January 30, 2008

Hard to believe another month has passed us by. Where does the time go? I just had to post this pic of our friends gathering for a send off party for other friends traveling to the Middle East. Everyone was told they had to wear a “head dress”. Isn’t it great!! Last year it was Hawaiian garb.

Well it’s been another fairly quiet week. It’s still very hot during the day but there has been a change – now it’s also hot for a full 24 hours. If you check the weather channel the highs are 30 C and up but the lows are 27C and up too. And you add another 10C to see what it feels like…… We just continue to spend a lot of time at the pool. We’ve been trying to get to a particular tourist spot all week. Were all set to go yesterday and didn’t the heavens open up. It poured down rain for hours. Certainly didn’t relieve the heat though – created lots of traffic accidents as the roads were a little slick. The sky today is doubtful so we’re sticking close to home.

Gone showed up this morning to say he’s managed to strike a deal for us with the owner of our apartment. He said he’d be back in an hour with the owners plus another couple that want to rent the place after we leave. As it was poring rain, we were just watching TV so I was still in my PJ’s. I immediately got up to tidy a few things and then to shower and dress but there was a knock at the door and here were the new tenants. We’d actually met them before at the pool with their 18 month old – he’s American, she’s Thai. Needless to say I was a tad embarrassed but Jenn said it was OK cause I’m an “old gramma”. I’d be forgiven my dress code. Anyway, we leave here on Feb 20^th for some time in Cambodia and Vietnam. We wanted to come back to Thailand for a few days before we fly off to Canada on March 14^th. The owners are now letting us keep the apartment until March 14^th so that sure makes life a lot easier. We’ll come back here March 10^th and have a few evenings to spend with the kids. So, now we have 3 weeks in which to get in all the things we still haven’t done.

Last Thursday we just went walking in the area. We thought the Lotus (like super store) stop was only 2 stops away on the skytrain so headed off in that direction. It was actually 3 stops away so it was quite a walk. You don’t seem to notice the distance so much as there are always different sights to see along the way. There was a Science Centre not too far down the road so think we’ll take the kids there on the weekend. Also went over a klong (canal). It’s hard to understand how there’s a little circle of houses in the middle of the canal, but there is………We grabbed a few groceries at the store and then took the train back home. Once we get off the train it’s about a 25 minute walk to the apartment.

Friday we got our asses in gear and headed for the Dusit Zoo. We took the train to Victory Monument (a busy traffic circle and landmark for observing the social universe of the local university students) and then walked – seemingly forever.

I knew we had to pass Chitralada Royal Palace which I thought was open to the public but it’s actually private. We ended up walking 3 sides of it.The place is huge and self sustaining. They even have their own cattle and horses on site and gardens. This seemed to be an upscale part of

Bangkok and the properties reflected that. Also it was an area full of big hospitals - womens, childrens, neurology, dermatology, cancer, as well as schools for nursing and

pharmacology and universities. And more

seeming to be built.

But, we finally made it…..

We’ve been to all kinds of zoos, some better than others – like the Toronto Zoo. I thought this zoo was very well done. It was easy to get around. Made for children to enjoy too. The animals aren’t just in square metal cages. The mapped area seemed quite small but it took us quite awhile to get around the whole place. And the viewing was much closer and more personal. It was really neat. There’s a little lake in the middle and you can rent peddle boats if you choose. There’s even a KFC here. Jennifer has to attend a conference on Saturday, so think we’ll take the boys to the zoo. They’ll love it.

Weekends always seem to be spent around the pool or shopping with the kids. Then Mondays are our recovery days. Tuesday was so hot that we just stayed around the pool until late afternoon and then decided to head into town. First we went to the “Hard Rock” café for a bite before heading to the show. They’ve done a great job of decorating the restaurant with all music paraphernalia. We sat at the most appropriate table surrounded by Beatle memorabilia. I was going to buy a souvenir glass but it was $10.00. We had 2 beer each (happy hour) and a large combo appetizer platter for $24. Expensive in some ways but still cheaper than home. Next we headed off to the IMAX theatre to see Beowulf in 3D. It was pretty amazing. I wonder how long before we’re viewing all movies like that? They have a lot of stuff on IMAX here. The seats are about $7.50 but not near as nice as the regular theatre seats here – probably similar to our regular theatre seats at home. The show was over at 9:00 PM, the mall was still full of people as were the streets and the roads were jam packed with cars.This city is always so alive.

Guess that about let’s you in on what we’re up to. The threat of rain seems to have ended so maybe we’ll go for another discovery walk now. Not so – Jenn called for us to watch the kids after school so it’s up to the pool. We’ll see what tomorrow brings………