Chilling out in Bangkok.

[woodyren]

Will be in Bangkok in March and will be chasing one of those Oyster Omelets.

 

[drron]

Back to Phrom Phong station - which is announced as From Pong - I left Mrsdrron get the shuttle back a took a little walk around the Emporium then the streets at the back of the property. Still very much more Christmas than previous years.




I had these fellows follow me around with music from the Wiggles. They would pop up wherever I was.






Some very upmarket condos but in the laneways o;d Bangkok dwellings though getting less and less.








A break in the trafficbut most of the time this street was 2 solid lines of cars with motor bikes weaving in and out. Not surprising to learn on average 40 motor cycle riders die every day on Thai roads.


And a little snack of spicy Chang Mai sausage from a street stall. With it's little bag of cabbage,ginger and birds eye chillies.


Back to the hotel where we continue our custom of 5pm drinks. Alays a sav blanc or a pinot grigio for Mrsdrron and a variety of reds for me. Tonight was an Argentinian Malbec. Very drinkable.

 

[drron]

Christmas eve and off I went to the Naval Museum. Easy to get to as at the Thai Naval Academy BTS station.
















Interesting that they have a picture of the previous King at the Entrance.






Some ancient war craft.

 

[drron]

And models of some Royal Barges.




Some bow decorations - the Garuda.












And stern decorations.

 

[drron]

A few photos of the Royal Yacht used by King Chulalongkorn on his visits to Europe in the 1930s.






And things from the Royal Yacht.




And the officers means of travel around the base.


And the only warship that was built entirely with donations from the people of Thailand.


Some naval uniforms.'










And more of the Royal barges.

 

[drron]

Models of early warships.










The some rooms celebrating 2 Admirals.







Time to set off to my next stop.








And over the road the Naval Academy.

 

[drron]

Wat Mahawong was not too far down the street.


















The Wat is on the bank of the Chao Praya river.

 

[drron]

The next stop was the King Chulalongkorn. Rama V. The great grandfather of the current king. Fortunately I was able to get an escalator up to Pak Nam BTS station and from there an elevated walkway to the Memorial. Lovely cool breeze coming off the River. It overlooked the Samut Praknam Provincial Hall.








And the memorial.






It was Christmas Eve and it looked like they were preparing for a show though it may be for New Year's Eve as New year is a public holiday but Christmas is not.




Across the road some street Art.


The mobile loos were out.

Now the short walk to the Pak Nam market.

 

[NSun]

I'm enjoying the report. I've been to Bangkok 3 times now and this shows I've still got so much of the city to see.

Great to see you had Massaman curry - that is is one of my favourite dishes.

 

[drron]

I'm enjoying the report. I've been to Bangkok 3 times now and this shows I've still got so much of the city to see.

Great to see you had Massaman curry - that is is one of my favourite dishes.

Today we went over the road to the Staybridge suites and ate in their restaurant. Their version of the Massaman curry was very different to the many I have had in the past.




It had 2 generous slices of durian. I loved it.

 

[drron]

Back to the TR and the Pak Nam markets. Definitely a local market and I only saw one other western face in my hour walking around. Most aisles were packed but the were a couple of much wider aisles that were easier to navigate.






It is on the Chao Praya river and has it's own ferry wharf. I presume some of the produce still comes in that way.


They do ride their motor bikes inside the markets.


















There was a second building which had many stalls where they would cook food presumably straight from the market.


The market is to the left the cooking to the right. Initially I thought I might eat something here. The rubbish and the flies didn't put me off completely but when I saw a couple of rats running around i forgot that idea and went and looked at some flowers.

 

[drron]

Now it is off to the last stop of the day, Wat Phichai Songkhram. but first a couple of photos on the way.


An a very local shop. Probably very few tourists walk by.


The Wat was impressive.




























Like a few other temples I have visited they do a good trade as a parking lot.

 

[drron]

And now the phone battery ran out so back on the BTS at Pat Nam station and back to the hotel.

 

[drron]

And so it was Christmas. Even turkey for breakfast.


And Santa gave us a present.


