Bangkok Narita Chicago, a trip

[dirtydog]

Ok this is like a major journey, not like that poofy memocks one, I mean we are talking great big planes, not girly little helicopters that can do 50 mph, so, we got basically a 20 odd plus hour journey into the wastelands of America, they call it Chicago, personally I think they could just shorten it to "Cold".

Now your gonna start at Bangkok airport, after seeing all the other airports as we travelled I have come to realise that Thai people do not need toilets, or if they did they aint gonna find one in Bangkok, but hell all they need is a banana leaf outside some where and they are alright, well I assume that was the planners thought when the airport was built, ie the Thais shite where they like,obviously, this may cause some distress to farangs, but hell fok it, you want a pony just do it as Nike says, do erm on the stairs or anywhere that is a bit quiet, it really don't mater and it is only a bit of poo.

The Bangkok airport really hasn't got a lot going for it, it is staffed by Thai people of minimal inteligence, come 3am all there brains have gone into childhood regression, everything is expensive, yeah, even by American standards, it is big, it is shite...



This is the check in for United, they are foked, I really don't no why anybody uses them, old planes, hostesses older than my mum, its really not that good.



I really think the Thai print should have been bigger, why is the English so big?



Nice clear plastic bins so you can'tplace bombs at the Bangkok airport.



Inside view of Bangkok Airport.



In Bangkok airport of course some things aint open 24 hours, this can be seen at this restaurant.



Of course you get a plane, here is our united plane.



There really should be a game in the games room describing airline food.

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[dirtydog]

The flights are pretty good even though all the service staff are older than your parents, not sure what makes 50 year old people want to be air hostesses though, they also allow obese people to work for them, but hey, thats America for you, anyway here we are flying over Canada, well some where like that anyway.





That white stuff down below is called snow or ice, now snow and ice are really cold, so this is probably a place you wont want to bother visiting, well, unless your some sort of freak that is.

[BobbyTits]

Please continue

[buad hai]

What happened to Narita? One minute you're in Bangkok and the next flying over Canada....

[MeMock]

Ok this is like a major journey, not like that poofy memocks one, I mean we are talking great big planes, not girly little helicopters that can do 50 mph,

Mine is taking 3.5 days ya big pansy!

This is the check in for United, they are foked, I really don't no why anybody uses them, old planes, hostesses older than my mum, its really not that good.

Bet the charged you the correct amount though. Today I booked a ticket on Thai airways. Well I tried to, their stupid online credit card thingy wasn't working.... They reckon it was but considering the same day I booked my own tickets to Australia with 3 different airlines and it worked fine I beg to differ.

Anyway so I had to copy and email front and back of my cc, fill in a form and fax it to them and send them a copy of my wifes passport.

2 days later they say they have made the booking.

I happened to check my online CC acount and notice that they have made 7 separate withdrawls for the 1 ticket. So instead of $1,300 (35,000 baht) it has cost me $9,100 (245,000 baht).

Boy are they gonna cop it tomorrow.

[MeMock]

What happened to Narita? One minute you're in Bangkok and the next flying over Canada....

At least my thread makes sense

[Marmite the Dog]

Today I booked a ticket on Thai airways.

Their site is rubbish. I used my friendly travel agents instead as I got fed up with it.

[Fabian]

MeMock, so your credit card statement is proving you wrong. Actually it seems like the online booking worked every of the six times you obviously tried.

[Texpat]

Isn't this thread a foregone conclusion?

I could probably write it today and not be far off the mark.

[MeMock]

MeMock, so your credit card statement is proving you wrong. Actually it seems like the online booking worked every of the six times you obviously tried.

Mmmmm I hadn't thought of it that way.

They said it was declined and there was no itinerary forth coming until I made contact with the auckland office with all those details and they booked it for me.

Surely they would have noticed that there was already 6 other Mrs Me Mocks on the flight?

You could just be right fabian.

And marmers I agree with you 100%. Their website is the worst b far that I have ever had to deal with. Try and find a contact number on their site that you can call and talk to someone after 5pm. Impossible!

My wife shudders when ever I have to use them as it usually ends in me throwing a wobbly.

[Fabian]

And marmers I agree with you 100%. Their website is the worst b far that I have ever had to deal with. Try and find a contact number on their site that you can call and talk to someone after 5pm. Impossible!

My wife shudders when ever I have to use them as it usually ends in me throwing a wobbly.

You should try booking on the Lufthansa website then. Afterwards you will think the Thai Airways website is really convenient.

