying true to the intent of the rule - which is to verify the identity of the cardholder. This is frustrating because all they do is shake their head and says, “Sign card.” We are quick to say “Never mind, we want to cancel the purchase,” but then we have to argue over making sure that they void the transaction. No worries, though. The next branch of the same duty free chain has
a smarter manager and authorizes the same purchase with use of the passport for identification. No douchebaggery here, or so we think. There are signs stating that no liquid purchases can be made if the passenger is headed for USA or Australia, and a slew of other countries listed on their placard. Note, Hong Kong and China are not on this list, and neither is the UAE. The rest of our time is well spent at the Cathay Pacific Lounge, where we breakfast on cereal and mini siopao (rice buns with meat inside). The flight to Hong Kong is a pleasant two-plus hours, and the purser even comes by to say hi to Leroy because he’s a Sapphire member. He’s really loving this stuff, by the way (and so am I).
Hong Kong Drama We are excited about our three hour stopover at Hong Kong airport. Yes, we are plane and airport junkies, we get excited about stuff like this. I have been here once before, en route to Bangkok for the AIDS Conference in 2004 for a presentation. I arrived at sunrise, and the view of the cloud-covered hills surrounding the airport was nothing short of gorgeous. All
52 dollars?
Conversion is $1 = 7.40 HK dollars, at the airport. Highway robbery! airports should be surrounded by hills and water. Lee is psyched to see Cathay Pacific’s business lounge because this is their hub, but all this will have to wait because we can’t get through security. It seems the liquid laws are in effect in Hong Kong; “even though we are part of China, we have our own policies, our own laws, our own money,” she tells us. Thailand told us wrong. We can’t get through with our duty free items, and our only choice is to ditch them or check them in. Doing the latter requires us to go through immigration and customs, make our way to the departure hall and check in the items, then go through immigration and security again to get to our gate. Guess what we chose? It took one hour to do all this, but it wasn’t as awful as it could have been, thanks to Chinese efficiency. They even wrapped our items up in a box for us, free of charge. We ran into quite a few American businessmen who probably fly to HK quite frequently, as they were debating whether or not it was worth the red tape to get a frequent visitor
card so they could skip all the lines. I will admit to being slightly jealous that these guys got to travel for business so often. I’m sure the business hotels, frequent meetings, and time away from their families makes it less glamorous than it seems, but I wouldn’t mind for a little while. As a reward, there is a Popeye’s chicken waiting for Lee once we get through the final security check. He pays in US dollars, gets change in HK dollars, and is beaming with his three-piece chicken combo. It seems Popeye’s is to Lee as KFC is to me. I admit to pilfering one of his chicken pieces. We have just an hour to enjoy the beautiful Cathay Pacific lounge, which comes complete with a long bar (sandwiches and drinks) and a noodle bar (Japanese and Chinese varieties, serving breaded scallops and all kinds of wonderful things). We’re actually too full to take advantage of most of the stuff, but the sixty minutes pass by quickly. I’d say the whole thing was worth it - I left Hong Kong with HK dollars for my currency collection and two additional stamps in my passport. China is next level. We
Who's happy?
Leave all those TSA worries behind. definitely have to get there for a visit soon (Don’t ask me when or how, I like to dream).
Dubai is more than Vegas on steroids The eight hour flight feels long. We’re pleased to watch Pursuit of Happyness on the entertainment console, especially since we just read that Will Smith is the #1 power actor of the moment. Good for him, and having Jada as a wife and all their cute little children… success in work and family, that’s a nice thing to model. Lee watches a bit of The Queen, though I’m not sure he liked it as much as I did. And because all the movies we were supposed to have weren’t actually available, I had to watch Charlotte’s Web instead of Déjà Vu. We finally land in Dubai at 8pm local time, which is 11pm in Bangkok. We’ve been en route for 17 hours so far. Immigration is quick enough, even though our agent is a little scary when she bangs her hands on the table to call the next person in line. She also grills us about where we’re staying and why, but I think this is because they forego the usual immigration forms
Thanks, honey.
Unflattering "in transit at the airport" photo. I was probably licking my fingers. and just ask you the questions. Good way to save paper, and in Dubai’s traditional way of welcoming foreigners (especially business people), there is no entrance or exit fee. Passing through x-ray, Leroy gets singled out for a more in-depth security check, and a man dressed in traditional garb asks him brusquely “Where you come from” then takes him to a room marked with only a piece of paper taped on with something in Arabic, leaving me on the other side of x-ray looking at the door feeling helpless. The whole thing is not particularly threatening, but a bit of explanation would have been nice, say in the style of Melbourne airport officials. Apparently, Leroy was frisked and then his carry-on bags were looked through, including leafing through his passport carrier and individual bills of money. Though he thought he’d have to pay some bribe, the whole thing was over quite quickly and he joined me at the other side to pick up our luggage.
Dubai and Cairo will be the most “exotic” places for me on our RTW trip. I say this because I’ve been to all the other regions before (South America, Australia, Asia and Europe) and
Favor...
The man at the next table asked us to take a pic of his group, so he offered to take ours. because I am more familiar with those cultures, having lived in Rio de Janeiro, Madrid, and Manila and having visited Australia for five weeks as a teenager. This will be my first time in a Muslim country, and I have to admit that I know very little about the religion. I don’t know that much about Buddhism either, but I learned the dos and don’ts for Thailand on my first trip there. Knowing that Dubai is a very modern and metropolitan city, I am not too concerned, but I do have lingering doubts about whether I am wearing appropriate clothes or behaving in a culturally humble way. Superficially, I can’t say that I’m a fan of the idea that women should be covered up, but I don’t know enough about Islam, Arab culture, or what Muslim women feel to say anything more. My goal is to be respectful of the culture and respectful of my own beliefs and culture as well. I hope this won’t be too hard - no skimpy clothes, wear a head scarf when visiting the mosque, and no public displays of affection. In the airport lines, the first thing I notice are the men dressed in
In line at immigration...
Gotta have fun when you can! white garb with the traditional headdress. It really makes you feel like you’re not in Kansas anymore, and it’s exciting. The next thing I notice are the women covered in all black, each one with a black head scarf that has delicate details that make it unique from the woman next to her. With only their faces and hands showing, they have decorated these parts of their bodies to perfection. Heavy laden mascara, kohl-lined eyes, perfect manicures, and lots of jewelry. These men and women in more traditional dress are few and far between; more common are the many Filipino, Indian, and Pakistani immigrants who make up the labor and service force for the UAE. Of course, this leaves me pensive. The Philippines exports people to the United States (professionals) and the Middle East (domestic workers), and they are designated OFW (overseas foreign workers). These OFWs send so much money home to their families that remittance is a significant percentage of the Philippine GDP. I wonder what it’s like for them here. In the cab from the airport, everything is big and bright - the buildings, avenues, hotels, everything. I see why it is compared to Las Vegas, but this
is more than replicas and ostentatious buildings. This is where 20% of the world’s cranes are. This is the world hub of development. This is Dubai.
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claudia
non-member comment
glad to see and hear that you all are still enjoying your jouney. Tell Melissa to give me a shout to let me know her plans when she gets to florida. I know its a business trip if she wants to stay with her family she is welcome. Again I say just let me know. Love you Melissa oh and Leroy too.