Bangkok: Our "how many modes of transportation can we take in one day" challenge

Monks on the boat taxi with us
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We woke up in time for the hotel's breakfast (or, more accurately, we set an alarm so that we wouldn't miss the free breakfast).  It was a buffet, including an omelet stand with a nice omelet-making-man.  The food was pretty good -- the winner being mini pancakes and hot tea.  The "freshly coffee" left a lot to be desired, sadly.

With our bellies full, we set out for a full day.  We decided to be adventurous and take the River Ferry -- basically a big boat that makes many stops along the Chao Phraya River.  For 20 Baht (1 CDN = 33.5 baht), we rode the river boat for about 30 mins -- about 8 stops.  It was pretty great to see the city from the river.  It is quite true what they say about the river being one of Bangkok's most important roads.  The river was busy and it was only in the middle of the day -- can't imagine what it would be like during rush hour.

What's my favourite thing in Bangkok so far? Pad thai...in air conditioning.

Celebrating the 60th Anniversary of the King's Ascension to the Throne
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When we got off the ferry, we walked to the Sky-Train -- imagine the monorail in Orlando.  The Sky-Train flies through Bangkok, meandering among the tall buildings, high above the congested streets below.  It is quite a marvel, that's for sure!

We took the Sky-Train to the National Stadium, where the famous Jim Thompson House is located.  We got lost, of course, but before we could get really lost, a friendly thai man said, "Jim Thompson House? That way," while pointing in the opposite direction.  We hadn't even asked for help!  I'm sure he could read the words "we're lost" on our foreheads!

Jim Thompson House
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When we finally arrived, we found that the Jim Thompson House was located in this beautiful garden rear one of the canals.  The quick story about Jim Thompson is that he was an American guy who settled in Thailand after the Second World War.  He is credited with reviving the silk industry in Thailand and he likely made a good chunk of change doing that, because he was also an avid collector of Asian art.  He mysteriously disappeared into the Cameron Highlands of Malaysia (ooo... Liz and I are going there!) one day and he willed his house and his art to his family, who donated it to a foundation in his name, and now all of it is in this great big museum to showcase the beautiful works of art and his traditional thai house.  So we were quite excited to see it.

Jim Thompson House Restaurant .. so pretty!
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We paid 50 Baht each, which included an English tour of the house and the adjacent gardens.  We paid and waited for the tour to start while exploring the beautiful gift shop (it was air conditioned -- a definite ++).  After drooling over the beautiful silks, we told ourselves that we would have to come back and spend a thai-sized fortune there later.

The tour was pretty cool, and we were able to roam the gardens on our own afterwards and we took some pictures.  After that, we went back to the gift shop and again oggled at the beautiful silks.  We found out that there is an outlet store located in Pattaya, so we are definitely going to have to go.  By then, I was feeling very sun-stroaky (it's quite common now), so we decided to check out the restaurant, at the very minimum to get some water or something else cool to drink.  After admiring the gorgeous decor and the reasonably-priced menu, we decided to stay -- and I'm so glad we did as you can see from my review!  We all loved it -- our best meal in Bangkok so far, and that's saying something.

Chinatown at night
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After our huge meal, we needed to walk.  We had heard about some fantastic shopping in the area, so we decided to follow the crowds and ended up at the most gigantic mall I have ever seen.  Mum: Kris and I both agreed that you would have been in heaven -- needing to walk very quickly to see everything.  One entire floor of this multi-block mall was devoted to electronics.  It was literally too much -- all the techies out there would have been drooling.

We did a bit of shopping and walked off our meal and suddenly it was 7PM (no idea how that happened), so we decided to head off to the Patpong night market again via the Sky-Train.  The market was crazy!  Vendors lined this tiny road into 5 rows with their carts full of t-shirts, wooden pottery, DVDs, sunglasses, shoes, pashminas and so much more.  The scariest part were the stripper bars on the outsides of the street (Patpong is Bangkok's red-light district), so men would call out to us "Ping Pong show!!!!" (if you can't guess, you don't want to know).  Overall, this market was a pretty cool place to be.  My favourite part was when I was negotiating with this woman and she said "You good shopper!"  Mum, you would have been proud.  She was enjoying the bargaining almost as much as me, but we definitely got a good deal.

After surviving Patpong, we were hungry.  We had decided earlier that we wanted to eat dinner in Chinatown, so boarded the subway this time to take us there.  The subway was pretty uneventful, but we were pretty proud of ourselves because it was our third mode of transport for the day!

When we got to Chinatown, it was pretty empty (by now, it was well after 9PM).  We looked in a few restaurants, but all of the menus reminded me of Hong Kong food (ick)... so after some looking, we decided to pass on Chinatown all together.  The street was beautiful, especially after dark, but no dice on the food.  So we boarded a tuk-tuk (that's right, 4th mode of transportation!) to take us back to good ole Khosan Road.

Back on Khosan, it was hopping -- all of the vendors were out and it was a veritable street market -- and without the "Ping pong show!"  We walked the street, but saw nothing appealing for dinner, until we found the crepe vendor.  mmm... banana crepes with chocolate hit the spot and we devoured them in contented silence while sitting on the street.

With full bellies -- again -- we walked back to the hotel, but we were tempted by the sight of thai masseuses, offering up foot, back and neck massages.  30 mins for 120 baht (about $4 CDN).  After our very long day, this seemed like the perfect remedy.  Being Ms. Tickilish, I skirmed through most of the foot massage, which my masseuse thought was hilarious.  He laughed at me with every skirm.  But it was SO relaxing and wonderful...perfectly needed.

In a trance, we stumbled back to the hotel, where I feel asleep almost instantly, until Kris woke me up to take out my contacts  :)  What a day!