Today proved to be a bit slower for your humble correspondent, despite the lateness of this post.....not surprising, given how much ground I have covered already.
With Dad busy with the whole work thing, I decided that maybe I should take the tour of Jim Thompson's house, so I started the day by doing just that. The tour lasted only about half-an-hour, but, our man Jim had some pretty nice digs. The interior designing was quite simple really, but the teak paneling was sharp. JT was also an avid collector of local art, so his home now serves as an ad hoc museum of sorts. Our guide was cute-as a button and had an accent on her English that warmed your cockles. All-in-all, a good time.
After a quick pit-stop at the room I headed back into the north of the city to see something called the Marble Temple. I will let your imagine tell you what that might have been constructed out of. It wasn't very large, but had an array of interesting Buddha statues, and the interior was eye-catching as well.
That pretty much rounded off our early afternoon. After a breather I ventured out to the train station, again. I went to inquire about tickets to an area called Nakhon Pathom, about an hour west of the city center. NP is home to the largest stupa in the world, an one of the most important Buddhist religious sites. It was an informative venture, but I found out that taking a train isn't the most convenient means, at least time-wise. Now I am looking at taking a bus. Look here for more on that later.
After hanging out in the room for longer than expected (got caught up in conversation with Dad, back from his work), I decided to spent at least part of the evening in the City of Angels, so I headed towards Sukhumvit. Sukhumvit is the heart of the city's business district, but also contains elements of the red-light district. I stumbled upon the infamous Soi Cowboy, an alleyway jammed with bars, strip clubs, and venues offering "special services". Apparently the Soi is named after a former American Army officer who opened up a bar there. He was known for always wearing a cowboy hat. Not being able to avoid temptation, I walked through the gauntlet of women in short skirts standing outside every establishment beckoning passerby to come in. It was really pretty surreal. Since it was relatively early, there weren't that many people out, and most of those that were were awkward-looking old white men. The bar girls didn't look anything special, and quite a few looked like...well...men. After turning off Cowboy Iwalked along another street that was apparently an endless row of massage parlors. You know, I am sure they ONLY offer massages. Women sitting outside shouted to me from across the street the whole time....I guess I am kinda of a big thing here in Bangkok.
With the night getting older, I wanted to make one more stop. Tonight was fight night, so I made for Lumphinee Stadium again, hoping to catch some of the action. Emerging from the nearby subway stop, I heard it before I made it there. The action was already underway. Quite the difference from yesterday. Now food vendors were set up by the main entrance, and people were milling all about. I inquired about making just a quick stop in, but I would have had to pay over 1000 baht (over 30 bucks) and even then probably would have had to wait. I was mainly hoping to catch a glimpse of the atmosphere, which I did, by looking up at the top rafters (visible from the outside) and taking a quick peak through an entrance way. I even found a little space from the outside that gave a (narrow) view of the ring. I watched for a couple minutes two guys grapple with each-other, and take the occasional kidney shot with the knee. It was not the greatest view though, and pretty soon I decided to call it in.
Late in the evening after riding the Sky Train back, on the main street running near the hotel, I picked up some pineapple for a quick dinner, and ate as I walked back. When I reached the entrance I hadn't finished eating, so stood in the driveway to polish it off. The hotel security guard sitting behind a desk in front of the hotel waved me over and offered me a seat. I finished my meal there and then continued to sit for a few moments in silence (no English on that guy, and my Thai isn't conversant). A nice evening breeze was blowing through, and the street was beginning to quiet down. I don't know what my partner was thinking about, but I used to time to clear my thoughts and have a shake of the head at the chaos of Bangkok. I went up to bed shortly after.
And now here I am, it ended up being a late evening after-all, and definitely not disappointing. See you all here tomorrow.
With Dad busy with the whole work thing, I decided that maybe I should take the tour of Jim Thompson's house, so I started the day by doing just that. The tour lasted only about half-an-hour, but, our man Jim had some pretty nice digs. The interior designing was quite simple really, but the teak paneling was sharp. JT was also an avid collector of local art, so his home now serves as an ad hoc museum of sorts. Our guide was cute-as a button and had an accent on her English that warmed your cockles. All-in-all, a good time.
After a quick pit-stop at the room I headed back into the north of the city to see something called the Marble Temple. I will let your imagine tell you what that might have been constructed out of. It wasn't very large, but had an array of interesting Buddha statues, and the interior was eye-catching as well.
That pretty much rounded off our early afternoon. After a breather I ventured out to the train station, again. I went to inquire about tickets to an area called Nakhon Pathom, about an hour west of the city center. NP is home to the largest stupa in the world, an one of the most important Buddhist religious sites. It was an informative venture, but I found out that taking a train isn't the most convenient means, at least time-wise. Now I am looking at taking a bus. Look here for more on that later.
After hanging out in the room for longer than expected (got caught up in conversation with Dad, back from his work), I decided to spent at least part of the evening in the City of Angels, so I headed towards Sukhumvit. Sukhumvit is the heart of the city's business district, but also contains elements of the red-light district. I stumbled upon the infamous Soi Cowboy, an alleyway jammed with bars, strip clubs, and venues offering "special services". Apparently the Soi is named after a former American Army officer who opened up a bar there. He was known for always wearing a cowboy hat. Not being able to avoid temptation, I walked through the gauntlet of women in short skirts standing outside every establishment beckoning passerby to come in. It was really pretty surreal. Since it was relatively early, there weren't that many people out, and most of those that were were awkward-looking old white men. The bar girls didn't look anything special, and quite a few looked like...well...men. After turning off Cowboy Iwalked along another street that was apparently an endless row of massage parlors. You know, I am sure they ONLY offer massages. Women sitting outside shouted to me from across the street the whole time....I guess I am kinda of a big thing here in Bangkok.
With the night getting older, I wanted to make one more stop. Tonight was fight night, so I made for Lumphinee Stadium again, hoping to catch some of the action. Emerging from the nearby subway stop, I heard it before I made it there. The action was already underway. Quite the difference from yesterday. Now food vendors were set up by the main entrance, and people were milling all about. I inquired about making just a quick stop in, but I would have had to pay over 1000 baht (over 30 bucks) and even then probably would have had to wait. I was mainly hoping to catch a glimpse of the atmosphere, which I did, by looking up at the top rafters (visible from the outside) and taking a quick peak through an entrance way. I even found a little space from the outside that gave a (narrow) view of the ring. I watched for a couple minutes two guys grapple with each-other, and take the occasional kidney shot with the knee. It was not the greatest view though, and pretty soon I decided to call it in.
Late in the evening after riding the Sky Train back, on the main street running near the hotel, I picked up some pineapple for a quick dinner, and ate as I walked back. When I reached the entrance I hadn't finished eating, so stood in the driveway to polish it off. The hotel security guard sitting behind a desk in front of the hotel waved me over and offered me a seat. I finished my meal there and then continued to sit for a few moments in silence (no English on that guy, and my Thai isn't conversant). A nice evening breeze was blowing through, and the street was beginning to quiet down. I don't know what my partner was thinking about, but I used to time to clear my thoughts and have a shake of the head at the chaos of Bangkok. I went up to bed shortly after.
And now here I am, it ended up being a late evening after-all, and definitely not disappointing. See you all here tomorrow.
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