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  • Day 56 - Earned Our Plane Spotter Badges

    February 3, 2022 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    We both slept for in excess of 10 hours. I had dreams of grilled teriyaki chicken, what a pervert!

    For the next two to three hours we sat on our balcony drinking instant coffee in minimal attire dealing with the constant stream of emails requesting details of everything about me short of my inside leg measurements, blogging & generally WhatsApp’ing.

    It is a good time to mention that I asked for more coffee sachets at reception & a lady came down with a tray of coffee & creamers & a more bottles of water. What do you have to moan about Jackie? She walked into the glass window, it didn’t have enough warning stickers on it & apparently the shower was not quite too her preferred temperature!

    We completed both our Passenger Locator Forms which are required at check-in to allow us to board the aircraft back to London. We have had to pre-book an LFT test to complete within 48 hours of landing in the UK for £12 each to allow us to complete the PLF. Up until very recently we needed to take a negative LFT test here in Thailand just 24 hours before boarding the aircraft, but thanks to good old Boris we have to do nothing of the sort this end. Or so we hope!

    Around 12.30pm, we followed my dreams & went back to Naiyang Café for egg noodles with teriyaki grilled chicken & Jackie ordered a Pad Thai with shrimp. Jackie had a ‘recommended’ date iced latte coffee & I had a date coffee shake. It was all fabulous & we made the decision that we had to return again tonight. It is just too good!

    After our lunch, we headed to Nai Yang Beach, which is part of Sirinat National Park & hence required another entrance fee of 200 Baht per person. Eight weeks ago, we refused to pay the entrance fee, but I had regretted it ever since & today we were prepared to pay the fee just to go plane spotting.

    When we approached the entrance to Sirinat National Park, the lady collecting the money told us how much it would be, but suggested two alternative options. We could either come back at 5pm when there was no one on the gate or take an alternative route that she described to us that would get us to beach without having to pay the entrance fee.

    Bless her, we took the latter option & saved ourselves a tenner. We walked along the attractive beach until we found the other anoraks (mainly in bikinis & shorts) under the flight path of the incoming flights to Phuket International Airport. We spent a couple of hours on the beach waiting, photographing & videoing the incoming aircraft as they flew low over our heads on their approach. We also stood behind the aircraft as they revved up on the runway before taking off. Jackie absolutely loved it.

    We were stupidly dehydrated when we left the beach having forgotten to take any fluids with us. We took a pit stop back at our hotel, by drinking litres of water, then we headed out in search of beer. Our first stop was Heng Heng Heng, which we were due to return to following our visit the previous day. Unfortunately, they didn’t have any cold Chang & we had a lukewarm beer watered down by ice.

    It wasn’t ideal, so we took a walk & stopped at our very first restaurant ‘Where It Began’, on this trip. We sat & supped several cold beers, whilst watching the world go by on another busy street.

    Finally satiated, we headed home via 7-11 for provisions for breakfast, the airport & the flight home. Back on our balcony, I got myself a head start on the penultimate blog, whilst sipping Hong Thongs & coke. Time passed us by, because it was 7.45pm, when we realised the time & we needed to get back out to eat.

    We rushed back to Naiyang Café AGAIN for our final Thai meal. I ordered Chicken and cashew nuts, whilst Jackie, who was slightly pissed, but will never admit it, ordered just a spicy chicken salad. I ordered a plain soda water, whilst Jackie ordered a fancy one. The so reasonably priced dinner was yet again fantastic & it is possibly the consistently best quality food that either of us have ever eaten. The Muslim ladies were also delightful, they couldn’t have been politer & more eager to please………..in a culinary way!

    I’m going to write to the Michelin Guide with my recommendation that the Naiyang Café be awarded stars. That should sway it!!

    After dinner, I dragged Jackie to a pancake stall on the main road & bought a banana pancake for just 20 Baht, about 45 pence. I took it back to our room to eat with a Hong Thong nightcap.

    Song of the Day: Blogging by Wire.
    Incoming by Something Happens!
    Low Flying by Mazzy Star.
    Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond (Slightly tenuous!).
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