Lumpini Park & Chinatown
SATURDAY, AUGUST 13, 2005
I woke up at 8:00 am and began reading my Lonely Planet Thailand book to see what Leah and I should explore today. At 10:00 am, I headed to the internet café and ran into Leah as she was returning from the gym. We checked our email and only a few minutes in, Leah’s cell phone rang and it was her mom calling from Columbus, OH. Leah logged off and headed home to drop off her workout bag and return. I emailed my aunt Julie because my dad had sent me a hilarious email with a starting line of “the bug is sold and the toad is dead”! The first part is wonderful, my VW Beetle is sold, but the second part refers to the toad he just found for my five-year old nice, Madison. She’s a frog and toad fanatic, so if my dad finds a frog or toad while cutting the grass, he brings it to Madi’s house. I’ll let my dad take it from there “…Poor toadie escaped and in the chase was crushed by the leg on the dresser as Duck lifted it up. Everyone was sad and Madi said, ‘ Its guts were hanging out and very gross’. No formal internment is planned so don't worry about flying home. Bereaved Papa, luv ya”. Great story, dad!
I logged off after a little over an hour, but there was no sign of Leah, so I bought an ice coffee right outside the door and sat down at an outdoor table to people watch. I ended up watching two cooks at an outdoor Thai restaurant make bowl after bowl of noodle soup. First, they picked up a small ball of already prepared noodles and using a metal strainer, they dipped them into two different pots of what appeared to be boiling water. The noodles were then placed in a bowl, along with some pork, a white, fish-like substance, a dab of salt, hot spices, and a touch of oil. The bowls would disappear around the corner, but the cooks would be preparing the next three bowls immediately. This went on for about 20 minutes and I was beginning to think that the place must be packed next door! When I left, there were only about five people sitting there, so I’m not sure what was happening with all of those bowls of soup. They were also reusing the bowls, which scared me a bit, especially after my food-poisoning incident the previous day. At least the ingredients appeared to be fresh.
A nice Thai woman sat down and we talked a little. Her English was better than my Thai, which is saying nothing, but I wasn’t confident that our conversation could go much farther than the basic greetings. Her friend was in the internet café and once her soup arrived, I thought I should let her sit down and eat with her friend, so I ventured back toward the apartment to check on Leah.
I took a few pictures along the way and while I was taking a picture of our local gas station and market, Leah walked out. I ended up taking the picture with her in it. Apparently, after hanging up with her mom, she ran into the building manager, Liza, and tried to take care of the broken shower and washing machine, and the internet and cable hook-up. Well, the shower was fixed and apparently we’ll have internet on Tuesday. We’ll see.
Leah and I headed off to take the Sky Train to Lumpini Park. It was an okay park. Better than nothing, I guess, but not somewhere that I’ll go for solace. It was a little run-down and basically had a lot of street people sleeping or old timers playing checkers. They did have a couple hilarious "gyms" with extremely ancient work-out equiment. We took several pictures and headed to Chinatown on foot.
It was a pretty good haul and we were harassed along the way by the usual suspects in the tourist areas who want you to take a scammer tuk-tuk ride all around town. They’re dressed well and act helpful, but it’s not genuine. When we come across these people, we’re always glad our neighborhood is nothing like the touristy neighborhoods.
Chinatown was a crazy place with a lot of people and a lot of the same stuff we see elsewhere in Bangkok. I’m not sure what the lure is to go there, but we probably won’t head back unless we’re in Bangkok for the Chinese New Year. We walked to the Chao Phraya river and hopped on a river taxi to Saphon Taksin where we were able to get on the Sky Train. We headed to National Stadium where you have access to four different malls, shopped a bit, and had our favorite papaya salad for dinner before heading home. We had been walking for eight hours and couldn’t wait to take a shower and go to bed!
SUNDAY, AUGUST 14:
I used the gym, took a dip in the pool for the first time this morning, and finished reading The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom, the same author of Tuesdays with Morrie. It was a cute book. Leah and I met at the internet cafe and headed down Thong Lo to see if we could find a massage place. We ended up finding Villa, a great, western supermarket! We also found a place to get a pedicure for 300 baht ($7), but they didn't have an immediate opening so we headed back to our apartment and had one at our spa for only 180 baht ($4.50). I read my Lonely Planet Vietnam travel book while being pampered and learned some interesting things about Vietnam's history. Leah and I are tentatively planning a trip here over our week-long semester break in October.
