bangkok-zurich-engelberg-lucerne-dijon-paris

Before leaving for Swiss..

2009-03-19T02:29:00.001-07:00

first day in bangkok : March 25, 09

joon and i left home for bangkok on march 24, 09 at night. we arrived at kati's home around 9 pm. next morning, joon and kati went to their office. i, at 10 am, left for central pinkrao to meet with "OR", my dear friend who i've been in touch via postcards and phonecalls for 12 years since leaving PSU. as we had never met in person for 12 years, i was extremely excited and happy seeing her before i left for europe. we went up to fuji restaurant for branch and a very long chat to make up for the long lost time. while walking in the mall, we held hands like a love couple. we chatted until 2 pm and then i saw her off at the bus stop. it was fantastic meeting her in person again.

..a cup of tea after the big meal..

after leaving OR, i took a bus to the victory monument to connect the BTS to Joon's office. i had another plan at night, to meet up with dave and stay overnight with pu.

i walked leisurely on the flyover at the victory monument and took some pictures. i had loads of time to waste, so no need to hurry..

after meeting joon at her office, i headed to central ladprao to meet with dave. i was there first so i walked around window shopping.

at 5.45 pm, dave showed up.
god! just half a year that you left hatyai, you are hugely growing up, champ! i couldn't stop teasing him for his beer-invested belly.. we headed to sizzler while greeting each other. i've craved for steak, a glass of red wine and a cool buddy to chat for a long time. ( i can't have them all at home, i have steak and wine but most of my buddies are living in bangkok!)

we talked about our old times and catched up with each other's lives. it was great meeting and drinking with you again, champ.... too bad that you moved away.. i think i'd better go to bangkok more often to meet with him and other buddies...

the steak was yummy and wine was delicious and the chat was cool.. how could i ask for more? but the night was too short. pu showed up later after we finished our steak. as it was wednesday, i dared not ask pu to go out with me and dave. (but later i found out that she was okay to go out with me and dave, only if i asked first!...why why didn't i ask her first???--) so i had to say good bye to dave after we finished our dinner and then headed to pu's apartment. i hope next time, i will have more time to catch up with you, champ!

we parted at 8 pm in front of sizzler, with a bear hug from him. i left with pu for her apartment. when arriving at pu's apartment, we didn't go to bed right after arriving. instead, we watched a movie (i couldn't remember the name of it.. but it was a good one and i quite liked it.) later at 9.30 pm, jack, pu's sister, joined us for the chitchat. we chatted and shared on trival girlie things until midnight. pu was the first one dozing off. jack just came back from finland, so we had a lot to share and catch up. it was nice meeting her again...

next morning, i catched a taxi back to kati's home. pu joined me in the taxi but got dropped off at the mrt station.

the first day in bangkok, the trip was already marvelous meeting with 3 old friends in one day. god.. i should be here more often!

Day 1 : Leaving Bangkok..

2009-03-19T02:28:00.001-07:00

bangkok - doha - zurich : March 26, 09

we left kati's home at 3 pm. too early i guess. the traffic was not jammed so it took only an hour to get there. we were the first group to be there. we looked for something to eat, walked around, took photos and sat watching people..

..sitting, waiting and watching people ..

at suwannabhum airport, checking in at qatar counter.

waiting to board the plane. in a minute, we were leaving thailand.

..time to get into the plane..

inside the plane. the seats were pretty tiny. but they were fine for me.

..leaving bangkok... sea of bangkok night light ..

our first dinner on the plane served by qatar air.

and it was time for movies after late dinner. my first movie on the plane was twilight. good one!

arrived doha international airport at 2 am. thailand time. the weather in doha was pretty the same as in bangkok, just a little bit colder and a wee bit windier.

after 6 hours on the plane, we transited at doha international airport. the wc looked so nice and comfy. i like to keep collection of it. (and from now on, you will see different kinds of wc along the trip. enjoy!)

leaving the toilet, i walked around taking some pictures. in 2 hours, we were going to get in the plane again and this time it was from doha to zurich.

i like to take pictures of

buildings/ places

strangers

kids

and signs.

mommy joon, armed with pillow and blanket, was looking for a place to take a rest at doha airport.

p'tang still looked happy and joyful. but wait! the wine hadn't kicked her yet.. wait until she arrived lucerne!

