Bangkok
This is us in a nutshell. Diane looking glamorous, studying Portuguese, before breakfast with the queen. And me just clueless and happy surrounded by sparkly lights.
We met up with good friends in Bangkok we’ve known for years. A taste of home while on the road. We are here for 4 days with them. Day one we were conveniently picked up at the airport and whisked away in a baby clown car, a Suzuki Swift.
They graciously invited us to their place in Bangkok. These are people I like. Borne out of our days, a lifetime ago, of Salsa dancing. Now we get a 3-night sleep over with a tour and education on Bangkok.
Family Meals:
I think the world would become a better place if families had meals at least once or twice a day. We (Our hosts, their mom, Diane and I) gathered every morning during our stay for a Thai breakfast. Rice soup and toppings, glass of young coconut juice, coffee, and fruit juice of choice. I was ‘that guy’ and mostly ate the toppings. Kinda like the person who picks the pepperoni off the pizza. They varied from pickled vegetables, gai long (Chinese broccoli), shredded pork, fish skin in panko, (skipped that) pork slices in lime, and more that I cannot recall. Every item was always surprisingly good. I mean, really good! I should have tried the fish skin. There were also bananas in bunches (best ever) next to the dining table which was located in a very modern kitchen with every gadget and especially every glass for every occasion. I should also mention the cutlery covered a spectrum that Downton Abby would be proud of. Speaking of which, the home did have this quasi Downton Abby feel but without the starch. A cook, whose mother was the cook before, and a driver who did not mind me practicing my Thai with him while in the car port. Our initial dinner also had sister in attendance, but other nights we went out to restaurants.
Shopping day one:
We took the baby clown car out and sped thru the chaotic streets of Bangkok in the morning and found the most unlikely parking spot. My superpower is finding parking spots, but this was next level. We learned why later. We then walked 2 blocks to the BTS station. No, not the K-pop band BTS. We learned how to get tickets for the train at the On Nut station. After a few days of riding trains, we learned enough to be able to get around by ourselves if need be. The day would be mostly clothes shopping for the womenfolk and errands and education for the boys.
Lunch dim sum, was at an elegant Chinese Restaurant, Hong Bao. The service was near Canlis level. Food was delicate and delicious. I regret not taking a lot of pictures. Later Diane scored on a couple of pairs of pants. They started in a kind of swanky place but moved on to Uniqlo.
Due to limited traveling space a new rule was talked about. Give away clothing we brought with us when we buy new. We’ll see how ‘that’ works out.
Dinner that night was with the whole family prepared by the live-in cook with directions from the family matriarch. Again, everything is good and delicious. A beef dish, a type of crab cake and some other white fish that surprised me on how good it was. Note to Bill: try everything. Cocktails were at 5:30. Diane and I opted for a Thai spiced rum on the rocks with a slice of lime. It was great to have the matriarch of the family in attendance. It seems the age of 90 is the new 75. She was bright eyed and engaging. Receiving an education in Australia she had a firm grip on at least two languages. She talked to different people in the same paragraph in Thai or English. And I suspect she could run around a track better than I could. It reminded me that I miss my mom. She would have been 95.
Much conversation was had during dinner but eventually I began to fade…
We then retired to the guest suite. A 1 bedroom 1 ½ bath with a formal dining room. Complete with tasteful furniture and…….
….one really ugly couch. How ugly? I’m sure some horse out in Snohomish is pining for its blanket which was used for the material.
We got up early and now are sitting at either end of the dining room table in our place. We are still 10 feet apart. We are doing our travel notes and language homework. My mind wanders to our future travel plans. We don’t just have several options; we have all the options.
This trip to Bangkok I was able to ask a lot of questions and practiced getting around a tad. We are much less intimidated. One of our hosts looks a lot like the actor who played in Firefly, Alan Tudyk. He is chock full of info and has been a great Bangkok mentor.
Our host had a dental appointment, so we toured the dental building. Yes, the nicest one in the world. As we dropped him off the 3 of us hit the shopping district of Bangkok. I found a shirt, which from the moment I put it on I looked like Mathew McConaughey. (I went back two days later and bought another, but in a different color). Diane got more stuff too.
The four of us re-gathered (new word) and got foot and shoulder massages. Life is good.
