Oh what a beautiful morning!

That’s what I would tell myself every waking hour of this tour around the enchanting country of Thailand. What made it so much more enthralling is that along this journey were my favorite people—my girls! Nivat Chantarachoti, country manager of Thai Airways made us fall in love with his country as we headed up north to Chiang Mai, and then down south to Phuket, and finally straight to the city center of Bangkok. All this coupled with Thai Airways Royal Orchid service, traveling takes on a new high.

The muses? Tessa Prieto-Valdes, Jenni Epperson, Steph Zubiri and Charina Sarte, goddesses of shopping, styling, epicurean and all things good, were all game from the get-go. We headed up high the mountains of Chiang Mai with a preggy Jenni Ep and sexy Charina as Tessa, Steph and I sought the blessings of Buddhist monks in the Lanna temples of the northern Thai province. Later on, we all had a ball, literally, as elephants paraded in front of us and played soccer, played darts against Steph and Tessa (the elephants won), and even did a painting exhibition, with one elephant expertly painting a panda.  Talent abounds in the animal kingdom!

Each day was filled with spices, literally and figuratively. At the Centara Hotel Chiang Mai, food and shopping were aplenty and within arms reach (it was right outside the street where we lived). Thai food is good for your health and spices speed up your metabolism. To take things into our own hands, we even went on a Thai cooking expedition at Deck 1, the famed resto at Rarinjinda spa resort in Chiang Mai. Evenings were spent watching cultural shows. At Khun Khantoke, a beautiful Thai pavilion, we experienced a great evening of Thai culture, smooth as silk, just like the country’s national carrier.

Our journey peaked as we headed south and best friends Pia Guanio and Claudine Trillo joined us in the beaches of Phuket. At Ban Thai resort by Patong Beach close to the party scene, we had the sun at our disposal, with some mist coming along every now and then. On a trip to Phi Phi Island, a storm suddenly came, causing some to panic. For me, it was delightful to see Mother Nature express herself in unexpected ways. 

Siam’s Most Unforgettable

And then Bangkok. Staying at the Centara Grand Hotel is as central as central can be. Every major mall is within walking distance, you don’t have to take a taxi and wait in Thai traffic to get to your favorite brands. It has a majestic Sky Bar in its penthouse that gives you the best view of Bangkok and is right within the Central mall development. In fact, after discovering this great hotel find, I don’t think I want to stay anywhere else in Bangkok but at the Centara.

Every BKK visitor must go and watch Siam Niramit, the end-all-be-all of cultural shows this side of Bangkok. At the end of the show, I could hear Tessa singing the theme with Pia and Claudine humming along. Steph had other plans as she was getting ready to learn more Thai cooking at the famed Blue Elephant Academy.

Jenni and Charina had their moments at Siam Paragon salivating over Jimmy Choos, Martin Margielas and Balenciagas. I got an Alexander McQueen (at 50% off!) at the Chatuchak weekend market. There, all of them shopping queens proved that yes, the Pinoy is worth shopping for. And shop they did. As you might already know, we incurred an overweight of 250 kilos—unprecedented in any of our excess baggage history.

But more then the consumption, my favorite Thailand moments were the simple ones. When we went to the temple and bought caged birds to free them into their natural habitat, when we lit up lanterns as alternative birthday candles for Charina and released them unto the air with our wishes for each other—those are the moments that no shopping or eating binge can replace. It is what makes friendships so magical, and trips like these unforgettable.

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(Follow me at www.twitter.com/iamtimyap.)