After leaving Sarah in Bali, Emily and I were back to honeymooner status and off to leg #4 of our journey, which took place in Bangkok. We were in Bangkok for about a week when we first arrived in Thailand for orientation, but we spent a majority of the time in a hotel attending courses, leaving little time to explore the city. Many people we’ve met in Asia seemed to be full of negative things to say about Bangkok: it’s overcrowded, dirty, etc., and therefore not even worth visiting. Though, we felt that after living in Thailand for 4 months we couldn’t pass up a trip to the bustling capital and a chance to make our own judgments. We also had to go because it was from Bangkok that we were flying home.
As for accommodations, we had been used to our $5 a night private guesthouse rooms, but this is not the case in Bangkok. Since the city is so much more expensive than the rest of the country, we had to stay at a hostel for the first time. We weren’t looking forward to showering in a public restroom and sharing a room with 4 other girls and all their noise and heaps of belongings, but this hostel was incredibly nice. Supposedly, it was voted the best hostel in Asia. It was fairly new and stunningly clean. It seemed that as soon as someone got out of the shower there were maids scurrying to get in and tidy it up. There was also Wi-Fi throughout the entire place, which is always a plus!
Before arriving, we made sure to devise somewhat of a plan of things that we wanted to do. This is definitely necessary in a city the size of Bangkok, home to over 9 million people. We landed in the city in the late afternoon on Saturday, and after an early dinner at a Lonely Planet suggested spot (obviously,) we decided to go see a movie, which we had yet to do while in Asia. We took the sky tram, which is the public transportation that runs on a track raised above the streets throughout the north and east parts of the city. The sky tram made traveling throughout a city as congested as Bangkok very easy. It was also extremely clean, well air conditioned, and we never had to wait more than 3 minutes for one to arrive. The closest theatre was at the SiamParagon Mall, which is quite a wonder. It's only 4 years old and is one of the biggest shopping centers in Asia. Along with a 15 theatre movie theatre and a slew of top-end stores, the mall is also home to an aquarium, an art gallery, an opera concert hall, a bowling alley, and a karaoke center. THAT is what I’d call some one stop shopping! We decided to see Alice in Wonderland, because Emily had been “hearing about it for years,” and honestly, we didn’t know many other movies that were out since we haven’t been able to keep up with American pop culture. I was personally disappointed by the movie, but this is not a movie critique so I will spare you my thoughts.
Good thing we got to bed early, because Sunday was a big day for us. It was our last official Thai chotch-buying day…and you know how much we love chotch! Off we went to the Chatuchak Weekend Market, which is thought to be the largest outdoor market in the world, with over 5,000 stalls of chotch to peruse! It is so large, in fact, that maps are given out to help you navigate your way through it (see above). We made lists before we went so weren’t tempted to buy everything in sight…we couldn’t forget to pick up those last minute presents and a couple things for ourselves that we had always wanted but kept putting off. It was a full day event, but we did well and didn’t even spend as much as we were scared that we might. We ended the day with our last $5 foot massage, which was great after a long day of walking around in the heat. Boy will we miss those!
Sunday night, after dinner, we made our way to Sky Bar, which was voted the best rooftop bar in the world (at least in the article we read). Our friend, Christina, had sent us an article about it before we’d even arrived in Thailand, so we had to check it out! Good pick, Christ! It was located on the 64th floor of State Tower, the second largest building in Bangkok, and is part of Sirocco, which is the world’s largest open-air restaurant. Clearly, we like going to the world’s biggest and best! We were ushered off the elevators by a sharply dressed maitre d’ and into the rooftop bar adjacent to Sky Bar, although unknown to us at the time. After waiting our turn we got to move onto the cushions by the windows that overlooked the entire city. We were one of the only couples that wasn’t an actual “couple,” so we laughed watching all the canoodling twosomes take close-up pictures of each other while sipping overpriced drinks. The view was good but not what we were expecting out of “the best rooftop bar in the world,” so we were a little confused. On our way out, we noticed a bunch of people outside and thought it was must be a private party, but upon asking we realized that it was actually the bar we had wanted to go to all along. It certainly wasn’t a mystery why this bar was the one that had gotten all the accolades. It was absolutely breathtaking. Once you opened the glass doors, the entire restaurant was outside, giving a 270 degree view of the city. A large staircase led down to a circular bar, the Sky Bar, which was an extension off of the building, holding you over the street and giving you an incredible view of all the lights and action of the city. If you turned around and looked back up at the building there was a gorgeous lit up dome topping it. We couldn’t stay long because we kept getting asked if we wanted a drink, and since we’d already spent one day’s salary (as Emily figured out) to buy one next door, at the wrong outdoor bar, we were certainly all set.