I woke up at 8:00 am and began reading my Lonely Planet Thailand book to see what Leah and I should explore today. At 10:00 am, I headed to the internet café and ran into Leah as she was returning from the gym. We checked our email and only a few minutes in, Leah’s cell phone rang and it was her mom calling from Columbus, OH. Leah logged off and headed home to drop off her workout bag and return. I emailed my aunt Julie because my dad had sent me a hilarious email with a starting line of “the bug is sold and the toad is dead”! The first part is wonderful, my VW Beetle is sold, but the second part refers to the toad he just found for my five-year old nice, Madison. She’s a frog and toad fanatic, so if my dad finds a frog or toad while cutting the grass, he brings it to Madi’s house. I’ll let my dad take it from there “…Poor toadie escaped and in the chase was crushed by the leg on the dresser as Duck lifted it up. Everyone was sad and Madi said, ‘ Its guts were hanging out and very gross’. No formal internment is planned so don't worry about flying home. Bereaved Papa, luv ya”. Great story, dad!
I logged off after a little over an hour, but there was no sign of Leah, so I bought an ice coffee right outside the door and sat down at an outdoor table to people watch. I ended up watching two cooks at an outdoor Thai restaurant make bowl after bowl of noodle soup. First, they picked up a small ball of already prepared noodles and using a metal strainer, they dipped them into two different pots of what appeared to be boiling water. The noodles were then placed in a bowl, along with some pork, a white, fish-like substance, a dab of salt, hot spices, and a touch of oil. The bowls would disappear around the corner, but the cooks would be preparing the next three bowls immediately. This went on for about 20 minutes and I was beginning to think that the place must be packed next door! When I left, there were only about five people sitting there, so I’m not sure what was happening with all of those bowls of soup. They were also reusing the bowls, which scared me a bit, especially after my food-poisoning incident the previous day. At least the ingredients appeared to be fresh.
A nice Thai woman sat down and we talked a little. Her English was better than my Thai, which is saying nothing, but I wasn’t confident that our conversation could go much farther than the basic greetings. Her friend was in the internet café and once her soup arrived, I thought I should let her sit down and eat with her friend, so I ventured back toward the apartment to check on Leah.I took a few pictures along the way and while I was taking a picture of our local gas station and market, Leah walked out. I ended up taking the picture with her in it. Apparently, after hanging up with her mom, she ran into the building manager, Liza, and tried to take care of the broken shower and washing machine, and the internet and cable hook-up. Well, the shower was fixed and apparently we’ll have internet on Tuesday. We’ll see.
Leah and I headed off to take the Sky Train to Lumpini Park. It was an okay park. Better than nothing, I guess, but not somewhere that I’ll go for solace. It was a little run-down and basically had a lot of street people sleeping or old timers playing checkers. They did have a couple hilarious "gyms" with extremely ancient work-out equiment. We took several pictures and headed to Chinatown on foot.
It was a pretty good haul and we were harassed along the way by the usual suspects in the tourist areas who want you to take a scammer tuk-tuk ride all around town. They’re dressed well and act helpful, but it’s not genuine. When we come across these people, we’re always glad our neighborhood is nothing like the touristy neighborhoods.
Chinatown was a crazy place with a lot of people and a lot of the same stuff we see elsewhere in Bangkok. I’m not sure what the lure is to go there, but we probably won’t head back unless we’re in Bangkok for the Chinese New Year. We walked to the Chao Phraya river and hopped on a river taxi to Saphon Taksin where we were able to get on the Sky Train. We headed to National Stadium where you have access to four different malls, shopped a bit, and had our favorite papaya salad for dinner before heading home. We had been walking for eight hours and couldn’t wait to take a shower and go to bed!SUNDAY, AUGUST 14:
I used the gym, took a dip in the pool for the first time this morning, and finished reading The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom, the same author of Tuesdays with Morrie. It was a cute book. Leah and I met at the internet cafe and headed down Thong Lo to see if we could find a massage place. We ended up finding Villa, a great, western supermarket! We also found a place to get a pedicure for 300 baht ($7), but they didn't have an immediate opening so we headed back to our apartment and had one at our spa for only 180 baht ($4.50). I read my Lonely Planet Vietnam travel book while being pampered and learned some interesting things about Vietnam's history. Leah and I are tentatively planning a trip here over our week-long semester break in October.