..p'tang and joon infront of the canteen in doha international airport...

at 1.30 am (doha time), we got into another plane again. this time, i could sleep deeply and no more movie until it was time for breakfast.

we were still flying when the sky was light with warm morning sunshine. around 6.00 am, breakfast was served. it was fritata, with cheese, mushroom, sausage, omelet, croisant, banana cupcake, orange juice, fruit and coffee or tea. not so yummy if compare to thai food but still bearable, as it was still the first day..

as still having few hours on the plane before it landed in zurich airport, i dug out my journal to write morning page. highly pleased that it was very quiet and i was not interrupted while doodling. other passengers were still sleeping soundly (i could hear an elderly couple sitting on the seats behind me snored a little bit loudly !)

here, we were flying above zurich at 6.30 am. it was cloudy and raining when we approached zurich.

as the plane touched the land, i heard the captain announced the temperature. it was 7 C! switzerland greeted us with light rains and cold breeze with chilly temperature. pretty cold, huh?

..... hello switzerland! ....

Day 2 : Switzerland

2009-03-19T02:25:00.000-07:00

Zurich - Engelberg - Lucerne : March 27, 09

Zurich Airport

after passing the passport control unit, we took an escalator to the ground floor to take a train to the other side of the airport.

waiting for the next train...

inside the train

after getting off the train, we looked for the wc to get changed and put some more layers of clothes and get ready for the titlis mountain. the guide told us that the temperature up there was -10 C. so, we'd better be prepared!

inside the toilet at zurich airport

..outside zurich airport, leaving for engelberg..

Engelberg : Titlis Mountain

.... the gorgeous view along the roadside ....

..arrived the mountain, got inside to take the cable car up to the forth station..

the day we arrived, there were quite a lot of of skiiers and snow boarders. we had to wait in a long queue to get into the cable car...and here are photos of skiiers and snow boarders i sneaked a few shoots while waiting for the cable car..

riding up to the third and forth station..

joon and p'tang. p'tang was being kicked by the wine she drank in the plane and was having headache and getting sick..

..our chinese lunch up in the titlis mountain..

after having lunch, our guide left us walking around the area for about an hour. we walked out to play in the snow and enjoy the grand view of the titlis. it was pretty cold standing and posing for photos outside.. way too long we were there but it was bearable and we love it!

we had lots of fun and we acted like kids in wonderland.

..mommy joon, 25 week-pregnant..

after playing for a while, we jumped back inside to get some warmth from the heater and then jumped back outside again. when sitting on the snow, i felt that my butts and thighs were hard-cold like a big piece of pork being freezed in the freezer!

after playing and shooting enough photos in the snow covered-area, we walked inside and took the lift down to the first floor and looked for the Glacier Ice Grotto. we passed wooden dark brown doors to get inside. it felt like we were in someone's brewery house. the entrance were bluey with fluorescent tube. the floor was pretty slipery to walk on. and inside, it was an ice cave andit it looked like we were inside a big whale tummy. upon arriving, we saw a juke box with 10-12 buttons on top. we pressed the the buttons and it sang different kinds of song. amazing that it had thai national anthem. and we danced when the song was played!

Glacier Ice Grotto

outside the lift was a souvenir shop selling postcards, magnets and the stuff. it was colorfully decorated. kati and i walked around to take some photos..

while riding the cable down, i couldn't help taking photos of the skiiers' shoes. to keep in my shoe photo collection..

..took photo with the cable controller...

..he looks like one of my old workmate, Mr. Greg Chamberlain..

..inside the cable car..

..toilet..

..there were toilets at every station. a long queue. so joon and i tried the men's room..

inside the men's room..

in the afternoon, it was time to leave titlis mountain. after taking the cable car to the first floor and leaving the building, we saw this little chalet (A wooden dwelling with a sloping roof and widely overhanging eaves, common in Switzerland and other Alpine regions.) and the view with snow covered-mountain around us. it was so splendid!

the sunlight was so strong but i tell you what.. the weather was still freezing!