Next, we headed to a night bazaar which had both a market and an outdoor venue with a concert stage and food vendors. We had read that there were good Thai cover bands, so we thought we’d have a couple drinks and enjoy some botchedLady Gaga covers. Unfortunate for us, non-soccer lovers, that night there happened to be a very important (or at least we hope so) soccer game on, featuring two Premier League teams. Side note: Thailand is obsessed with the Premier League, and supposedly the biggest fan club for the league isn’t in England, but in Bangkok. Therefore, several large projector screens were set up with the game on, which meant no live band for us. Luckily the game was almost over, and when it did end the live music started, but there was only time for a few songs before another game began.
Enjoy the video we captured of Beyonce's future backup dancers.
After spending the morning shopping/being overcharged at the local market on Monday, it was time for cooking class. It is hard to portray, in words, the absurd personality of our cooking instructor, but I will try. He was a mini Thai man, who I assume was gay (although it’s often hard to tell with Thai people,) with an extremely dry sense of humor and ridiculous facial expressions. In short, both Emily and I were in stitches laughing for the majority of the class at this man and his antics. He started off by taking us to a local market to buy some fresh ingredients for the 5 courses that we would be making, which included: tom yom goon (seafood soup,) sweet green curry with chicken, pat thai, Thai chicken salad, and a sweet potato and coconut milk dessert. When we got back to his cooking school, he showed us how to wash and prepare everything. For this and all his other instructions, he would say them all extremely fast, while smirking, and then run out the door to another room. Emily and I, along with the two other women in our class, Kylie from Australia and Nicola from England, would always find ourselves looking at each other puzzled every time he left. Everything was fairly organized though, as he had little stations set up for each of us both inside to prepare ingredients and outside with a wok and burner. He also had three young assistants, our “minions” as we liked to call them, who were basically his slaves. At one point, he was showing us baskets full of different spices and he accidently knocked one of them over, making a mess on floor. He immediately said, “No problem, my staff will clean it” before yelling “Staaaaff!” to call them into the room. He also liked to try his humor on us. When we were making the paste for the green curry, which requires beating all the ingredients for a good 20 minutes with a mortar and pestle, Emily said to him, “Ugh, this is difficult!,” to which he replied, “Mmmm, yeah, keep pounding,” and abruptly left the room, disgusted with us. Then, each time we finished making a dish, he would look at us and, with mock excitement, exclaim, “YES! You… made it happen!” All the food we made was delicious, but 5 meals along with 5 sets of spastic directions was a lot, so I can’t say I remember it all. It was a fun way to spend an afternoon though, and a good way to see what goes into the meals we had been eating the last 4 months. At the end, we insisted on getting a group photo. Try not to laugh at his beyond ridiculous “smile” or the fact that his reply to our request was, “Ok, pictures are FUN…STAFFFF, come take our picture!!!” The man was something else.
That night, we invited Kylie from our cooking class to come out with us, as she had come alone to Bangkok for a few days before she joining a group tour. Emily and I never mind adding another member to our honeymoon crew. She had been to Bangkok before but never to Khao San Rd., which is unacceptable as it is must-see for any tourist. Emily wrote about it in one of our first posts, as we went there during orientation, but as a refresher: it’s a backpacker’s haven...a completely ridiculous road full of bars bumping techno remixes to every song imaginable and chotch being sold at every turn. We enjoyed some great people watching, and I mean GREAT, along with our last Thai beers. I’ll note that I had to work hard to keep up with Kylie, as Emily’s last post was no lie, those Australians are quite the drinkers!
