A little bit of culture, a little bit of violence

Tonight... Muay Thai.  Thai kickboxing!  So revved up!  Being pretty rested from yesterday, but not wanting to wear ourselves out for our kickboxing match, we got a late start to the day and head on out to the first neighborhood we visited, Ko Ratanokosin and Thonburi.  So after our usual fulfilling free breakfast, we said hi to the local dog, Peter (we call him Joey but they informed us some other foreigner had already named the adorable old dog Peter), that hangs out in front of our hotel we see every morning and then got ready to head out for the day.  So we hopped up on the Sky Train and then transferred to our boat taxi so that we could all get to Wat Arun, or the Temple of the Dawn (yes, you can imagine how all the "Dawn" play on words came about today).

This temple is absolutely gorgeous.  Not like most of the other traditional, more "modern" temples you see with gold and red tops.  Wat Arun is a massive ancient looking temple made of what looks like stone with certain areas covered in colorful mosaic tiles.  You can also climb up about halfway ... not too far.  BUT... what Thailand lacks in building height and temple height, they made up for in exceptionally narrow and steep steps.  We grasped the handrails and CAREFULLY made our way up the temple steps in the blistering humid heat.  By the time we reached the top, we were literally dripping in sweat!  But for all that sweat, the views of the river and the Grand Palace across the river made it worth it!

We had a blast just rambling around taking pictures of various parts of the temple when something caught Dawn's eye.  A tiny little baby just posing up a storm for all of us.  Shooting us smiles and laughing, Dawn just had to take a picture with her newly "adopted" Thai baby!  The baby knew just how to pose, baby powder covering his face and all.  Be careful America....Dawn may just come home with an adopted Thai child!

After all that climbing and baby-cuteness, we started to head back.  The girls were just kind of hot and thought it'd be nice to hop into the pool, but TJ put his foot down!  What about lunch?!  There's no way we're just heading back to the hotel and not eating!  So, Melissa suggested another food court, this one called "Foodloft", in a mall not too far away.  This food court sits on the 7th floor of your average mall.  Urban loft feel with an international array of food to choose from.  Melissa and TJ opted for boat noodles, complete with spicy peppers.  Dawn wanted some Korean food and Japanese food and was shocked to taste how incredibly authentic the food court International food was.  Dawn even said the kimchi tasted just like the kimchi in Korea!  Vanessa saw Middle Eastern food and ran for some Hummus and pita, loved it so much, she got herself another plate of it!  All our food was incredibly delicious.  Then, of course, TJ had to point out the fact that the girls had all said they weren't that hungry...and ended up eating a boat load anyways!

After the food court, with our bellies full, we started to head back to the Sky Train station when Dawn saw brightly colored Converse shoes.  She had seen the bright shoes on many of the youths in Bangkok and had been wanting a pair.  So, she made everyone stop so that she could get herself some [pink, yellow, or orange] Converse.  The employees at the mall kept giving us the run around and by the time we finally found the right section, the person who worked in the Converse section had gone to lunch.  Apparently, in Thailand malls, when that one person goes on a break, the whole department shuts down!  Hmmm...not very good business!  But Dawn was insistent so we waited for the Converse guy to get back from lunch.  Waiting nearly 45 minutes, the Converse guy casually saunters back to the station and basically informs us that he had no more left in Dawn's size anyways!  Ugh!  Poor Dawn had to leave without her bright Converse!  So, we all hopped back on the Sky Train and headed back to the hotel.

Once back at the main street in front of our hotel, Dawn wanted to ride a motorcycle taxi back to the hotel.  In Thailand, motorcycle taxis wait at the front of a "soi", or avenue, to take patrons back if they have a while to go and don't want to walk the whole way.  So, Melissa told the motorcycle taxi where to drop Dawn off and she was off on her motorcycle while Vanessa, TJ, and Melissa walked back to the hotel.  Yes, yes... the motorcycle taxis are quite safe here!  Dawn was back at the hotel safe and sound!

We all rested and lounged around for just an hour or so until we headed out for our Muay Thai match.

On Tuesday nights, Muay Thai matches are held at the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium, right next to the Suan Lum Night Bazaar.  So we just walked on over to the Boxing Stadium and got ourselves the cheapest seats available and made our way into the stadium.  Picture a mid-sized boxing ring surrounded by concrete and wooden benches, stadium seating like.  Not fancy, just your basics.  The ringside seats are, obviously, the most expensive and that's where all the foreigners sit.  Some foreigners, like us, opt not to sit in that section, which we think is much smarter.  The views of the ring are actually better, you get to sit with the locals and watch them cheer and bet away match after match.  We got to see about 4 matches and then got to watch the main event!  All quite exciting, even with no major blood or knockouts!!  After the main event, we all headed on out because TJ & Dawn were quite hungry.  Since the Suan Lum Night Bazaar was on our way home, we walked in to their food court again and all got a little something to eat before we made our way back to our hotel.  Tomorrow is going to be an early morning as it's our last full day in Bangkok and we intend to do a little trip out of the city into Thailand's old capital of Ayutthaya.  Until then...