You know the holidays are over when routine kicks in once again. The girls are back to work, and our weekly activities are business as usual. I did not realize we actually took a five-week break from pickleball. With the festivities and long holiday stretches towards the end of last year, and our recent New Year trip to Chiang Mai, that is quite a stretch!
Last week, we played our first pickleball game for the new year, and it felt good to sweat despite the cool air-conditioned court. There were nine of us, and two courts, at two hours each! No wonder everyone worked up a sweat. Hahaha.
The weekly golf games have also resumed. This year, I’d like focus on participating more in events organized by our club, such as monthly medal games and tournaments. It will be beneficial to build my mental strength by competing in these games rather than just playing casual matches with friends. It doesn’t mean fewer social games, but more club-organized games. A busy year ahead, and I’m looking forward to it.
Last week, we flew to Chiang Mai, Thailand, for three rounds of golf. It was just the four of us: hubby and I, along with two friends. The weather in Chiang Mai was excellent! I’m glad we chose this destination over Jakarta for our trip when we were deciding where to go.
The temperature was around 14 to 15 degrees Celsius every morning, which made it wonderful to play in such comfortable conditions. By noon, when we finished our game each day, it was still cool. And being buggy to the ball on the fairway for all three courses, we hardly broke a sweat.
At Alpine Golf ResortChiang Mai Highlands and Summit Green Valley
We played at Alpine Golf Resort, Chiang Mai Highlands Golf & Spa Resort, and Summit Green Valley Chiang Mai Country Club. All three courses were enjoyable, yet challenging as well. And for the first time, after-game foot massage was unnecessary for the whole trip! Amazing.
The highlight of the trip was definitely the food—there were so many palate-pleasing gastronomic delights! Then again, on this trip, we ate at Michelin-level restaurants, something we never did when in Bangkok. Somehow, Chiang Mai’s cuisine has more finesse and flavor than the options in Bangkok. However, this is unfair to say because I have yet to visit a Michelin-level restaurant in Bangkok. Can’t compare apples with oranges, right?
At Ekachan Ethnic Thai CuisineWantan noodle choices and Vanilla Coke!At Baan Landai Fine Thai Cuisine
Anyway, besides the two Michelin-level restaurants, we had noodles in a roadside shop and food from a food court in Nimman Square. To cap off the wonderful trip, the shopping after golf was so satisfying! I cannot recall the last golf trip being so relaxed and carefree. I have added several new golf shirts to my wardrobe.
Doi Suthep templeWat Rajamontean
All in all, every aspect of the first golf trip of the year was excellent! From the company, the golf courses, the sights, to the food and shopping, I am blessed to kick off 2026 with a memorable start. More to come? Definitely.
I love Thailand and Bangkok, this is a fact. This year alone, I’ve visited Thailand thrice, covering Chiangmai, Krabi and now Bangkok with the girls; the girls’ first time to this wonderful city after Krabi in October recently.
We enjoy Bangkok very much for its food, golf courses and shopping. And I’ve always wanted to share my experiences with the girls so that they can understand what the country is all about and see the reason why mommy and daddy visits every year. Bangkok’s offering in colors, tastes and sights are just so enriching and amazing, I just hope the girls will enjoy and appreciate it as much as we do.
We are at KLIA now, waiting for our 12.25pm departure.
After breakfast, we left the villa for Phunaka, the elephant trek place. The day started off cloudy for our elephant ride. It was fun! In the end, weather was perfect, not too hot and overcast.
Apparently our rides were 30- and 40-years old. They trekked with a mind of their own, constantly stopping to rummage for food. All in all, I think it was a good experience for the girls. For me, this is my second time; the first being in Chiangmai with hubby several years back.
After our ride and a short little show by the baby elephant, our driver dropped us off at Aonang. There, we browsed the shops lining the main street, stopping only for a Chang beer and a bite.
The weather continues to be cloudy. I doubt I can even out my uneven golf tan lines.
You know you had a good holiday when you come home and find that your work pants don’t fit. I was aghast! I had to suck it in—not a whole lot just a tad (but still!)—to wear my work pants yesterday. Oh dear… I thought with four rounds of golf in Batam, sweating it all out under the sweltering heat, I would be fine. And it’s not that I ate excessively, my portions were normal. I didn’t even drink beer on the course on this trip.
But looking back, the four rounds was all buggy on course unlike a month ago in Chiangmai, the three rounds, we walked and walked and walked. Now comparing the stats – in Chiangmai, it was close to 20,000 steps each time at the golf course, and this is not inclusive of the before and after game walking. All in, I’d say a good 23,000 steps a day, more than the 10,000 steps quota for a day.
In Batam, it was slightly over 10,000 steps but with the before and after, I’d say it wasn’t even close to 14,000 steps each day. I remember by the third day, I decided not to wear my pedometer because the earlier stats were not very impressive and I did not want this to distract me.
Could it be the food? Or the drinking? We had hard liquor for four nights in a row, single malt and blended whiskeys: 12-year old Chivas Regal, Glenfiddich, 12-year old Dewar’s and Label 5. We drank as well in Chiangmai but that was a 4 day/3 night trip versus this recent one of 5 days and 4 nights. By virtue of an extra day and an extra bottle of whiskey, my pants don’t fit? My personal trainer would have a fit if she knew!
Looks like I have to do something about it and it’s not buying new pants nor skipping going to the office! Sigh…
I was not supposed to go; we were not supposed to especially having just returned from Chiangmai not too long ago. But the lure of another golf outing was too strong to resist so here we are again, with the same people albeit a couple less, going off for another trip!
I stopped playing Candy Crush for awhile already and this was evident from my recent golf trip to Chiangmai. Not only did I not crush candies, I paused in my other two games as well (Zookeeper Battle and Farm Heroes Saga).
However, when a fellow candy crusher commented yesterday on one of my post that she could play on beyond Level 530 in Facebook on the laptop, I went in to check. Yes, indeed! A new chapter has started. I guess I am back in the race.
Since we woke up early and got done with breakfast, we might as well explore a little bit before leaving for the airport. The group also woke up early and after breakfast, we decided to take the Red Car to Chinatown.
It was fun to walk through the stalls. Weaving in and out, there were all kinds of things on display to tease our sight and it’s just our bargaining skills to make a worthy purchase if something caught our eye. The one image that caught both hubby and I was the lady who was selling duck. Put it this way, one has to look good when selling duck!
We bought several knick-knacks for the girls as always. As I got myself a knitted elephant already to add to my elephant collection, I am quite contented to just browse and admire the colors and culture. After two hours or so, we managed to meet up for brunch. Seated at the side of the street, we had fried carrot cake and fresh coconut water. Yum…
Done with the quick eat, we caught another Red Car back to the hotel and yes, it’s time to go home. A quick shower and an organized final packing, we’re going home.
The morning call from the front desk was a horrible shrill. Yes, 5.30am… Wakey, wakey! Yawn… It is Day 2 and today we will leave the Resort and head to Alpine Golf Club.
Angieneering 
Remarks