The Venice of the East
Well, true to my expectations, I was completely and pleasantly surprised by most things in Bangkok. What everyone describes as a crowded, polluted, traffic-filled blazing hot town was not anywhere near the way I had imagined it. I had pictured headaches, 2-hour traffic jams and cramped shopping malls. Well the last part was true but for the most part I found it a very lovely city. Maybe this was because we didn't stay in a crazy backpacker district. Instead, Hilary's high school friend and Bangkok native (Jin) had recommended that we stay near his house in the Bangrak district. This district near the Chao Phrya river is so interesting and trendy that there's even a Thai TV show called "Bangrak." It was a lively neighborhood full of Muslim and Indian restaurants, gem shops and cute cafes. Our hotel, "The Swan" was new and even featured a pool, which is very high class in Bangkok.
We had slept all night on the train. I have to admit that I got amazing sleep on the sleeper train. The beds were spacious and pod-like. Once I got over the initial claustrophobia, it was nice to let the train lull me to sleep.
In the bright morning we took a cab to Jin's house and then went to get some coffee. We spent most of the morning and early afternoon at the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Keow. This is the very sparkly, golden, opulent area in which the kings of yore had resided. It was all very beautiful but crowded and hot in the mid-day sun.
We also visited Wat Po which is probably the largest reclining Buddha statue ever. It was huge and golden and looked very relaxed.
After a nap, we had dinner at this chic Thai restaurant called Anna's. Apparently Jin was friends with the owner and he told him it was my birthday. Technically this was not true but it was only 2 days late. They brought me yummy carrot cake and sang happy birthday. Jin also took us to the red light district called Patpong. I had to pass on the local "ping pong" shows. It was all very interesting but Hilary and I didn't want to spend too much time there so we found a quiet little bar where Jin could watch football.
Sunday, New Years Eve, we spent the morning at Chatachuck Market which is the biggest open-air market I've ever seen. We easily got lost a few times. It was nice to see but most of the things could be bought for much cheaper in Chiang Mai or Lampang. There was some great art there, though. Then we went to see a movie at the Siam Paragon shopping plaza. It was a very upscale shopping mall and the cinema was huge. The room we saw the movie in was like a concert venue. It was sooo fancy that it reminded me of Radio City Music Hall. The chairs were fluffy and the sound was amazing. We had a relaxing afternoon and started home on the skytrain . We noticed that there were many soldiers in the skytrain station and were puzzled but we thought it was standard procedure for New Years eve. We'd been planning to go to the Saxophone Bar (a famous place for live jazz and blues) or the World Trade Center (where there is a big countdown party for new years). Once we got to the hotel and saw the news, we quickly realized that we wouldn't be going to either of those places as both of them had been bombed an hour earlier. Nobody was really sure what was going on. There were reports of anywhere from 2-10 bombs and everyone had different information. It was clear that it was a coordinated attack. Luckily, only 3 people were killed and less than 100 were injured. The police are still not sure who is behind the attacks though they suspect it was some of Tachsin's followers.
Hilary and I still decided to go out for new years dinner since the area around our hotel was safe and not very populated. We happened to stumble upon this amazing Indian restaurant which really brightened our spirits. After dinner, we went back to the hotel and played rummy with the hotel workers and drank sparkling wine. One of the hotel workers really started to freak us out as he recounted his recent discussion with a fortuneteller. He said that the bombs did not surprise him at all because this year is supposed to be a terrible year full of distasters and attacks everywhere except Hong Kong and Singapore. He stated matter-of-factly, "But don't worry too much about it. There's nothing we can do." Uhh thanks man. At midnight, tons of fireworks went off near our hotel as we were right by the river. We all ran outside to watch and then went to bed pretty soon thereafter.
Monday, we were up early to go on a private "klong tour" of the city. Bangkok used to be known as the venice of the east because it had so many canals running through the city. Nowadays, many of them have been filled up but people still use the klongs as a system of transportation. It was nice to see the hidden backwaters of the town. We'd seen the skyscrapers and glamorous restaurants so it was nice to see how most people lived. We stopped at Wat Arun (the temple of the dawn) and received our new years blessing. It was nice to be out on the water. The skyline was beautiful and the air was cool. I still think that a ride on a long-tailed boat is the perfect way to spend a morning. We had Muslim food for lunch which was very cheap and very delicous and then Jin's dad drove us to a fancy hotel restaurant called Pepperoni for dinner. I couldn't believe how kind Jin's family were to us. I know that it's Thai style to be generous to your guests but they went above and beyond that. Not only did Jin act as our personal tour guide for two days, but his father constantly drove us around and arranged cool tours and such. I couldn't even begin to express my thanks to them. Especially after the bombs, it was nice to have someone looking after our safety and giving us sound advice about what to do and where to go.
We were so lucky.
