E Loves Coco

As the title of the post states, I do love fresh coconuts. For those of you who are into such things as adorable babies drinking from coconuts and eating fruit, enjoy as you stay warm/dry during Winter Storm Saturn.

Chiang Rai Babysitter

My parents first tried using a hotel babysitter while we were in Bermuda back in April 2012.

I think they're starting to get used to the idea of leaving my defenseless self with a complete stranger, because when we got to the hotel in Chiang Rai, they immediately booked a sitter as soon as they saw it was offered.  For about 200 THB (~$6.67 USD) an hour, they couldn't refuse. Here's a photo of us together.  Just kidding, that's not the sitter!

That first night there, the sitter came to our room around 5:50PM and my mother approved since she looked like a submissive young Thai woman who would take orders and seemed to love children.  I must have confused her for my aunt because I didn't even cry when she took me to her arms as my parents snuck out of the room.

Le Meridien Chiang Rai offered a free hotel shuttle to the Chaing Rai city center every 2 hours to check out their night market.  They left at 6PM and scheduled a pickup at 10PM to come back and relieve the sitter.

To be fair to my parents, they actually asked me if I wanted to come with them to the night market, but I declined. I've been a few night markets here in Thailand and most of them are tourist traps.  Think NYC Times Square with shops hawking all sorts of useless junk to tourists at inflated prices.

In any case, my parents tell me that they found the "food court" area of the night market where they enjoyed a few beers, chicken wings and a hot pot.

The large Singha beer cost about 80 THB ($2.67), 6 chicken wings cost 30 THB ($1.00), fried shrimp cost 30 THB ($1.00), spring rolls cost 30 THB ($1.00), and the hot pot cost 70 THB ($2.33).  So dinner basically cost them under $10 for the 2 of them.

For those of you white babies future lap children who don't know what a hot pot is, it's a bowl of hot water over a fire/coals.  They serve it to you along with a basket of vegetables, a raw egg, spices and a raw meat of your choice (chicken, beef, pork, shrimp).  You then cook everything in the hot water and wait 15 minutes to let it reach a boil.  Then when ready, you season and enjoy.

By the time they finished dinner, it was only about 8:30 and the shuttle wasn't coming until 10PM.  So they walked outside the night market area and found a place to get a foot/leg massage.  This is something like their 4th massage in 5 days, but for 200 THB ($6.67 USD) an hour, who could refuse?

They returned back to the hotel to find me fast asleep while the sitter watched TV in the dark without any sound.  My parents thanked her and she left us to get ready for bed.

The next morning, my parents again hired a sitter.  After enjoying a delicious breakfast at the hotel's restaurant (with optional outdoor seating), we met the same babysitter in our room around 8:50AM.

This time, I freaked out because in the light of day, I saw this wasn't my aunt (because contrary to what people say, Asian's don't all look alike).

Nevertheless, my parents still abandoned me to this stranger and told us to go to the Kid's Club Room at the hotel.

The Kid's Club Room was awesome for little kids like me.  For children age 4+, they could come in and play with toys, video games, arts & crafts for even watch DVDs.  They were supervised by 2 hotel staff and didn't require parents to be there.  However, for kids under 4, I needed a personal adult supervisor (my parents or babysitter) there at all times.

My parents were going to see Wat Rong Kuhn, the famous White Temple.  Unlike the many other traditional temples built years ago, this was a more modern temple still under construction.  It still attracted thousands of tourists.  Of course, I didn't get to go with my parents, but I've been told.

As you can see, it's a really interesting looking structure - very different from the overly colorful gilded temples that you usually see.

But for those of you who have not been to a temple in 90 degree heat, take note.  My mother was wearing her short shorts, so she needed something to cover her legs as she was entering a holy place.  In fact, a Thai woman started to yell at her when she pre-maturely took the cover off before getting off temple grounds.  My Israeli-raised mother was not amused.

When they came back at noon, I was still in the Kid's Club learning advanced calculus on an abacus and getting my ROYGBIV on.  What a good half-Asian child.

Le Merdien Chiang Rai - From Mai to Rai

Hotel Stay Details 
Hotel: Le Méridien Chiang Rai
Dates: February 10-11, 2013 
Rate Paid: 1,600 SPG Points + $30 / night
Regular Rate: $137 / night (incl. taxes) 
Total $ Savings: $107
Point Redemption Value: 6.7 cents/pt 

While we've been having a great time in Chiang Mai,  my mother was also interested in checking out the "White Temple" called Wat Rong Kuhn outside Chiang Rai, another city about 3 hours away by bus.  Heading to another city wasn't really in our scheduled agenda, but my father's brain started clicking away like he was plotting out Tetris moves.

The thing I love about my father is that he's super anal detail oriented, but also kind of crazy spontaneous. So even though he had meticulously booked our Chiang Mai hotels (Le Meridien for Feb 6-10 and Holiday Inn for Feb 10-12) months ago, he was totally willing to break up the itinerary to add in an overnight stay in Chiang Rai so we could all check out Wat Rong Kuhn.

First, he had to make sure he could secure a place to stay (at a reasonable cost).  Knowing that Starwoods had a beautiful Le Meridien resort property (ranked #1 for Chiang Rai hotels on TripAdvisor), he checked online and found out that it was a Category 2 property (4,000 SPG points for a Free Night Award or 1,600+$30 for a Cash & Points redemption).  Both options were available as was a special promotional cash pay rate ($137 vs. $170 normally).  We booked with Cash & Points, getting an implied 6.7 cents/pt redemption.

Second, we had to pick which night / hotel we were going to cancel.  Given it was already Feb 8 when this idea came to my parents, I suggested we cancel the first night at the Holiday Inn.  My rationale was (A) we had already unpacked all our things at our current hotel and (B) it's the Holiday freaking Inn.  My father agreed with my quick assessment and astutely recalled that the Holiday Inn reservation was a "Flexible booking" that could be cancelled anytime with 24 hrs notice while the Le Meridien reservation was already locked in.

Third, now that we were set on hotels, we had to get to Chiang Rai.  The bus seemed like the cheapest best option.  Tickets cost 520 THB (or $17.45 USD) round trip in the VIP class Green Bus which has only 24 seats (think airline business class seats:  reclining seats, tons of leg room, blankets, water and a small snack).

And for the first time, this Lap Child finally got her own seat.  Thanks for splurging ($17.45), Dad!

Important note:  In SE Asia, you have a ticket for a specific bus departure date/time and you have specific seat assignments.  What that means for travelers is that you should really buy your ticket at least a day in advance to get the time & seat you want.

Fourth, now that we had transportation from Mai to Rai, we needed a way to get from the Chiang Rai bus station to Le Meridien, which was a bit outside the city center.  So for the first time in my 15 months of life, I rode in the back of a pickup truck.   I know you redneck Southern babies do this all the time, but it was a new experience for me.

But don't worry, I was in my car seat.

We finally arrived to Le Meridien Chiang Rai around 1:30PM and I was pretty impressed.  Unlike it's sister property in Chiang Mai, the hotel in Chiang Rai was more of a destination resort rather than city center hotel.  Wide expansive layouts, well manicured lawns, peaceful poolside area, serene setting carefully carved into the natural landscape and even a Kids Club where I had a blast.  You get the idea, but if you don't, here are some visual aids.  Not too shabby for $30 out of pocket.