[dirtydog]

Narita was just a 2 hour or so stop over, ponced around in the airport trying to get an internet connection and then trying to find whereto pay for the connection, then saying "fok It" and having a coffee in the bar that you was allowed to smoke in, well the glass cubicle in the bar anyway, us smokers seem not to be welcome in the world no more

[dirtydog]

This restaurant isn't actually in Chicago but somewhere near Deerfield, so time for some bagels
The food here is fantastic, every meal we have to get a doggy bag to take the uneaten stuff back as the portions are way too large. and the prices really are not that expensive, even compared to Thailand prices, don't forget the dollar is worthless these days anyway this restaurant we went to yesterday, it was absolutely packed solid, the menu choices were pretty impressive.



This is my bagel with beef brisket, it was massive and came with coleslaw, this cost 7,95 bucks, 250baht? wish I could get something like with quality beef in from somewhere in Thailand.



Scrambled eggs and bacon plus other stuff, there 7 of us so this wasn't all mine.



Yep, even some noodle soup, couldn't find the fish sauce and chili though.



A couple of pictures of some of the local buildings near the restaurant, got to admit I do like some of these old buildings.

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[dirtydog]

Anyway today we decided to nip into Chicago downtown to see what it looked like, trains are hourly and cost about 5 bucks one way, takes about 50 minutes, we came back by taxi and it took the same amount of time but cost 80 bucks, so public transport is the answer for long distances.

This train was a double decker beasty, on the back of the chair is a clip to stick your ticket under so the ticket stamper doesn't have to bother you, talking of ticket stampers, I am still having trouble getting to grips with the fact that farangs do menial work, ok I realise that someone has to do it, but what the hell went wrong in his life to make him become a ticket stamper, I mean he can't have spent his childhood dreaming of a life on the trains collecting and stamping tickets, suppose he could become an English Teacher in Thailand though.

[dirtydog]

So today was hit Chicago down town, we got off the train at Union Station or Street? and decided to get something to eat before going to Sears, (which at one time was the highest building in the world, but now is the third highest), this restaurant is a couple of blocks away from Sears, that cold wind there eats into your bones



The food and sandwich selection was fantastic, but the sandwiches were just too big.




This is my chicken soup with chili, some people including me would call it a chili con carne, but they call it chicken soup, damn it was good.



The lasagne with meat sauce, the 2 chilis, lasagne and soft drinks came in under 20 bucks, we still got most of the lasagne in a doggy bag for later, where in Thailand could you get that for 600baht? in nice clean surroundings?



Just look at this sandwich, the choices of cheese,meats, veggies etc is just amazing.

[sabang]

Sandwiches in the states are the dogs bollocks.
I don't know why they do such big servings, but if you're not shy to doggy bag food there is a bargain. And generally pretty good.

It's a thought- fly to the states for a gynormous one week pigout- the dollars low, and I'd be able to gorge on all the foods I miss here, like great steaks, decent Mexican and sandwiches. Then go vegetarian for a few months back here, to repair the damage.

[flash]

Holy shit Dirty Dog is turning American, do we have to call you Dirty Dawg now?

[dirtydog]

The food is fantastic here, I keep going to the local supermarket here at the shopping mall and keep buying stuff that we can snack on or eat, we aint gonna be able to finish it and it will probably be too much to take back to Thailand, should mention I haven't even started looking at the cheeses yet, got a few spare kilos I am allowed

Ok onto or back to the train station at Union Street, here it is.





Obviously Chicago is a city full of thieves, look how far they go to secure their bicycles.



Note the missing seat

[MeMock]

You sound like a kid in a candy store!

[sabang]

Don't you miss that healthy 25Bht Phad Ka Pao Moo Dep'tyDawg?

[dirtydog]

The food is great, I am eating a strawberry at the moment which has more meat on it than the apples in Thailand have, I got so much food in the fridge and freezer I really don't know what to eat next, I also got jars of salsa and jalapenos still unopened, this is a food fantasy come true, the only problem is we both eat so little

As for pad kapow moo, it wouldnt bother me if I never ate it again, for favourite nations food, for me Thailand is pretty far down on the list

[dirtydog]

Now this is the biggest building in America so the Yanks are quite proud of it, although the New York World Trade Center was 110 stories and this is 103, anyway this building is so tall that memoks little girly helicopter couldn't fly over it

I actually went there thinking there would be a big shopping center there, for all I know there maybe but I didn't find it, so it was off to the skydeck for us, to get to the sky deck you got to buy a ticket, if your willing to endure a 15 minute film about how great the Sears towers are and other boring self congratulating stuff it is 12,95 bucks, you don't want to endure 15 minutes of that crap then you pay 25 bucks, anyway not a lot up there but the view is pretty good.



Sears Tower skydeck pictures coming soon.

[peterpan]

Oooooh Thats a nice building

[dirtydog]

The building across the road was actually a lot nicer, but alas it is only a baby compared to the Sears Tower monstrosity, anyway onto some views from the sky deck or whatever it maybe called.

[aging one]

food is so much cheaper in America than England. Nice pics DD you are making me very hungry.