Given the volume of travel, we have had very few dud travel days. This was one of them.
Vietnam -> Thailand -> Malaysia
We left Phú Quốc Island in Vietnam last night. We got held up at passport control in Phu Quoc when the workers decided to abandon the desk for a good 30 minutes. Thankfully all worked out.
Our next destination is a new country for all of us: Penang, Malaysia. Despite short 1.5 hour flight times, the transfers were not ideal, so it meant we’d lose a full day in transit because our flight wasn’t until today at 4:00pm from Bangkok.
One Room, Two Bunk Beds
The airport hotel was silly expensive, so I found one just outside the airport at Morn-ing Hostel. It was a tiny room, with two bunk beds.
It’s the fifth time we’ve been a family of bunk mates:
Faroe Islands Farm House
Copenhagen Cabin Hotel
Hotel in Vicenza, Italy
Hotel in Krabi, Thailand
Overnight Train in Vietnam
They’ve made for tight rooms at times, but it’s also fun, like we’re having a family sleepover. Sarah and I take the top bunks, Paige and Sadie on the bottom.
The Morn-ing hostel was a really well run, clean hotel. It reminded me of something you’d see in Japan where the entire country seems to take pride in their cleanliness and no detail is ever lost...and I mean NO DETAIL EVER (more on that thought when we visit Japan in April).
Crack the Back
Sarah made a morning appointment to see a chiropractor in Bangkok, a chance for some modern healthcare to get a handle on her recent back pain. Good news, she had a great session and got some tips from Dr Sam Adam, an American doctor who moved to Bangkok eight years ago. It was a 30 minute cab ride into downtown Bangkok, which meant I was on my own with Paige and Sadie for the morning. Sarah reported it was well worth the time; Sam seemingly knows just as much about the constitution and beer making as he does backs!
School
I decided to alternate a 1x1 school session with each of the girls in the morning. I’m the Language Arts teacher for Paige. Today's subjects were ‘Points of View’ and using context in a sentence to decode unknown words. The session went well.
Next was a switch over to Sadie for some math. It went terrible. Sadie had been allowed to watch some YouTube slime making videos (a real treat for her), while I was working with Paige. Anyway, she was frustrated that she doesn’t “know how to use YouTube as well as Paige…” so she came into ‘class’ with a bad attitude. It seems these days, it’s always frustration for both girls related to ‘my sister has that or did that, blah, blah, blah.”
The session came to an end without much progress. A welcomed distraction came when my phone rang. It was my Dad to chat on some New Zealand trip logistics. Thanks Papa for breaking it up!
Packing Up
We went back to the room and I packed up loose ends into our bags. Sarah reflected that this was the first time of the entire trip I did any sort of packing. In our division of labor on the journey, packing falls squarely into Sarah’s responsibility.
Thai Lunch
We went around the corner to a small local Thai place, where we had a delicious lunch. Sarah joined us half way through, returning from her doctors appointment. Have to love Thailand, we had two noodle soups, garlic chicken & rice and pork with Thai basil for $5.
Thailand Reflection
Just being back for less than 24 hours made me reflect on what a wonderful time we had during our time in Thailand. The food, the Thai smiles, the language (hearing them speak is fun)...
Airport Lounging
An unsung hero when you’re traveling as much as we are, is lounge-access membership. We headed to the airport 3+ hours ahead of our flight, knowing there’d be good food, lots of space and a fast internet connection in the airport loung. We all look forward to lounges and the girls are right there with us in their excitement.
I dug into some of the New Zealand bookings after the call with my Dad before lunch and Sarah worked on a blog post.
Penang
We landed.
Arrived at our hotel after 8pm.
Dropped our bags.
Walked to a chill night market and got our first taste of the multi-ethnic Malaysian food.
Met our first traveler who is on the road longer than us.
The girls each held a python.
It’s 12 midnight now and we’re just hitting the sac.
Goodnight.
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