Monday Bangkok 2/19/2007


Rather a decadent day today! In the morning Anne and I, with 2-1/2 year old Ella, went to the mall for some shopping. Balloons for Ella, alarm clock for Anne, 23K gold jewelry for me! [I’m sure Ella thought her balloons were the best purchase of the day, but I think differently :-) ] It took several gold shops (there’s a whole row of them at the Mall VI where we went) but I found what I wanted, with much thanks to driver Jim for serving as interpreter!

We had Japanese lunch in the mall before heading home for Ella’s nap time and for Anne and me to go have Thai massages. Such a relaxing/invigorating experience! Quite a different style from the Thai massage I had last week (different place), which was a bit of a surprise.

Then I stole driver Jim for the rest of the evening – he drove me down to the heart of the city where I met up with former student Pawatchai and another Thai pianist, and we went on a dinner cruise on the Chao Praya river. Our table was on the upper deck, right at the bow of the boat, so we had fantastic viewing. It’s amazing how peaceful and sleepy Bangkok looks from the river! And the major buildings are beautifully lit at night, so it was loads of fun to see. There was a huge buffet dinner with Western, Thai and Japanese foods most widely represented – everything from Phad Thai to spaghetti carbonara to veal sausage and sauerkraut. It was a very pleasant evening on the river – the breeze on the water was quite refreshing after a pretty sticky day. The Royal Palace was especially beautiful at night, as was Wat Arun (the Temple of Dawn). And there were lots of other beautiful temples, skyscrapers, etc. A delightful way to view Bangkok.

That ended pretty late; Jim dropped my companions near a metro station before bringing me home. And now I must get to bed – fairly early start tomorrow to go to Thai cooking class!

It's Tuesday night now, haven't had internet connection since first thing Monday morning; no time now to write about today, I must finish packing to be ready for a 5:45 AM departure to the airport. I'll be home in Illinois by late Wednesday night.

Love to all,

Carlyn

Last updated 12/07. Copyright 2007 by Richard C. Morenus. Questions? Send email to richard.c@morenus.org