From Koh Samui we landed in Bangkok around 6pm, got off the plane and piled on to the overly crowded bus that was there to take us to the terminal. Joe was glancing out the window of the bus and saw a Thai employee on the tarmac holding a sign with "MARY BECHERER ANNIE BECHERER" so we shoved our way out of the bus and went to meet the lady. Since Annie and I had Royal First tickets from BKK to NRT, we were getting the Royal treatment and Joe and Lizzy were allowed to schlep along since there was room in the car. We didn't know there would be ground transfers at the tarmac so it was a bit clumsy getting on and then getting off the bus, but that was our fault for not figuring that out beforehand.
We were the only ones in the car and it was a really fun experience. The handler took us under the airport and held our hands through the transfer progress, getting our onward boarding passes, and taking us up to the Thai Royal First lounge. It was awesome and set the tone for the rest of the night. Annie and I were able to take in Lizzy and Joe as guests (you're welcome, Joe), so we were all able to experience this amazing lounge. We were the ONLY people in the huge lounge when we arrived and were greeted by four employees who walked us to our private living room in the lounge.
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| Empty when we arrived |
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| Lucky we got one of the private rooms - eventually they filled up |
The area had a couch, two chairs, a table, a TV with the Disney Channel (Pinocchio had just started), and a desk with a computer. They brought us an iPad which had the menu and we could order whatever we wanted and as much as we wanted. For normal people, this wouldn't really be that big of a deal, but for someone like Joe, it was like it was the best moment of his life. (Pretty sure I wrote a very similar sentence about Joe's excitement over the $1 Auntie Anne's pretzels in Kuala Lumpur). We ordered steak, corn chowder, pad thai, and ice cream and desserts among other things. The food was actually delicious and among the best we had on the trip. In addition to the menu, there were also a couple of rooms with food set out that Lizzy wanted to go check out every now and then.
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| iPad Food Menu - one of the coolest things ever... I would like one of these for the rest of my life, complete with private chef |
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| Pad thai, corn chowder and steak |
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| Buffet |
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| Lizzy would occasionally wander around with some of the employees. They couldn't get enough of this spunky little blonde |
While the food and private living room were amazing, the highlight by far was the included spa services. It was the first time in our lives where we wished we had a longer layover. If we had more time I totally would have done it all - facial, mani pedi... Joe stayed with the girls while I got a massage at the spa in the lounge. I enjoyed plenty of massages during our time in Thailand, but this was the real deal. It felt SO great and nearly put me to sleep. After my massage was over the masseuse told me I had five minutes to shower. 5 minutes!? This felt just a little rushed as my entire body and scalp were covered in massage oil. I showered as fast as I could but was still putting my clothes on when the spa attendant knocked on the door signaling my time was up. She gave me 5 more minutes as I clearly wasn't ready and then I found a separate area to finish getting ready. When I was done, there was only time for Joe to get a half hour neck and shoulder massage. He wasn't allowed to use the fancy first class spa and had to rough it in the slums of the business class spa. It was the first massage of his life and given by an 80 pound Thai woman. He said the it was the most painful thing he had ever experienced and thought it was certainly more painful than child birth. Lately I have began to wonder if my former cross country runner/war hero husband has the lowest pain threshold known to man. Perhaps he has been making up stories Uncle Rico style about his one time athletic prowess.
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| Gorgeous treatment room (with no sweaty towels or lizards on the wall like all my previous massages in Thailand). Wish I had more time to enjoy it! |
Joe finished up his torture session and we realized that it was getting pretty close to departure time and a lounge employee was ready to take us to the gate. The girls were getting pretty tired and fussy by this point as it was well past their bedtime.
The gate ended up being quite far from the lounge and thankful they had a cart to take us or we may have missed the flight. We had to go through security and made it to the gate and were the last to board. It was a bit stressful but we ultimately made it without a problem. Annie and I were in First class, which was beautiful, and Lizzy and Joe sat in Business Class, which was also great.
Up in first class, Annie and I were pretty tired, too, although I tried to stay awake for a bit to enjoy myself! Since it was a red eye flight there wasn't any dinner provided, but that was OK since I was still stuffed from the lounge. I did sample some Dom Perignon...didn't love it. Is that bad??
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| Is that bad?? |
The seats were awesome and turned into comfy lie flat beds but I think Singapore Business might be wider! Annie and I both got nice Rimowa amenity kits with some L'Occitane products, and we also received some "comfort wear" aka pajamas. Most people that fly first class probably don't take the pajamas with them but you can bet I did! They are super soft and have a Thai Royal First logo on them - since they didn't have children's sizes the flight attendant offered me an additional adult set which I gave to Joe. Clearly I must have looked like the kind of person that wasn't going to leave a single free thing behind :). A bit prior to landing we were served a nice breakfast.
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| Nice Disney-branded activity set |
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| Annie slept well in the big seat |
We landed at NRT a little early, made it through customs quickly and collected our bags. We had a very hard time figuring out where the parking company was going to meet us to pick up the car and after 10 extremely frustrating minutes on the phone with a bunch of people who didn’t speak English (we had used this place solely because they claimed they spoke fluent English) we eventually found the car on the departures level. We were on our way and arrived home about 90 minutes later with 2 tired little girls who were excited to be home and to have their toys again. Joe had about three hours at home before he had to head back to Narita to catch a flight to LA for some meetings. He cleaned up the house and did some laundry while I slept with the girls.
It was an amazing trip with a few tough moments but countless amazing ones, so it was totally worth the effort. Hopefully the girls remember a little bit of it and if not, we are happy to have it all documented here for them to read some day!
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