So Pepperoni was great. I got to eat truffles for the first time in my life. You know, there is no way I would be able to afford that in America. We had this very rich pasta in cream sauce with truffles, vegetarian pizza and caprese salad, tiramisu and some nice red wine. I felt very grown-up. After dinner we went to a chill bar where the guitarists played "Bakery" music which is a class of Thai music that's half-folk, half-emo. It was very relaxed and the guitarist was quite funny. He played an interesting song called "Genghis Khan" which involved sound effects. It was our last night in Bangkok but I know I'll be back in the future. There's still so much more left to explore.
We had slept all night on the train. I have to admit that I got amazing sleep on the sleeper train. The beds were spacious and pod-like. Once I got over the initial claustrophobia, it was nice to let the train lull me to sleep.
In the bright morning we took a cab to Jin's house and then went to get some coffee. We spent most of the morning and early afternoon at the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Keow. This is the very sparkly, golden, opulent area in which the kings of yore had resided. It was all very beautiful but crowded and hot in the mid-day sun.
We also visited Wat Po which is probably the largest reclining Buddha statue ever. It was huge and golden and looked very relaxed.
After a nap, we had dinner at this chic Thai restaurant called Anna's. Apparently Jin was friends with the owner and he told him it was my birthday. Technically this was not true but it was only 2 days late. They brought me yummy carrot cake and sang happy birthday. Jin also took us to the red light district called Patpong. I had to pass on the local "ping pong" shows. It was all very interesting but Hilary and I didn't want to spend too much time there so we found a quiet little bar where Jin could watch football.
Sunday, New Years Eve, we spent the morning at Chatachuck Market which is the biggest open-air market I've ever seen. We easily got lost a few times. It was nice to see but most of the things could be bought for much cheaper in Chiang Mai or Lampang. There was some great art there, though. Then we went to see a movie at the Siam Paragon shopping plaza. It was a very upscale shopping mall and the cinema was huge. The room we saw the movie in was like a concert venue. It was sooo fancy that it reminded me of Radio City Music Hall. The chairs were fluffy and the sound was amazing. We had a relaxing afternoon and started home on the skytrain . We noticed that there were many soldiers in the skytrain station and were puzzled but we thought it was standard procedure for New Years eve. We'd been planning to go to the Saxophone Bar (a famous place for live jazz and blues) or the World Trade Center (where there is a big countdown party for new years). Once we got to the hotel and saw the news, we quickly realized that we wouldn't be going to either of those places as both of them had been bombed an hour earlier. Nobody was really sure what was going on. There were reports of anywhere from 2-10 bombs and everyone had different information. It was clear that it was a coordinated attack. Luckily, only 3 people were killed and less than 100 were injured. The police are still not sure who is behind the attacks though they suspect it was some of Tachsin's followers.
Hilary and I still decided to go out for new years dinner since the area around our hotel was safe and not very populated. We happened to stumble upon this amazing Indian restaurant which really brightened our spirits. After dinner, we went back to the hotel and played rummy with the hotel workers and drank sparkling wine. One of the hotel workers really started to freak us out as he recounted his recent discussion with a fortuneteller. He said that the bombs did not surprise him at all because this year is supposed to be a terrible year full of distasters and attacks everywhere except Hong Kong and Singapore. He stated matter-of-factly, "But don't worry too much about it. There's nothing we can do." Uhh thanks man. At midnight, tons of fireworks went off near our hotel as we were right by the river. We all ran outside to watch and then went to bed pretty soon thereafter.
Monday, we were up early to go on a private "klong tour" of the city. Bangkok used to be known as the venice of the east because it had so many canals running through the city. Nowadays, many of them have been filled up but people still use the klongs as a system of transportation. It was nice to see the hidden backwaters of the town. We'd seen the skyscrapers and glamorous restaurants so it was nice to see how most people lived. We stopped at Wat Arun (the temple of the dawn) and received our new years blessing. It was nice to be out on the water. The skyline was beautiful and the air was cool. I still think that a ride on a long-tailed boat is the perfect way to spend a morning. We had Muslim food for lunch which was very cheap and very delicous and then Jin's dad drove us to a fancy hotel restaurant called Pepperoni for dinner. I couldn't believe how kind Jin's family were to us. I know that it's Thai style to be generous to your guests but they went above and beyond that. Not only did Jin act as our personal tour guide for two days, but his father constantly drove us around and arranged cool tours and such. I couldn't even begin to express my thanks to them. Especially after the bombs, it was nice to have someone looking after our safety and giving us sound advice about what to do and where to go.
We were so lucky.
So Pepperoni was great. I got to eat truffles for the first time in my life. You know, there is no way I would be able to afford that in America. We had this very rich pasta in cream sauce with truffles, vegetarian pizza and caprese salad, tiramisu and some nice red wine. I felt very grown-up. After dinner we went to a chill bar where the guitarists played "Bakery" music which is a class of Thai music that's half-folk, half-emo. It was very relaxed and the guitarist was quite funny. He played an interesting song called "Genghis Khan" which involved sound effects. It was our last night in Bangkok but I know I'll be back in the future. There's still so much more left to explore.
posted by Jen @ 11:49 PM
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