SteemFest || My Memory Joggers

It was a bit of push and pull for me heading towards Steemfest4. I had my moments of doubt. Was it crazy to put things on hold so I could fund my trip to Bangkok? Was I doing right by my daughter by missing her birthday and first week of exams? And at the the same time I was guilty of feeling super stoked I was going.

I bought the ticket.. at plankton price, I chose to stay in a hostel which I'd never, ever done and I traveled with a group I barely knew.

I have now come out on the other side and I know if I had to do it all over again, I'd do it with more certainty and not spent energy on the fickleness that rocked the boat every now and then.

Now for the things I want to keep on the blockchain for my personal memory joggers.

Roelandp: Master organizer. From registration to the last dinner on the cruise, everything was beautifully planned. Sure, I didn't get enough sleep, but who needs sleep when you want to squeeze in as much as you possibly can... and that includes "free and easy". And can I just say, he seems like a gem of a guy. Easy going, down-to-earth and a real charmer.

@khimgoh, @littlenewthings & @elizacheng for being my travel and lodging buddies. They made it easy for me who's always had someone (either family or HR) make all the plans. It was fun, adventurous and I even learnt a couple of new tricks.

Sourced from @roelandp's post

All the Steemians I met and talked to. I am not a natural social butterfly, currently more of a WIP Ambivert , but I didn't feel awkward and uncomfortable which I feared might get the better of me. I hung around, most times stealthily and just soaked in the Steem vibes.

Day 1 || 06Nov19

We took the bus from the airport to the official hotel except we were staying about a 15 minute walk away. That 15 minute walk felt like forever because it was our first time and we had to lug our bags up and down the pedestrian bridges in the hot, hot sun.

We found the hostel we had booked thanks to Waybeyondpadthai's recommendation. I confess, I had dreaded the stay, not knowing what to expect. Surely at these prices, the place would be a hell hole. What a pleasant surprise for the place definitely deserves its own post which will be coming up soon enough.

A shower and a meal later, we headed over to register. We were greeted by Team Firepower who I later found out had been the welcoming committee since the first SF. How cool is that?

After a quick dinner at the street stalls, we headed back for the welcoming drinks and met up with more Steemians. It was quite surreal to be hanging out with SteemitInc and Top Witnesses.
What?!! They are regular people?!! haha

Day 2 || 07Nov19

We took the MRT to Siam Society, venue of Day 1. On the way, we had to stop to get some of these for breakfast. They were like desserts, similar to what we have back home (not for breakfast) and when we ate them later on in the day, it was pretty yummy.

Sourced from Official Photographer @varunpinto

After the conference we went to a temple by train. Imagine over 100 people making their way during peak hours. We just looked out for the Pink SteemFest fans which like the North Star, guided us.

Sourced from @arcange's post

Right after that we headed for bowling and dinner. @khimgoh @littlenewthings and I teamed up with @arcange that made us Arc's Angels. We didn't win but we sure did have loads of fun.

Day 3 || 08Nov19

This time we decided to catch some extra sleep and Grab'd (using the Steemfest code which halved the price) to the The Postal Building for the second day of the conference. Afterwhich we made our way to Dinner, Drinks and Dance. Again, we walked over following the Giant Pink Fan as guide.

This is when someone accidentally stepped on my flip-flops and it gave way. Ensued, scrambling. First I tried walking with the broken slipper. Then I dumped the broken slipper. Then I spotted a 7/11 and ran in to get a pair followed by @elizacheng and @littlenewthings. We ran out, and the entourage was missing.

We did find them with trusty ol google maps. And even had time to take some pictures as we searched for the Steemfest Fan.

We had the resto to ourselves. With good food and a great view of the boats and ferries on the river, there was nothing else to do but to make merry.

Day 4 || 09Nov19

First thing in the morning we made our way to a DAO event by @buzz.lightyear and met someone who had signed up with Steemit a long time ago but never quite started. Impressed with our stories of Steem, he decided to hang out with us at the Yolo house where Roelandp was making pancakes.