..when 2 jumpy girls meet..

.. kati was creative with jumping photos..

Lucerne

we left titlis mountain for lucerne to check in at the hotel named "Astoria". after leaving our luggages in the room, we walked outside and around the hotel waiting for other people to get into the coach. next, antonio would bring us to see the Lucerne's Lion Monument..

..outside the hotel..posing and shooting for photos while waiting for time to get into the coach..

the lucerne lion monument was not so far from the hotel. it was in a walking distance and took about 15 minutes (if we didn't get lost!)

..finally, we arrived and saw it together..

brief history about Lucerne's Lion Monument..

The Swiss have a long tradition of supplying mercenaries to foreign governments. Because the Swiss have been politically neutral for centuries and have long enjoyed a reputation for honoring their agreements, a pope or emperor could be confident that his Swiss Guards wouldn't turn on him when the political winds shifted direction.
The Swiss Guards' honor was put to the test in 1792, when--after trying to escape the French Revolution--King Louis XVI, Marie-Antoinette, and their children were hauled back to the Tuileries Palace in Paris. A mob of working-class Parisians stormed the palace in search of aristocratic blood. More than 700 Swiss officers and soldiers died while defending the palace, without knowing that their royal employers--like Elvis--had left the building.

In the early 1800s, the Danish artist Bertel Thorvaldsen was hired to sculpt a monument to the fallen Swiss Guards. The sculpture was carved in a sandstone cliff above the city center, near Lucerne's Glacier Garden and the Panorama, and it has attracted countless visitors since its dedication in 1821.

after the lion monument, we walked down along the road to a thai souvenir shop. the owner was from nakornsrithammarat. i couldn't remember her name. she was friendly and looked nice but the goods in her shop were pretty pricey.. so i just walked around taking photos..

along the way back to the coach, i took some photos of the town. it was still quiet at this early afternoon. i guess people were still working in their office..

not far from the coach parking lot, at the corner sat a cute little bakery shop. joon and i walked inside and picked the one we couldn't find in thailand.. all of them looked so yummy and it was hard work to pick out.. we bought one just to share and taste.. it was quite a big chunk and it tasted so good..

after the bakery shop, joon got back into the coach. i decided to walk around and took some more pictures. here are flowers, my fave shoots..

after everyone got back into the coach, antonio dropped us in front of lucerne lake to walk around.. we walked to see the chapel bridge, water tower, churches, shops sitting along the lake. we saw local people walking by and bringing their kids to feed the swans by the lake..

this city was very amiable and unique. i love sitting by the lake feeding bread to the swans (they were pretty aggressive--be careful).., the people looked posh and dressed beautifully.. as it was friday night, we could see the town was lively with people enjoying their firday night out..

..at the chapel bridge..

walking out of the bridge, we walked into a souvenir/bakery shop to look for a cup of hot drink.. and here we bought a hot cup of chocolate.. i would call it "chocolate au lait" bc there was more milk than chocolate in it.. still it tasted good in a chilly weather..

a shop by the lake

at 6 pm, we gathered back with the group and walked along the narrow street for dinner. and again.. chinese food.. it was okay but we started to miss thai food more...

after dinner, the guide showed us the way to walk back to the hotel and then everyone went on their seperate ways... some went shopping for fresh fruit and chocolate.. joon, kati and i walked along the road to take night pictures. lucky that i brought the tripod with me so most of the night screnes were not blur.. "eddy" worked brilliantly!.. and with the tripod, we could take photos of all of us..

after the long chilly walk, we marched back inside the hotel and started to survey it. we followed the sign said "gym". it was like walking in a crooked mountain. we walked down and down the stairs.. and finally we found it.. there was nobody there so we acted like kids in wonderland again.. ;]

and then back to the first floor, it was a mirrored wall and i couldn't help took some photos!..

after surveying and walking through the hotel, we walked back to our room, took a hot shower, went to bed and got ready for the adventure on the next day..

