Looking at the note, “your leave has been approved from August 22 to 29”, I couldn’t help but think this is a bit too late. My husband had just left for Bangkok on an assignment for the Canadian government. He insisted that he would miss me and wished I could come along but, “thou doth protest too much”; I felt a tinge of doubt about his claims. Now I had a chance to join him last minute, as working for an airline at the time, I could leave immediately and travel standby. The only route available was half way around the world, connecting via London, Bombay and Singapore. Unable to reach him (the time was before digital technology) my arrival was going to be a surprise.
After a two-day travel ordeal I landed at the Bangkok airport in the morning and took a taxi to the Montien hotel. To this day I narrate my grand entrance as follows, “upon arriving in the foyer of the luxury hotel with impressive columns and marble floors I had full view of the lounge directly in front of me, where, of all people, I saw my husband having an animated conversation with a young Thai woman who was kneeling by his side, holding a tray. Disbelieving, he stared at me”. He narrates his version as follows, “I was sitting in the lounge of the hotel having tea and talking to Tutu, the hostess, about her two children and their Montessori school when someone looking just like Edie walked through the door. I took a double take and looked again, my goodness it was Edie! How did she get here?”. Once I explained the details of my unexpected arrival, he was quite amused by my determination. We both ended up talking to Tutu at length and she explained the Thai custom of kneeling while serving tea.
Bangkok was fascinating, old world mixed with new, the smell of food served on the sidewalk, permanent traffic congestion and kind strangers helping me, the tourist. I had to pinch myself a few times– where else can you have a dress made overnight and choose from rolls and rolls of Thai silk, elbow to elbow with buyers from famous designer houses in Paris? The icing on the cake was the abundant number of jewelery stores –there seemed to be one on every corner. Maybe this would be the ideal city to get that one special long overdue ring, or so I thought.