How often do you get the Top Witness serving you pancakes? Next to never I would say.. haha. It was a healthy version with wholemeal flour and it was yumzz.

Then a bunch of us headed over to MBK Shopping Center for lunch. I had my Mango Sticky Rice which I thorougly enjoyed. Only on the last day did we find out that the very popoular AfterYou Dessert Cafe was in this mall. Darn it!!. Perhaps next time.

Then for a Foot and Body massage that cost 550THB. It's been some time since I had been this flexible... with a little help from the massueuse of course haha.

Right after a quick shower, we headed out to the Riverside again to hang out with Detlev and #beersaturday.

Day 5 || 10Nov19

Whoops!! It was coming to the end. The last day of the fest. We had the morning and afternoon to ourselves. We considered the Chatuchak Weekend Market but changed our mind as we didn't have much time. So we opted for a boat ride (9BHT) to Platinum Mall instead.

We then headed for River City to hop on our cruise for our last dinner together. We dressed up for the night and off we went.

After the cruise, we had a little hunt for the place for the after drinks. Like little kids, we ran through the hotel looking for Roelandp's Presidential Suite haha. Oh what a night!

Day 6 || 11Nov19

And that's a wrap. Goodbyes and farewells from last night into the morning. We had a couple of days to hang out in Bangkok before we head for home.

We went to China Town which was a walking distance from our hostel. We then joined travelfeed.io's presentation at Wanderlust. Afterwhich we decided to brave the crowds at the Loy Krathong & Yi Peng Festival.

There was plenty of food and a whole lotta people. We tried looking for the river but we failed to locate it. With some of us feeling tired, riddled with aches and pains, we decided to call it a day.

Day 7 || 12Nov19

This is it. Time to pack. With the flight at night, and just a few hours to do some shopping for the family, we headed for Platinum Mall. Again?! That's only because we had to return the Food Court card for refunds which we had forgotten to do the last time we were there.

On the way to the Pier, we walked through the market that's just outside the Prince Palace Hotel. The Pier is right beside it. So we did a little shopping there first. Then it was time for our last boat ride.

And that ladies and gentleman was the last picture I took of the Chao Phraya River. I made sure I took a picture of the river everytime I passed by. Something about water eh?

I have to say, this has left a sweet feeling and desire to be at the next SteemFest. I now understand why every one who has been, try and make the next. Guess, I gotta start saving from here on. Perhaps, I will see you at the next one...

Cheers,
Sh33la
15Nov19

ps: To make sure I remember the peeps:-
From TeamMalaysia:
bitrocker2020, awesomianist, superoo7, vaelriey, joannewong, elizacheng, khimgoh, littlenewthings, buzz.lightyear

DTube Stars:
waybeyondpadthai, joythewanderer, cryptospa, livinguktaiwan, travelgirl, buttcoins, kevinli

Witnesses:
roelandp, blocktrades, gandalf(gtg), arcange, crimsonclad(followbtcnews), aggroed, lukestokes, jarvie(steempeak), stoodkev, firepower, surpassinggoogle(steemgigs)

SteemitInc
roadscapes, justinw

I hope I am not leaving anyone out. And if I do, please catch me and shame me!!
oleg326756, gameroo, daabi2006, faitherz33, derangedvisions, anomadsoul, vesytz, fitinfun, sjennon, wanderin, misslasvegas, nainaztengra, jpphotography, for91days, detlev, cjsdns, jack8831(mr.salmon), valentinepudding, lizanomadsoul, osavi, nateaguila, goblinknackers, crystalandbones, celestal, dylanhobalart, louis88, slobberchops, kobold-djawa, osavi, wandereronwheels, varunpinto, andywong3, dmitrydao

I didn't didn't say "Hi" to everyone. But I guess, I have a whole year to work on stepping out of my shell a little more :D