--good night lucerne!--

Day 3 : Leaving Lucerne for Paris

2009-03-19T02:15:00.000-07:00

Coach Ride from Lucerne to Paris : March 28, 09

first night in lucerne. i woke up at 3.30 am. if counting the time in thailand, it was already 9.30 am. no wonder why i was up so early. didn't want to waste time tossing and turning in bed, i got up to take a long hot shower, get dressed and write in my journal. plenty of time and plenty of things to write, so the morning was all mine.. joon was still trying to get more rest before the long day on the road started.

..the condition of our room..messy but so cozy..

joon managed to get up at 5 am and we got ready to go out for a walk at 6 am. time for breakfast was 7 am and at 8 am we would leave the hotel..

the weather was still chilly. at this early hour on saturday morning, the road was still quiet. we walked along the road to take pictures.. it seemed like the road and the quiet morning were ours.. so quiet.. the air was fresh and pure.. i wish i could bottle it up and bring it back to thailand..

we walked and followed the smell of the newly-baked breads and here we were in front of a bakery shop.. glancing inside the shop, i was surprised seeing a group of people chatting and enjoying their early breakfast.. (or that they hadn't slept yet?)..

..the temperature of this morning..

..at 7 am, we arrived back to the hotel and took the lift to 7th floor to have breakfast..

..continental breakfast..

..at the breakfast room..

mirror shoots.. my fave..

..p'tang with the handsome bellboy...

and here we go, leaving lucerne for paris.. the ride was going to be long.. it took about 8 hours to get there..

..goodbye lucerne..

at swiss and france border.. the coach stopped for the guide to claim tax for our shoppers..

..we occasionally stopped by at gas stations for toilet and some snacks and hot drink..

the reason i like to take photos of toilet is that i think each place has its own character and here is one of them..

Entering France

inside the supermarket at a gas station.. quite a lot of people stopped by for toilet and a ride break.

..kati in her pj..

mommy joon wanted a cup of mushroom soup.. it was fun trying to get the thing out of the machine as the language written was in french.. firstly, i watched how they did and then tried it myself...

outside the gas statation.. raininy, breezy and chilly day..

antonio, our italian driver..

i sat with him at the front seat for a few hours..

..we were already in france, heading to dijon for chinese lunch.. yeah, chinese again..

in dijon.. we arrived around 1 pm..

Dijon

walking along to road to the chinese restaurant, we could feel the chilly air getting through our clothes and coldly wrapping our skin, it was colder than in lucerne.. i felt that the scraf and 2 layers of t-shirt and a jacket didn't help me much.. we had to walk faster to get into the restaurant..

..after lunch and leaving dijon..

..getting stopped at traffic light..

here again, on the way to paris, we stopped for toilet and hot drink.. the temperature was getting lower and lower..plus the wind!

along the way, at some places the sun still shone strongly.

..but as we reached paris, it was wet, cold and raining again..

Paris

upon arriving paris, we were dropped off in front of an asian market (an aircon-market). at this place, we could see another image of paris, with most of asians walking in and out off the market doing some shoppings for fresh foods...

as we still had time before our dinner at 6 pm (and once again, chinese food), we walked around taking photos and watching the real lives of paris..

....a toilet inside a cafe in the market, the decor looked so hip with bright shades of orange....

toilet inside the chinese restaurant..

after dinner, we headed out of town to the hotel named "holiday inn".. cozy but a wee bit far from town..

firstly, we planned to catch a metro back to the hotel on the second night as we wanted to see paris at night but when reaching the hotel, we'd better not do it, for we might end up sleeping at the metro station not knowing which way to get back to the hotel.

..paris town at dusk.. wet, cold but charming..

after more than an hour getting stuck in paris traffic, we finally arrived holiday inn.. everyone fell asleep while on the way to the hotel (except antonio!)..

the room was cozy but i wasn't in the mood to look around.. just wanted to take a hot bath and jump into the bed..

i will show you the pictures of my room and the hotel on the next day.. sweet dream!...

Day 4 : Hello Paris

2009-03-19T02:10:00.000-07:00

March 29, 09 : Chateau de Versailles - Seine River - Eiffel Tower - Montmartre - Eiffel Tower

Bonjour Paris!

