We forced ourselves out of bed a little after 7am and dragged each other downstairs for breakfast. I think we were both having a really hard time because we know that today is our last day of vacation. Major sigh.
The hotel put out a nice spread for breakfast: loads of fresh fruit, bread, and a tray of Thai milky sweets. My favorite was a spread that tasted like a mix of pumpkin and coconut.
After breakfast we reluctantly trudged back up to our room to pack up so we could check out. Pulling our winter cloths from the bottoms of our bags was pretty much the most depressing things ever. Here in this Bangkok heat the idea of putting on wool long underwear, jeans, a fleece, a beanie, a scarf, and mittens is incomprehensible. The hotel let us stash our bags there after we checked out, so now the plan is to just spend the day around town and return to the hotel after dinner to change and catch a taxi to the airport around 8pm.
Top on our to-do list this morning was visiting Jim Thompson’s house. Jim Thompson was an American architect born in 1906 who, after service in WWII and a stint in the OSS, moved to Thailand where he became an entrepreneur and a “silk magnate.” He was a successful man and he used his wealth and his engineering skills to build a beautiful home here in Bangkok. He actually combined six individual centuries old Thai teak houses to make one large home, which he then stocked with a modest collection of art and Buddhist artifacts. After a mysterious disappearance in the Malaysian jungle in the early 1960s, his home become a historic site under royal protection. Today the home boasts a beautiful garden and guided tours of the compound. It was right up Ashlee’s alley. I found it to be a very peaceful place – very zen, especially since it’s in the middle of noisy Bangkok. I really enjoyed sipping a cappuccino next to a quiet koi pond while contemplating the type of man that Mr. Thompson was.
When we finished our visit, we decided to head back across town for lunch in Lumpini Park. We both purchased skytrain day passes again to help us get around. The reason I said that New Bangkok feels like NYC (even though I’ve never been there) is because with its skytrain, subway, and skywalks (sidewalks above the street just below the skytrain rails) it is very pedestrian-friendly. It also feels like NYC because lots of these megamalls are filled with “hi-so” (or high-society) stores. Heck, I’m sitting in at a café right now surrounded by such fashionable stores at Mont Blanc, Loewe, Tag Heuer, Burberry, and Louis Vutton. The reason New Bangkok feels like Vegas is because while it’s pretty warm outside, every store is blasting it’s air-conditioning. Also, all the big malls are linked, so you can walk down entire blocks with very limited exposure to the heat.
Walking through the skytrain station, I spied a woman carrying a bag of Krispy Kreme donuts. It immediately set my mouth awatering. I dragged Ashlee around the station looking for the donut shop, but we didn’t have any luck finding it. I soon resigned myself to the idea that it must have been a mirage. Wishful thinking, certainly.
We boarded the train and headed towards the park. As we glided along the track above the street I looked out the window watching the shops slide by below us. Then suddenly I saw a 7/11 slip by with a small stand outside it selling Krispy Kreme! I quickly told Ashlee and she said she took one look at my hopeful face and knew that we had to go after it.
We got off the train at the next stop and made our way back up the street to the little donut stand I spied, a small shrine to American overindulgence. We found the place and my donut was every bit as amazing as I hoped it would be.
Now, on to the park! For navigation purposes, we have been using a map called “Nancy Chandler’s Street Guide to Bangkok” or something like that. Lonely Planet recommends it and it was pretty spot-on when we used it around Old Bangkok – where things haven’t changed much in recent years. Here in New Bangkok, however, the map (whis was last updated in 2009) has been a little off. Every time we are led astray (especially when it’s shopping advice), Ashlee shakes her fist in the air and says “Nancy Chandler!” Ashlee swears she is going to send a tersely worded email to Ms. Chandler.
We were a little uderwhelmed by the park. We definitely expected a little more people-watching going on, but the place was pretty dead. I guess it was only 11am on a Thursday. We were also hoping for a slew of street vendors hocking some delicious food for us to sample, but no such luck – even though our friend Nancy told us there would be. With rumbling tummies, we turned our backs on the park and headed in search of some grub.
We didn’t have to walk far. We soon came upon a chain French bistro – something like Au Bon Pain. The place served up some amazing sandwiches! Refreshed with some full tummies, we decided to head back to megamall land so Ashlee could shop around – although she was still doubtful of Nancy’s advice – and we could possibly catch a movie.
On the way to the nearest sky train shop, Ashlee saw something that made her do a double take: a mall boasting a sign for Auntie Anne’s pretzels. No way! Even though just five minutes before she was complaining about how full she was, she HAD to get a pretzel!
This is what I mean about New Bangkok being a place we would have avoided if we had made this trip from California. If we had just come from America – the land of Subways, Burger Kings, Auntie Anne’s, and all the rest – and we knew that we were headed back there soon, we would scoff at everything American in Thailand. Screw Pizza Hut, gimme some pad thai! Alas, tomorrow we are to return to the freezing Mongol Steppe and a few days later we will be back in Olgii, so now we feel the need to stuff our faces with whatever we are craving. No regrets!
So, yes, even though we were stuffed to our gills with delicious sandwiches, we DID eat a pretzel and it was awesome. After this little (over)indulgence we headed back uptown.
After walking through a couple of malls and considering and then rejecting the idea of catching a movie another movie, Ashlee found the “ultimate fix-priced souvenir shop” (according to Nancy) in the basement of the Intercontinental Hotel. Not sure I could handle it, I made a beeline for the nearest café – which is how I ended up here, at this ridiculously over-priced little place smack-dab in the middle of high-society. I shudder to think of how much this iced latte is going to cost. To be honest, I would rather have a condensed milk-rich Thai iced coffee from a street vendor outside for an eighth of the price.
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