We needed to change some money so back to Superrich at Emsphere. Once again no waiting. Christmas day is just a normal trading day. Coming back the Thai drivers were their usual patient selves,



The turning cars are coming out of Soi 24 onto Sukhumvit road. Note they have the green light for turning or going straight ahead in the top photo and just gone orange in the second photo. But the cars, bikes and tuk tuks keep going through the red lights on Sukhumvit.
About 1500 we went down to the restaurant for Christmas lunner. Mrsdrron had the Pad Thai again and I had a huge pork knuckle.




I couldn't quite finish it all.


Of course come 1700 it was time for drinks. Chilean wines - sav blanc for Mrsdrron and a very nice cab sav for me.




Then watched the display from the bar on top of the Staybridge suites across the road, They are on every night.










Now Boxing day. Mrsdrron has been knitting a scarf for one of our granddaughters but has finished it so thought she would try to get some more wool. Googling revealed a large wool store at Siam Paragon so off we went. Certainly had lots of good quality wool bu much more expensive than even Tasmania.
So no more knitting. Then we went to Nara our favourite Thai restaurant. Again it was about 1500 yet they only had the one free table. I remembered to take a picture of the tasty amusee bouche.


But missed our meals. Mrsdrron had her usual Pomelo salad with prawns which is a very nice dish. I had their Khao soi which was excellent.
We then walked around the supermarket. The smart trolleys were very popular but they all had to go past 1 cashier so the line was longer than for those using a dumb trolley. Sort of defeated the purpose.

 

[drron]

That night I walked up to Benchakitti Park for this.

 

[drron]

 

[drron]

 

[drron]

So now it is friday December 27th and an important day for us. Mrsdrron gets a pedicure done and I get a pedicure plus manicure.They throw in an arm and leg massage. I look forward to it as it is very relaxing. As well they have restored to some degree of normalcy my right big toe nail. It got torn off playing cricket. I had a rush of blood and danced down the wicket to try and hit the ball over mid on for 6. Only turned it into a yorker and as my right leg came through I caught it on the toe. Fortunately old type cricket boots. The ball then sailed over mid ons head and into the fence for 4. As the umpire said to me it was the only time he has seen 4 leg byes over mid on.
My right toe nail never grew back properly. It became tick and grooved with several outgrowths. Ruined a few pairs of socks. But every time I go to Bangkok they work on it until a marathon effort this day has it looking like a short toenail just discoloured. As well as that I had developed a corn lateral to my right little toe. Was getting painful. She took to that and it feels much better. We always go to Take Care in Terminal 21 at Asoke station - mainly because we usually stayed at the Sheraton across the road. Now we have to catch the train to Asoke.

And at the station-


After our treatments we have lunch in Terminal 21. One of our favourites is a chain Japanese restaurant Fuji. Reasonable food at a reasonable price. We always have some sashimi though I replaced it with salmon tataki this time.




Their mushrooms with garlic sauce are lovely. We have both enoki and eryngii.



And ikura.


We added mushroom in bacon this time.


The restaurant pictures.




When we got to Phrom Phong I watched Mrsdrron get on the Marriott shuttle and I walked around the Emporium's supermarket and food outlets. They had Albanese on special!


In the food court I found a Khao soi outlet that is in the Michelin guide so had to try it. I had the Chicken Khao Soi plus Chang Mai sausage.


Pretty good but not the best I have had.


Then through the EmQuartier and the Christmas markets were still going.

 

[drron]

Saturday I caught the train to Ekkamai. Ther was a Wat right at the station. Wat That Thong.




Now many of the Wats have a sideline usually car parking. This one as well as that has a food market in front of it that obviously comes alive at night.




But they had some unusual things. Grasshoppers.


Various grubs.


Tiny crabs.






And cicadas.


And a baby zoo.






If you got food poisoning the ER wasn't far away.


Setting up for some entertainment.




Then to the Wat.






This was what went on at the Wat over the week. The major event was the funeral of a rich Businessman. But on my google translate the third last line says a viewing by the Royal Family. Fortunately I met a monk who had very good English and he said the fellow was descended from Royalty but so are several thousand Thais. After all King Rama V had 32 sons and 44 daughters and all were princes or princesses.

 

[drron]

So my journey around the property.