Again, i woke up at 3.30 am. it seemed like it was my normal time to wake up at the crack of dawn when i was travelling in europe. if you were already awake, why wasted time tossing and turning in bed?, so i got up and took a shower... i was not lazy taking shower in the early morning, as far as the hotel room was equiped with water heater.. i love hot shower.. anytime, anywhere..

first, come and take a look at our room in holiday inn.. lovely little room..

...it's a room with a view...

..and the view outside the room..

the big mirror outside the bathroom.

and inside the bathroom, with a bathtub! i love it!

..at 7 am, we were ready for breakfast. took the elevator down to the first floor..

again, it was continental breakfast with ..

sausage and ham

fried mesh potato

chopped baquette

croissant

cornflake with milk

umm.. yum??

..bjc girls got ready for paris..

..now let's take a walk around the hotel before everyone was finished with their breakfast..

it seemed like we stayed in the rural area of paris bc there was no other buildings in the neighbourhood. but i enjoy the view and the fresh air... after breakfast, i walked to the front part of the hotel and saw some cyclists biked pass the hotel. the temperature was still below 10 C. how could they stand with that few layers of clothes??

..one more shoot before leaving the hotel for chateau de versailles..

Chateau De Versailles

stepping out of the coach in front of versailles, i was sorry for not bringing the gloves with me. my hands turned ice-cold and i could feel the cold seeping slowly through my thin jacket.. god..i'd better hurry up to get inside the building..

posing while walking to the back yard of versailles..

anywhere we went, we jumped! this was the fun of the trip and it was one of the best way to kick the cold away..

we arrived around 9 am but the guide booked our group to get inside at 10.45, so we walked to the back yard of the chateau..

saw this cute girl on the way to the back garden.. she was cute but looked uncheerful. her dad smiled at us so we thought it was okay to take pictures and tease her a little bit....

the view from the rear of versailles..

hey cutie! we met again!

...กิ๊ว กิ๊ว กิ๊ว...

at 10.30 am, we queued up at the entrance until 10.45 am, we walked inside.

enjoy!

..inside the glass room..

Beautiful Chandelier

toilet

..outside versailles..

outside the front gate of vaersailles, stood group of dark skinned-people trying to sell us some souvenir. but they tried unsuccessfully to sell me their goods, i had my polite way to say no.. when they started to sell things to me, i lifted my camera and took photos of them and then they just walked away and tried selling with other tourists... they were friendly, though.. and could speak and understand simple thai language... i told them i was chinese so they switched to chinese!

..this guy was pretty shy when i was about to take pictures of him, he just walked away not wanting to bother me anymore...

..after versailles, we had to walk about 500 meters to a chinese restaurant for lunch.. the food was pretty good with omelette and nam prick (shimp paste) brought from thailand by our guide and unlimited serve of fresh orange..

..stopped to take pictures in front of a florist's, on the way to the chinese restaurant..

and here after having lunch, we walked back to the main road in front of the flower shop to wait for antonio to pick us up..

p'tang is a big "longchamp" follower..

The Seine river : BATEAUX-MOUCHES

after lunch, antonio brought to the seine river. we got into the bateaux-mouches for an hour for sightseeing the historic landmarks lining up along the Seine. when we got there, the vessel was about to leave the pier but we were in time to get into it. so we didn't need to wait long..

this picture made me think of the movie "before sunrise".. my fave movie..ever!

(and i watched it again before i left for this trip.)

the weather was colder than in the versailles bc of the wind. we stood on the front part of the vessel and we could have a better view than sitting on the upper deck, but gosh.. it was chilly and breezy down there..

