Bangkok revisited (Perry)

After our live-aboard trip to the Similan Islands, Jen and I have decided it's time to head to northern Thailand and with that, we decided to stop over in Bangkok once again. This time, we avoided the Khao San Road area and stayed with Thip, one of Jen's host sisters. The area where she lives is called Meng Jai and, as we discovered, was a very close taxi ride (80 THB) to the some great shopping (i.e. MBK, Central World, Siam Square, Siam Center, etc.). Of course we only discovered this after spending the better part of our first day walking and taking the subway/skytrain, which was also fun. (Well, maybe not the walking in the blazing heat part so much . . . )

So what did we do in Bangkok our second time around? We ate, and ate very well! Jen's host sister Thip is a chef and restaurant owner so when it comes to eating out, she knows what to order. The food we ate was very tasty and very different from the standard tourist Thai food we've been eating. Also, Thip and her restaurant are being featured in Bazaar Thailand (magazine) so one of the days we accompanied her to the photoshoot at Cakewalk (her restaurant). It was very exciting but mostly Jen and I just sat around and, you guessed it, ate. An added bonus was that Jen ran into one of her old classmates from Santa Cruz Convent. "Fah" kept us company all day as well.

On the second night, we visitied with one of Jen's friends "Oh" and went to a posh restaurant called Zense, located on the 16th floor of the Central World Plaza building. Good food and good company was accompanied by our first bottle of red wine in over two months. Suffice it to say, we had a good time. The next couple of days were filled with Jen and I getting our Laos and Cambodia visas, extending our Thailand visa, and visiting with the rest of Jen's host family.

I was able to get my nerd on by going and seeing the Watchmen which coincidently was playing here when we arrived. Usually, for movies that I hype up I don't come to the realization that it wasn't good for months, but this movie was the exception. While I still the love the story, the movie was disappointing.

Anyways, we thoroughly filled up our four days in Bangkok and for me, I'm so glad that we got a chance to revisit because I feel that I saw a more real side of Bangkok.

We want to thank Jen's host family for such a wonderful time staying with them. Thank you to Thip and Art for helping us to find our way around, giving us the most comfortable bed we have slept in since with left home, and of course keeping our bellies full of amazing Thai food. And especially thank you for taking us to Bangkhuntien to visit Mama, Papa, Jin, Lek, Nee, and Jan. We love you!! And also thank you to "Oh" for taking time out to spend with us. We love you too!

Hi to everyone at home . . . we miss you and love you too!

For photos go to http://gallery.me.com/adamschen