The flight was scheduled at around 3pm. We headed to the airport by 11+am. The trip was smooth with less traffic noted even though it had been raining heavily for the last one week. I had checked the parking availability of the airport before we headed to the airport. 180+ free parking spots available. I crossed my fingers when I saw the figure. It is summer holiday, it should be full but yet there were still lots available. Parking in the private parking area is a pain in the ass nowadays. In the past, I would opt for private parking as the bank offered free parking to customers who had utilized credit card to pay for the airfare. Free parking now is only limited to top-tier card user(who mostly had to pay a RM1000+ annual fee ). Parking fee however could be tallied with the points gathered from credit card use. The reason I dislike private parking was the waiting time for pick up; you would need to call the operator up once you clear the custom. You would need to walk out of the airport terminal and wait at the car rental area which was 300m away. The waiting time would range from 15-30 minutes and sometimes the shuttle van is full. In the past, all of us could board the van but now they only allow 3 persons to board and priority would be given to single passenger. They encouraged the driver to pick up the car and returned to the airport to fetch the rest of the passengers. It was a 20-30 minutes process in the past but now it would extend another hour before leaving the terminal for good. The price was the same parking in the airport area and the private parking. Choice was obvious and I would prefer parking in the airport.
We were lucky that day; it was not raining. A spot nearby the entrance of underground passage was available.
We found the counter in no time and checked in our luggage. We had eaten our brunch late that morning and was not hunting for any food in the airport. Choice was limited and eating at the airport was costly.
Out of my expectation, the CI cost 40% more than the budget airlines however all the seats on board were filled. Most of the passengers were Taiwanese as it was summer holiday. There a few foreign workers on board though.
Food on board was good and the flight arrived 1 hour earlier than the scheduled time. However due to bad weather, the plane had to hover for a few rounds before it was given a green light for landing. The descent was rough; roughest that I had experienced before. Bumpy as a roller coaster out of control when the plane passed through the heavy cloud. Ving grabbed my hand as tight as possible and I could feel the fear inside her.
The touching was smooth as it was not windy however it was raining moderately.
It was a long walk from the gate to the immigration as the Survanabhumi Airport has the largest single terminal in southeast asia. The KLIA is bigger though but it has two terminals and one satellite building.
The immigration passing was fast. All of us get through within 15 mins. No question asked and just thumb print acquiring and face scan.
We got our luggage 20 mins later. We headed to the taxi stand and picked the wrong lane. As we had 4 persons with 1 big 2 small luggages, we should have choose the large taxi. The driver had reluctantly accepted us; as he driven a Corolla with LPG tank. The taxi could accommodate only 1 big luggage. 2 of the small bags were held by Yun and Yi at the back seat. It was jam, jam, jam as usual in the Bangkok city. We arrived at the 14 Sukhumit place apartment 1+ hours later. I had tipped the driver heavily for his effort…. He had a long way crawling all the way back to the airport at the rush hour.
The apartment was spacious, two ensuite bed-rooms with a living room and kitchen. Best of all, there was a washing machine complimented with washing powder.
We quickly unloaded our bags and headed to the nearest food joint; the food court at the 5th floor of the Terminal 21 shopping center. The food court offered cheap and up to standard food as we had learnt over the internet.
It was a short walk from our apartment to Terminal 21, we headed to the 4th floor first and acquired the famous Chatrumue milk tea. I had seen it many times back in Malaysia, I had even bought their tea leaf… but never try to buy any cup of tea from them. Best teh ? definitely was the one from my granny coffee shop…. Next best -> from my kitchen…. Chatrumue from outside Thailand? who knows about the quality.
The verdict after 10 minutes of queuing; worth every penny, nice smooth and thick aroma. However as local Thai milk too, it has too much of ice added and I had no patience waiting for the hot tea melting the ice. Nothing to shout for a NT45 drink.
Food was out standing at the food court; clean kitchen, fast serving and tasty !!!!
We took a short tour around the night market nearby before we retreat to our apartment.
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