Tuesday was our last day in Bangkok, but our flight wasn’t until 7 PM, so we had some time to kill before then. We had already accomplished everything we had set out to so Kylie had suggested a museum, Suan Pakkard Palace, which was somewhat off the beaten tourist path. It is the former residence of the grandson of the former King of Thailand, Rama V. It consisted of 4 traditional Thai buildings connected by walkways, displaying old artifacts and antiques. It was a good way to learn something while simultaneously killing time before our flight. As a bonus, Emily and I got our own private tour guide along with our admission price, which was nice, because we usually just walk around places clueless, trying to read any plaques that we may stumble upon.
Overall, it was nice to be back in Thailand, our old stomping grounds, after being gone for almost 3 weeks. We could finally converse at a basic level again and not feel totally out of the loop with the currency, customs, etc. It was really weird leaving it all behind for good this time though, not to return until an unknown time in the future…but we’ll always think of it as not only a place that we visited, but a place that we called home, even if only for a short while. Sawatdee ka for now Thailand…
As for accommodations, we had been used to our $5 a night private guesthouse rooms, but this is not the case in Bangkok. Since the city is so much more expensive than the rest of the country, we had to stay at a hostel for the first time. We weren’t looking forward to showering in a public restroom and sharing a room with 4 other girls and all their noise and heaps of belongings, but this hostel was incredibly nice. Supposedly, it was voted the best hostel in Asia. It was fairly new and stunningly clean. It seemed that as soon as someone got out of the shower there were maids scurrying to get in and tidy it up. There was also Wi-Fi throughout the entire place, which is always a plus!
Before arriving, we made sure to devise somewhat of a plan of things that we wanted to do. This is definitely necessary in a city the size of Bangkok, home to over 9 million people. We landed in the city in the late afternoon on Saturday, and after an early dinner at a Lonely Planet suggested spot (obviously,) we decided to go see a movie, which we had yet to do while in Asia. We took the sky tram, which is the public transportation that runs on a track raised above the streets throughout the north and east parts of the city. The sky tram made traveling throughout a city as congested as Bangkok very easy. It was also extremely clean, well air conditioned, and we never had to wait more than 3 minutes for one to arrive. The closest theatre was at the Siam
Good thing we got to bed early, because Sunday was a big day for us. It was our last official Thai chotch-buying day…and you know how much we love chotch! Off we went to the Chatuchak Weekend Market, which is thought to be the largest outdoor market in the world, with over 5,000 stalls of chotch to peruse! It is so large, in fact, that maps are given out to help you navigate your way through it (see above). We made lists before we went so weren’t tempted to buy everything in sight…we couldn’t forget to pick up those last minute presents and a couple things for ourselves that we had always wanted but kept putting off. It was a full day event, but we did well and didn’t even spend as much as we were scared that we might. We ended the day with our last $5 foot massage, which was great after a long day of walking around in the heat. Boy will we miss those!
Sunday night, after dinner, we made our way to Sky Bar, which was voted the best rooftop bar in the world (at least in the article we read). Our friend, Christina, had sent us an article about it before we’d even arrived in Thailand, so we had to check it out! Good pick, Christ! It was located on the 64th floor of State Tower, the second largest building in Bangkok, and is part of Sirocco, which is the world’s largest open-air restaurant. Clearly, we like going to the world’s biggest and best! We were ushered off the elevators by a sharply dressed maitre d’ and into the rooftop bar adjacent to Sky Bar, although unknown to us at the time. After waiting our turn we got to move onto the cushions by the windows that overlooked the entire city. We were one of the only couples that wasn’t an actual “couple,” so we laughed watching all the canoodling twosomes take close-up pictures of each other while sipping overpriced drinks. The view was good but not what we were expecting out of “the best rooftop bar in the world,” so we were a little confused. On our way out, we noticed a bunch of people outside and thought it was must be a private party, but upon asking we realized that it was actually the bar we had wanted to go to all along. It certainly wasn’t a mystery why this bar was the one that had gotten all the accolades. It was absolutely breathtaking. Once you opened the glass doors, the entire restaurant was outside, giving a 270 degree view of the city. A large staircase led down to a circular bar, the Sky Bar, which was an extension off of the building, holding you over the street and giving you an incredible view of all the lights and action of the city. If you turned around and looked back up at the building there was a gorgeous lit up dome topping it. We couldn’t stay long because we kept getting asked if we wanted a drink, and since we’d already spent one day’s salary (as Emily figured out) to buy one next door, at the wrong outdoor bar, we were certainly all set.
