Jody's Big Adventure in Bangkok, Day 1

(This entry is one I’m catching up on because it actually happened back in mid-April...)

April 13, 2008…one week has passed since my first visit to Bangkok and I’m already headed back. But this trip has nothing to do with stem cell therapy and everything to do with saying ‘yes’ to an invitation…..

Arlene is a red head from Canada with a wonderfully laid back personality. She arrived in my office on her first day of her 10 day stay at the resort. As I was talking with her upon her arrival, she just casually mentioned that she has a Canadian friend, 35 year old male, that I should meet. When her stay came to an end she says to me, “Hey, Dan and I are going out for dinner in Bangkok tonight and then tour the city tomorrow. You should come with us!” Amazingly, that day was my day off. What do I do? I accept the invitation, of course!

I had to do some finagling of my work schedule to make it work. I get off work every night at 6 and then work from 8-12 preceding my day off. Well, I was luckily done with guests by 4 on this day and had a pretty clear schedule the following half-day…so I was able to clear that and took off at 4. Yipee! That means two full days off!

Last week, for my meeting with the stem cell company, was the first time I had ever experienced Bangkok. I got a grasp for its enormity but really didn’t do any exploring. So I was very excited for this trip. Dan runs his own Thailand tour guide company so you could say, I knew I’d be getting a first class adventure hanging out with him and Arlene!

Now getting to Bangkok from Hua Hin is no easy task. After leaving work at 4, I had to pack my bag, get on a motor bike taxi to the mini-van station, wait for the mini-van to get full with passengers so that it would depart, and then ride 3 hours to the big city, as it dropped off and picked up passengers all along the way. Needless to say, I was a bit late for dinner.

(A quick cultural educational piece for you all: I was traveling on April 13th. Mid-April is the annual Thai Songkran festival, which is a huge vacation time for everyone in the country. April is the hottest month here so the festival consists of huge parades in all the towns…and days of people of all ages in every city in the country dousing all passer-byers with water. Some cities engage in this for just one day, while others for a week or more. So as I was on the motor bike headed to the mini-van place, I inevitably was doused with water. Yah, a 3 hour ride in a heavily air-conditioned van, in wet clothes, was really fun.)

Anyway, I finally arrive at the restaurant. The décor in this top rated restaurant was stunning. From the quiet alley it was located on, you would barely notice the place. The entrance was covered in lush vegetation giving me the feel that I was walking into the jungle. The path curved up a wooden staircase and lead me to the front desk, which also was barely recognizable by the way the jungle-like décor enveloped it. As the hostess walked me to the table, we passed elegant wooden art sculptures tucked away in little nooks, covered with more foliage. The restaurant had all these different rooms, all on different levels, with their own flare. Each room housed only about 5 tables so you felt quite cozy, yet you could see into all the other rooms.

Ah, after my long journey, I arrive at the table with my new friends. Joining them was another guest from the resort whom Arlene had met during her stay. Margot is a very intriguing woman who writes for National Geographic magazine. She is living at one of the most famous and elegant hotels in Bangkok, The Oriental, for the next few months working on uncovering a scandalous story about animal bone poaching. I wish I could give a more descript detail but I’m afraid I didn’t grasp all the elements…I just knew it was excitingly scandalous…involving world famous art dealers operating their business with horrifying dishonesty. Anyway, they had ordered Asian style (family style with a variety of community dishes) and so there were plenty of nibbles for me to enjoy. Then, Dan ordered dessert. What arrived was a scrumptious dessert array of what was so beautifully presented as art, I hesitated to even take a bite…but who are we kidding? With my love of desserts, I indulged.

From there Dan took us to Scirroco. Scirroco is an elegant bar on the rooftop of a 64 story skyscraper. I had no idea Bangkok was this big! Imagine a city that stretched from Seattle to Tacoma, with no water or mountains inhibiting its sprawl east or west so it could be just as wide as it was long. Welcome to Bangkok! Even with the 360 degree view from this place, there was no end in sight in any direction. The lights just went on and on and on. I’ve been to New York. With all of its surrounding water, it has limitations on its size. But Bangkok just goes on and on and on…I don’t think I’ve ever been in a city this big.

The rooftop holds a buffet restaurant with elegantly set white tablecloth covered tables, a music stage where a woman wearing a red dress which was blowing around elegantly in the wind was gracing the crowd with her singing, and the ever-changing-of-colors bar. But I just couldn’t stop looking at the view. Stunning. Unfortunately, it was already pretty late by the time we arrived so we didn’t last long but what a treat it was to see the view from this place.

As Arlene and Margot headed back to The Oriental Hotel (can you say: way, waaaay out of my price range), Dan used his tourist guide connections to get me into a fabulous hotel for about half its regular cost. So after our goodnights and see-you-in-the-mornings, I headed up to my posh room in The Majestic Grand Hotel. Paying $100 for my elegant room…what a luxurious treat. Furthermore, I couldn’t help but be touched by the fact that here I was, this single girl from Seattle living half-way around the world, hanging out with people I just met, in one of the biggest cities in the world! Very cool, I thought. So off to bed I went, to rest up for tomorrow, my full day of adventuring in this famous city of Bangkok. More to come!