Bangkok, Friday

We left the airport to a blast of thick, tropical air. Warm and humid at 10:00 at night. The Bangkok heat in December turned out to be quite comfortable. Temperatures hovered in the mid- to upper-80s with relatively high humidity. Wearing shorts and T-shirts, and dipping in the pool to cool off helped us not to notice the warmth. Rather, we felt bizarre hearing Christmas music and thinking about the time of year. How could it be this warm in December?

At the airport, Dave made the rookie mistake of hiring a car without a meter, and once piled into the car the price rose by a few hundred baht. We haggled the entire way to the hotel, and left a very frustrated driver with the originally agreed upon price. But once here, we knew we had arrived. This week we travel on Uncle H--'s dime, and in Bangkok he does not disappoint. The Bangkok Marriott Resort and Spa immediately made a good impression. As Dave checked us in, I and two very sleepy little girls lounged on the couches dotting the check-in lounge. Smiling staff brought us chilled fruit juice and kept the girls smiling. We chose to upgrade to a suite, in the hopes that the extra space would be family friendly, and we're glad we did. With no walls to separate sleepers, the suite at least buys us a luxurious amount of space (plus a free mini-bar and a huge bathub). We set up the girls' travel beds - some of the best baby gear we have ever bought - and each of us fell asleep as our heads hit the mound of soft pillows.