Eiffel Tower

leaving BATEAUX-MOUCHES, we headed to the eiffel tower.. though, it was early in the afternoon and the sun was shinning strongly, the weather was still able to make us shiver..

but before heading to the tower, we walked hastily looking for a toilet. there was one with a free service underground. we had to walk down a flight of stairs to get there.. it was unbelievably clean and no stinky smell. the toilet was decorated in an old and classic way. i had my camera with me inside the toilet so i could take a photo inside. when coming outside and not seeing the sign, i tried to take some more but heard the dark-skinned lady yell at me for not allowing me to take photos.. sorry.. i didn't notice the sign when i came in..

after releasing all the burden we carried from the seine, we walked straight to the tower.. i love sitting and watching people here. they looked so relaxed and jolly. some had demonstrated something and not cared if people would watch them or not.. surely, i stopped to watch and take pictures...

we walked down to the park for a better view of the eiffel tower and again we jumped!

..as my life motto, life is meant to live fully and jump for joy whenever you can..

we didn't stay here long and i didn't feel sorry bc the guide had promised us to come back again at 8 pm for a night shoots at the tower.. and i was looking forward to it..

Montmartre

leaving the eiffel tower, we headed to montmartre. along the way, before the coach dropped us off, we passed lines of sex shops and Mourang Rouge. the road was filled with people walking leisurely.. i wanted to get off the coach and walked with them!..

Mourang Rouge

after getting off the coach, we walked into a narrow street and walked up to the Sacré-Coeur on top of Montmartre. it was the highest point in Paris.

i love it here. i love it here. i love it here.

i love sitting there among the people listenning to the live music. they looked so laidback and carefree. when i got there my fave song "talking about the revolution by tracy chapmap" was sang. and i wanted to sit there even longer..

we walked up to the Sacré-Coeur and walked inside silently. taking photos was prohibited. we walked along the u-shaped walkway following other visitors.. they were performing a ceremony when we got inside..

seeing the time was coming close, we walked down the same road and stopped by at souvenir shops to buy magnets.. i saw some beautiful printings with different sizes and i couldn't resist buying them.. actually, i wanted the real painting but they were pricey and i couldn't afford them.. the prints were good enough..

these were real painting but.. the price was too high for me!

we got back on the coach at 5 am and headed to a french restaurant (sorry i forgot the name of it).. we were going to have local food today... yay!!..

we had to walk into the little street to get into the restaurant..

..inside the restaurant..

..again, i walked around to take pictures, love the decor...

..waiting for the food..

..this was my most fave meal in the trip..

starting with

a bottle of red wine for each table

escago..mmmm.. yummy!! i asked for more!

beef steak

salmon steak

lamb steak

and apple pie

the sign said "not for pregnant women"..

ummmm...nice!!..

after few glasses of red wine, we started to flirt with the waiters.. and p'tang manged to get a rose and an email from one of them too!!

..we left the restaurant with rosey cheeks at 7 pm and headed to eiffel tower again..

along the way to the eiffel tower

we went back to the eiffel tower in hoping for the chance to take photos of the light from the tower. the guide let us stay around until 8 pm. we waited and waited... when it was 8 pm, the sunlight was still beaming softly over the horizon.. so we had to gave up and headed back to the coach..

in the photos, it was 8 pm.. and it was still light..

p'tang and i were the last one walking back to the coach.. at 8 pm sharp, we gave in and walked back.. everyone was in the coach already waiting for us.. they didn't wanted to hang around bc the temperature was dropping and the wind was getting stronger.. it was colder than in the day time..

..me with rosey cheeks..

getting back on the coach, i slept since we left the tower and woke up again when we approached the hotel..

what a long and glorious day!!

p.s. before sleeping, i had to drink 2-3 glasses of water to flush out the red wine.. if not, i would end up feeling cranky and having terrible sore throat..

Day 5 : Saying good bye to Paris

2009-03-19T02:07:00.001-07:00

March 30, 09 : Notre Dame de Paris - Louvre Museum - Arc de Triomphe - Avenue des Champs-Élysées - Galeries Lafayette - Charles de Gaulle Airport

up at 3.30 am. my normal wake up time here..

..breakfast was absolutely the same as yesterday..

..but i had more fruit today.. seemed to be the best one on the menu..

we left the hotel with our luggages at 9 am.. chill chill.. plenty of time to do things in the morning; read, journal, take photos, pack luggages..

..along the way to paris..

