Bangkok Arrival
Well after a few days in hectic packing/panicking mode, Shannon and I were finally ready to embark on our extended trip to SE Asia. Just before 3AM Wednesday a Super Shuttle SUV arrived to take us to the airport. We grabbed two other passengers before heading to DEN. We were there before the Alaska Airlines ticket counter was even open. They open at 5AM, two hours prior to the first flight, and even the kiosks are disabled until they automatically spring to life at 5AM sharp. Our first leg was to Seattle where we had a 5-hour layover. We encountered an Asian woman traveling alone who was struggling with the airport's train system, and apparently had also been given some misinformation, so we escorted her to her gate. Then we had breakfast (omlette for me, clam chowder for Shannon) and headed to our gate. We rested for a while on the benches/footrests which were the only nap-friendly furniture around. A guitarist played a long set of live music in this area as well.
Next was the long leg Seattle to Seoul - 11 hours on Korean Air. This was actually not that bad. Shannon found Tetris on their seat back gaming system and spent a total of about 4 hours of the flight stacking blocks while staring unflinchingly at the screen. I got a fair amount of sleep and listened to Game of Thrones on audiobook. We both thought the overall experience flying economy on Korean Air was quite good.
We had a short layover in Seoul before a 6-hour leg to Bangkok. This leg was pretty tough but Shannon managed to sleep on the floor of our exit row for a bit.
In Bangkok, both passport control and customs turned out much easier than we thought. Passport control didn't ask us any questions, or ask to see proof of onward travel. Customs, from what we could tell, consisted of a huge sign reading "Customs" and you walk under it and that's all there is to it. We took a cab to our hotel and got checked in without any real fuss.
Today we explored the "Silom Road" neighborhood a bit including a nearby open air food market in a narrow street. I was hesitant to try street food on day one, so we got American-style breakfast at a small cafe as Shannon reached elevated levels of hangriness. After that we got some sim cards, waited out two brief bits of heavy rain under awnings along the sidewalk, and napped a bit in the afternoon.
Shannon seems more jet lagged than me so I worked some from the hotel lobby while she slept the second part of the afternoon. We'll grab some dinner once she wakes up and then this evening I'll attempt to join a google hangout meeting in the US. We'll see how it works given the Internet here is just passable.