A Journey to Thailand and Japan: Day Seven
May 26th, 2008My friends Siam and Meow went off to Bangkok to get married. A group of us decided to go to the ceremony and get a chance to see a part of the world we’d never been before. So, we bought the plane tickets and set off on our grand adventure!
BACK TO BANGKOK
It’s morning in Phuket, and most everyone meets outside the guest house for breakfast. Meow isn’t feeling well, and would rather sleep in. We wander around and end up in a little restaurant that’s around the corner.
Breakfast in Thailand is a little different than the breakfast Americans are used to — there’s no bacon or eggs or toast. To Thais, breakfast is a meal just like lunch or dinner, and the food is the same. Siam takes care of ordering the food.
They bring out a dish called Khao Mun Gai (”chicken rice”). This is basically boiled chicken served with rice cooked in chicken stock. Sound plain? It would be, except it’s served with a side of sauce. I can’t describe this sauce, but it’s basically a little slice of heaven on earth. It’s spicy and delicious. I pour the sauce on the chicken, and eat away. I clean my plate, and finish off the chicken broth soup that comes as a side. What an awesome breakfast! How much for this culinary delight? About a dollar.
We all clean up and head back to the airport. We’re going back to Bangkok! We say goodbye to Note, and get on the plane.
After an uneventful flight, we take a cab to our new digs, the Asia Hotel. This isn’t as nice as the first hotel we stayed at in Bangkok, but it’s a very convenient location — close to the Skytrain and Siam Square. Siam and Meow go back with their families, so Tang will be our escort today.
I should take a break here and talk about Bangkok. It’s different than a typical big city in America. I’ve mentioned the traffic before — it’s insane. But, the general city layout is different. The streets are lined with multi-story buildings. The first floor of every building is a shop. And in front of the shop is, invariably, several carts selling all types of food. Food is everywhere in Bangkok — you can’t go more than a few steps without smelling something cooking. There’s almost not enough room to walk on the sidewalk, because it’s full of food vendors!
Once we all get checked in, we head out to the street. We’re only a few blocks from the Jim Thompson House. This is a wooden home that was built by, you guessed it, Jim Thompson. He was an American expat who ended up in Thailand, and adopted their culture. He revived the Thai Silk industry, and built this house in the traditional Thai style. It’s very well done, and the tour of the home is entertaining — mainly because of our tour guide. She prefaces almost every sentence with the words, “Ladies and Gentlemen” in such a way that you think her next words are going to reveal the very secrets of life itself. In reality, she’s only pointing out that the porcelain figure on the floor is a chamberpot.
We hang around the grounds a bit, and enjoy a cold drink in the Jim Thompson restaurant. It’s very classy, and the air conditioning feels marvelous. Jon isn’t feeling too well at this point — he says his stomach is a little upset. We’re all a little tired at this point anyway, so we walk back to the hotel and take naps.
When we wake up, Jon still isn’t 100%, so we all go to dinner without him. We take the Skytrain to Siam Square and eat at the mall. This is probably the least exciting meal on the trip — what do you expect from mall food? I order some Tom Yum Gung. This is the same soup we had in Phuket that was so amazing. This version is a mere shadow of that soup. We eat our meals, get some water and bread for Jon, and head back to the hotel.
Jon’s still in bed. He’s out for the night. However, this doesn’t stop us from going out and having fun. Kae (Meow’s maid of honor in the wedding) picks us up and takes us out on the town. At first, we go to a section of town that’s just crawling with farang. This isn’t our scene at all, so Kae takes us to a street called RCA (Royal City Avenue). This is something like Sixth Street here in Austin, except the clubs are much bigger. It’s also free from farang, so we’re happy. We go to a place called Slim. It’s a club that has some good DJs. All the tables are full, but those crafty Thais have a solution — they have little tiny rolling tables that are big enough to hold whiskey and mixers, and that’s about it. They set up a rolling table in the middle of the club, and we start drinking Johnnie Walker Black. Sitting is not an option, which is okay, because the music is good. Kae and friends want to be entertained, so they mix up a few strong drinks for me and push me out to go dance with the neighboring girls. It’s fun, though.
We stay out until closing time, and head back to the hotel. I like Bangkok.