Notre Dame de Paris

our first stop was notre dame. the weather was chilly and a bit windy as the previous days. but it was better when the sun started to beam.. notre dame was grand and beautiful standing proudly in the sunlight.. i've been knowing and learning about it for a long time and today was my first day seeing and getting to know it in person..

let's go inside..

..inside the cathedral was illuminated by candles and chandeliers along the way.. on top were lines of stained colorful glass windows..

..we walked silently to admire its grand charm..

we entered on the right side of the catheral and came out on the left side.. i like this big wooden door. it looked neat and magnificient..

..outside, right after the exit..

..yeah, we wish to come back again..

leaving the cathedral, we looked for a wc and we found one underground.. walked down a flight of stairs and just followed the walkway.. (pretty the same as the one at the eiffel town but this one, they allowed me to take pictures..how nice!)

then we walked back to the coach

..passed rows of cafe and a souvenir shop.. too bad that we didn't have time to stop and look around..

..and now views from the coach.. we were heading to Louvre Museum ..

Joan of Arc statue at Place des Pyramides

..antonio dropped us somewhere not so far from the louvre musuem and we had to walk there..

The Louvre Museum

entering the area of louvre museum, i saw that it was quite wide and spacious.. it looked so stunning and exquisite.. what a shame we didn't have much time to walk down to see more underground..

and now we walked back to where we were dropped off and once again.. we got lost before we reached the coach..

next, we were heading to Arc de Triomphe

Arc de Triomphe

joon didn't get off the coach. she wanted to view it from the coach. i walked around and took some photos. better than last time i visited, as i viewed it from the coach when it drove pass..

after Arc de Triomphe, we would have lunch at a thai restaurant named "bien bien".. it was located in a narrow road, so we got dropped off on the main road and then walked inside..

..inside the restarant.. quite busy at lunch time and all the tables were taken..

..this was our last meal in paris.. don't ask me how it was... i think thai food is meant to be eaten in thailand.. you will get all spices of it! ..still, better than chinese food..

after lunch was the happiest time for longchamp and Louis Vuitton followers. the guide would drop us off at Galeries Lafayette for 4 hours! (oh! before that we went to paris look - another shopping center for thai and asian shoppers..) ..

Galeries Lafayette

inside, the roof top looks like a dome decorated with colorful stained glass.. huge and gorgeous.. there were quite a big number of brandname shops lining up on each floor.. if you are not careful, you might come back home dirt-poor!

at 6.00 pm, we gathered back on the coach and headed straight to Charles de Gaulle airport. upon arriving, we had to look for place to repack our luggages, due to our shopping spree.. and then checked in at qatar counters...

a view from the passenger lounge

..our boarding time was 8.25 pm.. but we really left paris at 10 pm. tired but pleased.. i slept after settling in my seat, didn't take dinner.. just wanted to sleep.. we arrived doha at 5 am, local time..

Day 6 : Doha - Bangkok..

2009-03-19T01:53:00.000-07:00

March 31, 09 : Doha - Bangkok

We arrived in doha airport at 5 am. our boarding time again was at 7.15 but they kept us waiting until 11 - 12 am. they were waiting for other passengers connecting the same flight as us.. the weather outside was getting hotter.. what we only need was the plane to take off and the first breakfast on the plane.. it seemed like everyone was very hungry right now....

..waiting at doha airport to get in the plane..

..glad to be called into the plane again..

and now we were heading home, another 6 hours on the plane!

..we arrived in suwannabhum airport around 7 pm..

..here again, i was still in the mood to take pictures before our trip ended..

..at the airport, waiting for the luggages..

openning the luggage, i found out that one of the beer i left with Ton exploded and his luggage was wet and filled with dark beer.. so sorry, Ton!

upon leaving the airport, we had a driver from Miracle Grand waiting for us at the exit with other two guests. we were going to stay at miracle grand for a night before we catched the first TG plane back to hadyai..

here our room in miracle grand..

..and back home, it was time to scrapbook..

..i've done some during the trip, so there were not so many works left..

..thank you so much to "Joon" for letting me join this trip. it will be a great memory to me travelling with you and your workmates..