A Visit to a Feisty Aunt

This is a continuation of my last post, remembering my feisty aunt who passed away about 2 weeks back. She had a sharp tongue that would shoot down nonsense a mile away. This post is of the time we visited our aunt in Bangkok in Dec 2017, after we learnt of her sickness from my dad. She was at that time, staying with my cousin brother Alan (her son) and his wife in Bangkok. We arranged to meet up with Dad and Hazel in Bangkok, and we visited our aunt in Bangkok’s Nakornthorn Hospital just a day before she was transferred back to our hometown of Ipoh, Malaysia. Her children (my cousins Emily and Alan) had arranged this to keep aunt happy, because she felt more at home in Ipoh. We knew of this only after we finalized our Bangkok trip. Had we known before, we might not have taken the Bangkok trip at all, since we would also be back in Ipoh, later on, on the same trip. But it was nice to see my aunt and uncle, my cousins (their children) Emily, and Alan and his wife altogether in one place.

Aunt’s tongue was as sharp as ever, sarcastic at the slightest opportunity, and funny. Although her body was frail, more so in 2019 in Ipoh when we last met her, there was no dent in her mind, or her spirit. Despite being only a housewife, she's knowledgeable beyond what you'd expect. I remember her telling me years ago (yup, I’m quite chatty with my elders, hehe) that she’d read every article in the newspapers when she was younger to pass time while doing part time baby-sitting work at home in Ipoh. God bless her.

Here’re pictures of our time in Bangkok 2017. No, there’re no pictures of aunt or the hospital visit (who friggin snaps photos in a sick ward?).


Bhumibol Bridge across the Menam (River) Chao Phraya, Bangkok – view from our hotel room at Riverfront Residence, SV City, Bangkok




More views of the Menam Chao Phraya from SV City – This is the usual place we stay at, in Bangkok, if we’re on a family trip, as it’s close to cousin Alan’s apartment. Incidentally, this was also the same place we stayed at, on our previous family trip to Bangkok in 2005, with dear ol’ grandma when she was still alive… Alas, it was granny's last overseas trip... I miss her still


The kids with Dad and Hazel in our hired van for our visit. Road trip ahead!




The Three-Headed Elephant (Erawan Museum) was one of the places we visited. We also visited Pattaya, since we had an extra 3 days in Thailand, but that’ll be another story, ahem…


We actually visited Bangkok TWICE in one trip in Dec 2017. That’s because we booked a return flight to Bangkok from Dubai, not to Malaysia. We first visited Bangkok to visit our aunt, then flew back to Malaysia, and when we were due to return to Dubai, flew back to Bangkok from Malaysia to board our return flight! For the flights to and from Malaysia, we used Bangkok's old Don Mueang Airport. For the flights to Dubai, it's the new Suvarnabhumi Airport, quite a lot of hassle actually. Here we're having dinner at a road side restaurant in Lat Krabang near Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport, where we put up a night before our flight back to Dubai on the next day. How’s the Tom Yam Justin? You think he'd try?!? Anyway, it was yummy!


Sawatdeekha! Enjoy your food! At Lat Krabang (on a corner shop at Prachathon Rd, near the Wat Sangkha Ratcha)


Fried Pork Rice


Pork Neck, one of cousin Alan’s favourite food…


Justin and a pet bunny… or is it a squirrel? …or something else? (I’m pretty bad at animals)


Bye-bye Krung Thep (that’s Thai for Bangkok) – Suvarnabhumi International Airport, Bangkok, Thailand (Hint: In Thai, Suvarnabhumi is pronounced ‘Su-vanna-phoom’, no ‘r’, no ‘bh’… Live with it, that's Thai)