Next, we headed to a night bazaar which had both a market and an outdoor venue with a concert stage and food vendors. We had read that there were good Thai cover bands, so we thought we’d have a couple drinks and enjoy some botched
Enjoy the video we captured of Beyonce's future backup dancers.
After spending the morning shopping/being overcharged at the local market on Monday, it was time for cooking class. It is hard to portray, in words, the absurd personality of our cooking instructor, but I will try. He was a mini Thai man, who I assume was gay (although it’s often hard to tell with Thai people,) with an extremely dry sense of humor and ridiculous facial expressions. In short, both Emily and I were in stitches laughing for the majority of the class at this man and his antics. He started off by taking us to a local market to buy some fresh ingredients for the 5 courses that we would be making, which included: tom yom goon (seafood soup,) sweet green curry with chicken, pat thai, Thai chicken salad, and a sweet potato and coconut milk dessert. When we got back to his cooking school, he showed us how to wash and prepare everything. For this and all his other instructions, he would say them all extremely fast, while smirking, and then run out the door to another room. Emily and I, along with the two other women in our class, Kylie from Australia and Nicola from England, would always find ourselves looking at each other puzzled every time he left. Everything was fairly organized though, as he had little stations set up for each of us both inside to prepare ingredients and outside with a wok and burner. He also had three young assistants, our “minions” as we liked to call them, who were basically his slaves. At one point, he was showing us baskets full of different spices and he accidently knocked one of them over, making a mess on floor. He immediately said, “No problem, my staff will clean it” before yelling “Staaaaff!” to call them into the room. He also liked to try his humor on us. When we were making the paste for the green curry, which requires beating all the ingredients for a good 20 minutes with a mortar and pestle, Emily said to him, “Ugh, this is difficult!,” to which he replied, “Mmmm, yeah, keep pounding,” and abruptly left the room, disgusted with us. Then, each time we finished making a dish, he would look at us and, with mock excitement, exclaim, “YES! You… made it happen!” All the food we made was delicious, but 5 meals along with 5 sets of spastic directions was a lot, so I can’t say I remember it all. It was a fun way to spend an afternoon though, and a good way to see what goes into the meals we had been eating the last 4 months. At the end, we insisted on getting a group photo. Try not to laugh at his beyond ridiculous “smile” or the fact that his reply to our request was, “Ok, pictures are FUN…STAFFFF, come take our picture!!!” The man was something else.
That night, we invited Kylie from our cooking class to come out with us, as she had come alone to Bangkok for a few days before she joining a group tour. Emily and I never mind adding another member to our honeymoon crew. She had been to Bangkok before but never to Khao San Rd., which is unacceptable as it is must-see for any tourist. Emily wrote about it in one of our first posts, as we went there during orientation, but as a refresher: it’s a backpacker’s haven...a completely ridiculous road full of bars bumping techno remixes to every song imaginable and chotch being sold at every turn. We enjoyed some great people watching, and I mean GREAT, along with our last Thai beers. I’ll note that I had to work hard to keep up with Kylie, as Emily’s last post was no lie, those Australians are quite the drinkers!
Tuesday was our last day in Bangkok, but our flight wasn’t until 7 PM, so we had some time to kill before then. We had already accomplished everything we had set out to so Kylie had suggested a museum, Suan Pakkard Palace, which was somewhat off the beaten tourist path. It is the former residence of the grandson of the former King of Thailand, Rama V. It consisted of 4 traditional Thai buildings connected by walkways, displaying old artifacts and antiques. It was a good way to learn something while simultaneously killing time before our flight. As a bonus, Emily and I got our own private tour guide along with our admission price, which was nice, because we usually just walk around places clueless, trying to read any plaques that we may stumble upon.
Overall, it was nice to be back in Thailand, our old stomping grounds, after being gone for almost 3 weeks. We could finally converse at a basic level again and not feel totally out of the loop with the currency, customs, etc. It was really weird leaving it all behind for good this time though, not to return until an unknown time in the future…but we’ll always think of it as not only a place that we visited, but a place that we called home, even if only for a short while. Sawatdee ka for now Thailand…
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