You Are Still Loved, My Dear - Part One Written by : Reiki Sanctuary Date : Friday, October 28, 2011

You write the script that is your life. Don’t stutter reading your own lines.


A friend commented that we love Thailand.  That we (seem) to be going back and forth there often.  Indeed, we do.  Let's face it, there are many things one can do when in Thailand.  There are the affordable shopping.  There are many decent massage and spa.  There are, if you are into hot and spicy, good cheap food.  There are long stretched of their local pasar malam (night markets) at almost every major roads.

Hotels, and the new kids-on-the-block serviced apartments, in Bangkok are everywhere.  Prices are so competitive that it can make it hard which would be the better one to stay in.  Most of them even throw in with free breakfast, evening free cocktail hours, wi-fi, mini kitchenette and some a washer-dryer machine inside the rooms.

Public transport is easily accessible and very much convenient to move around within the capital.  The sky walk along the Bangkok Mass Transit System (BTS), or informally known as the SkyTrain, make it very convenient to shelter from the sun and rain.  Most of these BTS stations are conveniently located at major shopping centers.  So are Bangkok Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) (or sometimes referred as the Bangkok Metro).

Often, our souls seems to embrace tranquility in Thailand.  It can be a day just stuck in the hotel and a short distance walk for lunch and dinner, yet the atmosphere can fill me with somewhat a spiritual retreat.  Yes, undeniably, it is a holiday but the feeling is far beyond relaxation.  It is, for me, a trance like feeling of serenity.

We love the energy there.  It may not be clean and public hygiene is still a long way to improve yet there is something beautiful about it.  We love the slow pace of life even in the capital Bangkok.  Generally, the Thais are courteous and gentle people.  One observation of how one Thai would help another to carry things in a crowded train really touches my heart.  Such behavior is very common in their crowded trains.  It is one behavior that I have not seen a long time back at home.

Anticipated to celebrate Reiki Sanctuary's third anniversary, we braved ourselves to visit Thailand again recently.  Despite all our family and friends fear for us due to the Thailand Flood, we felt safe to travel.  Indeed, all their fears were self-organized mitigation.  There were no floods while we were there though there were lots of sandbags stood around.

The whole capital getting ready to protect their business from the flood.

And even the MRT stations are taking the extra pre-caution.  The closure of some entrances of these MRT stations made our short-cut walk to our hotel impossible during our stay.

As usual, it seems a blessing whenever we check-in the hotel, that we will be upgraded to a better room the next day.  We are very grateful and will continue to count our blessings.

Our last stay at Furama Xclusive Asoke was no different.  We had previously twice stayed at another chain, Furama Xclusive Sathorn.  Furama Xclusive Asoke was a business hotel and all their rooms did not furnish with dining area and mini kitchenette.  It situated right in Sukhumvit road surrounded with commercial buildings.  Sathorn, on the other hand, was a family-oriented hotel.  It had different types of rooms, available from a simple superior to deluxe with full kitchen.

An hour after we checked-in, while on the way out and passed the reception counter, the staff who checked us in asked whether we liked the room.  We knew there were bigger rooms.  It was her kind gesture to ask that question but we took advantage to ask for an upgrade.  Our complaint was the bed did not have two side tables.  We were surprised that she looked into the possibility to move us.

That evening when we came back, a bigger room awaited with delight for us.

The First Room (on check-in)

We felt kinda funny without the two bedside tables.

A simple deco

And, the anticipated surprise awaited ..

Such a big space!  What a difference!

I am always impressed, here with this hotel and its chain, how the house-keeper would 'origami' the cloth runner to beautify the bed.

There are two shower areas.  One is the standing shower (just opposite the WC area) and another at the reasonably big and deep bath tub.

The Bar Area

The Exterior And Surrounding Area:

Hotel Entrance.  On the right of picture, just after the sign, is the Hotel Bar and Restaurant with outdoor seats.  And, further down the road is our favourite Massage shop.

With another 5-Stars hotel on the left, and few other hotels within the vicinity, and the newly open shopping center, Terminal 21 on the right.

We left Bangkok safe.  We departed with our prayers for the capital and her people.