Today is our trip to the Bang Pa-In (or Summer Palace). This is a stop-off on the way to the palace. There are many Buddhist temples here to allow the poor people to experience wealth beyond their dreams for a short period!
Week commencing Sunday 11th March 2001
Sunday 11th March
Today is our trip to the
Bang Pa-In (or Summer Palace). This is a stop-off on the way to the palace.
There are many Buddhist temples here to allow the poor people to experience
wealth beyond their dreams for a short period!
What
have we here ? 
Oh,
right, elephants ! 
We
were impressed by this flower display.
The
palace was mostly ruined (by Burmese invaders), but there are some buildings
intact.
These
statues are all very similar, with real silk garments !
After
our trip to the Summer palace, we returned to our hotel via a river cruise.
We had a great time with these two Americans - they certainly took to Irene
!
Monday 12th March
This is the bar at the
Oriental Hotel - cool decor !
The staircase leads from
the tea room to a private suite. Peter got to the third step before he was captured
by the swat team and politely informed that this was a PRIVATE suite 8-)
Tuesday 13th March
One
of the many eating places at the hotel. We couldn't quite manage the huge toasted
chicken sandwich with fries, and it didn't help that the sandwich actually came
with fries too !
After
making the mistake of 'looking around' Bangkok town, we returned to sanctuary
for an afternoon doze (well at least Peter did !)
Wednesday 14th March
Approaching
Australia at last !
Sydney
is bottom right.
Thursday 15th March
Alexanders
is our favourite place - this little delicacy is called Spicy Potato Wedges
with Sour Cream and Chilli sauce - awesome !
The place stays open 24 hours, seemingly for our convenience, and the service
is excellent.
This
is the view from our room in the 'Sheraton on the Park' hotel...
...and
from the other window 8-)
The
shower may not look much, but it was HUGE !
Friday 16th March
The
view by day - Hyde Park in the foreground, Sydney Harbour in the distance -
cool !
Walkabout
around Darling Harbour - whoosh !
The
moment we've been waiting for - the famous Doyles Fish Restaurant.
This picture was taken from our table at the corner of the outside dining area.
You can just make out the Opera House in the background.
This
is the Riverboat - lit up like a Christmas tree - it goes out every evening
with dinner and cabaret. We hope to give it a go soon !
Two
John Dory's and a couple of chips, please !
Best fish we've tasted in years (The wine wasn't bad either !).
Saturday 17th March
This
is our serviced studio in the York Apartments, where Citibank put us up in 1990.
Lounge area with TV and video. Patio with table and chairs outside leading to
a fair sized drop (9th floor). Kitchen area with breakfast bar on the right.
Kitchen
area again, sleeping area, hi-fi unit and door to bathroom.
Bathroom
with shower. Out of view is laundry area providing washing machine and tumble
dryer. (They think of everything !)
Darling
Harbour as dusk approaches.
Tonight
we eat Indian food. This is Zaffrane, with an incredible outlook over Darling
Harbour.
It is extremely popular - by 8:30pm there were no vacant tables left !
Right
then, let's be off !