Bangkok is world class, cosmopolitan, and it’s very metro. Chiang Mai just cannot play in the same league. Compare Seattle and Walla Walla. But it’s so … busy here. The shopping, at least for clothing, is the best I’ve ever seen. I’m better on the train now, but a little lost when 100 meters away. We walked by Cowboy Soi…. on the way to dinner. It was very anti…. wait for it…. climatic. Small, obvious, and seedy, and never has been my cup of tea. Speaking of tea, we went to Le Dalat, a Vietnamese restaurant for dinner. These pics tell a simple story but in real-time one takes a cracker and puts a single leaf of basil then a single leaf of mint on it, then top it with this delicate white fish then pop that mofo in your mouth. Makes you glad you were born a human. While looking at the dessert menu, Diane and I freaked out when we saw affogato. Not typical of Vietnam but so delicious. Ice cream in a glass with a shot of Vietnamese coffee in a tiny pitcher next to it. Difficult as always, but such a treat.
Uneven sidewalks….
Actually, everything is Thailand seems to have slight elevation changes. Even in our Airbnb. Coming down a long escalator you are greeted with a short stairway of 10 more steps. Could they not have just made the escalator just a tad longer?
It was 89 today and we made it to 10:10pm now at 80 degrees. It was a pleasant day. We seemed to be used to the heat now.
Park Day, attempt number one:
We left at 8:30am to get to the BTS so we could make it ‘walk in the park’ day. The traffic was gridlocked. It was Seattle fish-truck bad. We barely made it back with our sanity at 10:45. For our hosts I’m sure stuck in traffic for two hours going nowhere was frustrating, but for us it was super interesting to look around.
We were told it was the worst traffic they’d seen in the 12 years they’d been in and out of Bangkok. Just before we got back to the house, we got gas for the car and went to Coco Monkey and had a coconut ice cream drink. As it turned out, I had a mosquito bite on the back of my ankle so maybe a long walk in the park being canceled may have been not so bad. We had an hour break before a lunch run. We were driven with black bags over our heads to a food court that was so good that we were sworn to secrecy. To this day I do not know how to get there. Though we got to keep the black bags that had printed on the side, “My friend went to Bangkok, an all they got me was this kidnapping hood”.
Walking BKK streets at night:
Busy streets are one thing to navigate, back streets are another. On busy ways you tend to spend a portion of your energy just…. navigating. Trying not to trip on the ubiquitous uneven sidewalks or bump into someone or something. The back streets are a totally different animal. Sure, scooters still whiz by but at a greatly reduced rate. It gives you time to ‘take it all in’. Fewer businesses and more homes with gates. We could talk much easier as we strolled to our destination. It made me wonder, could I live here? Maybe, but Chiang Mai seems more our speed. Could we afford it here? Yes.
Sunset was at 5:45pm. It’s an hour past that or more. There is a feeling of safety here that I don’t get everywhere I travel. Any train or bus I take in Seattle my ‘danger meter’ does bounce around and at least once on every trip it pegs, and I have concern for an some individual and keep my eye out for them. But here, nada. As we walk the back streets, I think to myself “wow, I’m in Bangkok”. I’ve been to London, Tehran, LA, Rome, New York, and Lagos, Nigeria. Yep, Bangkok seems the safest with Tehran a close second. I think of the song, “One night in Bangkok.”
When returning, we found the BTS train about to leave. One of us jumped on and I followed her lead. I assumed if I let the door ‘hit’ me it would re-open allowing the other two of our group to get on board. That was wishful thinking. The door about bifurcated me and closed behind me with malice. I learned later a security guy, who jumped out of nowhere outside of the train, made sure the other two in our group did not try what I attempted. Our group was split in half (kind of like me, almost) but no worries, we will just wait at the destination station and wait for them to catch up. No harm no foul. But note to self: Those doors don’t mess around. We returned to the guest suite and I read a little before falling asleep.
A Walk in the Park:
Much like Central Park in New York, Bangkok seems to have 3 adjacent parks in the middle of the sprawling city. It was hinted that where would be monitor lizards. Oh yeah, there were lots. The dozen or so we saw were about 4 or 5 feet long and maybe 25 lbs. or so. They were a little shy and certainly not aggressive. There were about the same number of people doing Tai Chi in small groups or solo. I’m not sure if there is a correlation. The architecture of the city, though on a much greater scale, reminded me of Seattle a bit. When having someone showing you around you pick up on things, like buying a bottle of water for 28 cents before starting your walk.
We, according to our phones, walked 16,000 steps. After, we had lunch at Greyhound. I had chicken carbonara, again wow!
We leave Bangkok much less intimidated, more educated, and much more comfortable. Could we live here, sure. I looked at a few prices of rentals. The place really has everything you’d desire. Our friends live in a gated community that is… fairly… close to a BTS station and from there they can go anywhere but I suspect we’d venture not too far from the shopping district and home.
It’s Thursday and two working toilets await our arrival at home. It’s also now Thanksgiving. After our 1 ½ hour flight we will go to our fav Chiang Mai restaurant and have our T’giving meal 😊
