Bangkok, Thailand

By the time we arrived in Bangkok, both Gerald and I were pretty tired of Thai food, which was unfortunate because there are so many food stands, stalls, and restaurants in this city of 14 million people. We had a list of places we wanted to try, but after two weeks of traveling, I was pretty much done and just wanted something easy and simple. We arrived on Thanksgiving Day late afternoon and our first stop was Siam Paragon, a Galleria size mall, with a Galleria size food court. The food court took up the entire bottom floor of the building, and it was a huge building. There were restaurants, fast food joints, dim sum stalls, bakeries, coffee stands, and the infamous food court! For the food court, you load up money onto a card and then go through what is like a cafeteria style line, but instead of pre-made dishes, you choose what "restaurant" you want and pick from a menu from that restaurant. It was so good that we ate here twice, and for less than $10 bucks each time. Gerald was all about his Korean bbq and I was all about my noodle soup. Eating here saved us from trying to find a restaurant, taking a cab in the crazy traffic, and being stuck with one kind of food. Plus, it was close to our hotel. Let's just say, we flew all the way to Bangkok to eat at a food court...haha.

















Anyhow, Bangkok is a huge city! Almost too big for my liking, but I did enjoy it nonetheless. We hit the ground running by booking a tour of the famous temples in the city. With a driver, English speaking guide named, Cha-Cha (who coincidentally has served many Chevron clients), and air-conditioner car, we made our way to the following:

1. Golden Buddha Temple (Wat Trimitr) - housed a giant Buddha carved from pure gold.



2. The Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaeo complex (Temple of the Emerald Buddha) - housed a Buddha carved from pure Jade, decorated with real diamonds, rubies and sapphires. The Grand Palace is where the Royal Family holds receptions and ceremonies. The details in all of the buildings was unreal. They even had a replica of Angkor Wat in the complex, which was quite impressive. I'm not sure why, but Obama didn't make it out here, which is a shame because it was our favorite. Cha-Cha was very disappointed because she thought this place is the most beautiful. However, also the most crowded, mostly with Chinese Tourist!!



Although I enjoyed it very much, I was happy to be out of there.

















They even have different outfits for the Buddha for the various seasons.



3. Wat Pho (Reclining Buddha Temple) - housed a 150 ft long reclining Buddha. Bangkok's oldest and largest temple. President Obama payed a visit here during his stay and you can see a short clip of it here, at the end of the video in the article.





We decided to pass up on the floating markets and other temples and sights around town so we could just rest. Plus, we scored a great hotel that made hanging out that much more nicer in a city with 14 million people! Welcome to the Oriental Residence Bangkok!













We had one nice dinner at the Tower Club at Lebua State Tower, where the Hangover II was filmed (we didn't know that until we got there!), which was a  treat, but spent way too much on dinner in Thailand. I guess with all our other cheap dinners, it all evened out.









The next day, we visited the famous Chatuchak Market with my cousin and saw the Calypso Cabaret show featuring the Lady Boys of Bangkok. Gerald wasn't a big fan, but I thought it was entertaining, and the "boys" were gorgeous!













I know we probably didn't make the most of Bangkok, but I think we saw the best of it. After visiting, I told Gerald I could probably never live there; while before visiting I was asking if there were any assignments in Bangkok...hehe. The assumptions you make about a city isn't always the reality.  As much as I enjoyed the food and all, the crazy traffic and millions of people are just too much for me. I think 4 million in Houston is good enough.

I'm happy to say that we are safely home and will be soaking up QT time in Aberdeen before we embark on the Holidays in the States.